The New York Rangers continued to inch closer to their Opening Night roster today as they assigned eight players and released three from their tryout commitments.

Heading to Hartford is goaltender Chad Johnson, defenseman Wade Redden, and forwards Evgeny Grachev, Dale Weise, and Mats Zuccarello.

Additionally, Dane Byers, Kris Newbury, and Jeremy Williams will continue training camp with the Wolf Pack.

Released from their tryouts are defensemen Garnet Exelby, Brandon Manning, and Alexei Semenov.

None of the moves came as a terrific suprise aside from perhaps Semenov and Zuccarello. While it is still possible that Semenov signs, it appears that the Rangers simply have too many defensemen to accomodate the big d-man.

Zuccarello showed well in camp and Hartford may only be a stop gap for him as the Rangers evaluate their more-veteran talent.

For the rookies, Grachev still shows promise while it appears that Byers and Weise have likely been passed over on the Rangers depth chart.

Notable bubble players still on the roster include defensemen Mike Sauer and Pavel Valatenko and forward Derek Stepan.

With 16 forwards currently on the roster, the Rangers are going to have to make some difficult decisions in the coming weeks.

For more on the glut of forwards, check out Blueshirt Bulletin Plus this afternoon.