Drew Fortescue takes even-keeled approach to Rangers’ blue-line crunch

Drew Fortescue’s path to ice time with the Rangers has become complicated.

As a left-handed defenseman for an organization suddenly filled with them, it’ll be difficult for the top prospect — who received a nine-game taste of the NHL at the end of last season to burn the first year of his entry-level deal — to make the roster out of training camp.

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But that doesn’t mean the 21-year-old former Boston College star has dwelled on his complicated reality with the Rangers after the additions of veteran Marcus Pettersson via trade and rookie Alberts Smits via the first round of the draft. Nor has his belief about returning to the NHL wavered.

“That’s nothing that’s in my control,” Fortescue said after the Blueshirts’ training camp sessions Saturday, when asked about their additions. “All I can do is just work the hardest that I can and whoever’s here or whatnot, I think that I know that I’m good enough — and someday, if it’s not now or in the future, that I’ll be able to play here.”

Even while skating with Group B during the first three sessions, Fortescue reiterated that he’s here — at his first NHL training camp — to “show that I can be on this team.” He collected a pair of assists across his nine-game cameo at the end of 2025-26, capitalizing on the lost Blueshirts season to become one of the young pieces auditioning for future roles.

“You want to play at the highest level,” said Fortescue, who has been going back and forth between the hotel and his home in Pearl River during training camp. “It’s your dream as a kid, and kinda getting that little glimpse last year, that month I was there, it was pretty special.”

The offseason arrived, and while Fortescue said he made strides in every area throughout the summer, the Rangers added pieces around him. AHL Hartford emerged as a likely destination to start the season. Injuries could expedite his return to the NHL at any point, but for now, it might take time for Fortescue to claw his way back to the Rangers.

Tye Kartye, the fourth-liner whom the Rangers claimed off waivers last season, scored two more goals during the intrasquad scrimmage Saturday, giving him three through the first three scrimmages.

Team Blue — the group that Kartye skated for — defeated Team White 4-1.

“He loves hockey,” head coach Mike Sullivan said of Kartye, adding that he’s an “easy guy to root for.” “Brings great energy to the rink. Just, he’s an enthusiastic learner. I think all those things are important. I think that stuff’s contagious inside the confines, and so, for me, you can’t have enough of those guys that love hockey, that love to be here, that want to play, that want to get better — and Tye’s all of those things.”

While the Rangers lines mostly remained unchanged, Matt Rempe got the first reps with the fourth line. … Matthew Robertson left the ice early in the Group A practice after getting hit in the face and returned with teeth seemingly knocked out. … Cole Beaudoin, who entered training camp day to day, wore a blue jersey and was a full participant in the scrimmage.