The Rangers have waived Dylan McIlrath, their first-round draft pick in 2010, who essentially is the eighth defenseman on the team.
If McIlrath, 24, a 6-5 blueliner who has never been shy to drop the gloves, clears waivers by noon Friday, he will be assigned to the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack. He scored six goals and 17 points in 73 games in 2013-14, his best season in Hartford.
The move means that for the moment, Adam Clendening, signed as a free agent last summer, stays with the club as the seventh defenseman.
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, who also is 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.
