RALEIGH, N.C. _ Rangers defenseman Dylan McIlrath cleared waivers Friday and will report to the AHL'S Hartford Wolf Pack.
McIlrath, 24, a 6-foot-5 blueliner who was selected 10th overall in the 2010 entry draft, scored six goals and 17 points in 2013-14, his best season in Hartford.
Adam Clendening, signed as a free agent last summer, stays with the club as the seventh defenseman. He was on ice with Antti Raanta and Jesper Fast Friday morning in Raleigh. So Clendening will be a healthy scratch Friday night in the home opener against the Hurricanes. Fast was just on ice to skate because he didn't practice on Thursday. Raanta will back up Friday night's starter, Henrik Lundqvist.
McIlrath, more of a rough-and-ready defender than Clendening, who is a more mobile player, played 34 games last season, with two goals and two assists. He signed an $800,000, one-year contract last summer, and will be an unrestricted free agent next year if he doesn't play 46 games this season, as part of the collective bargaining agreement.
Clendening, 24, also a right-handed defenseman, has played five games this season. He appeared in 50 games with the Blackhawks, Oilers, Canucks and Penguins since 2014-15, with two goals and nine assists.
