TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — Nothing came easy to Tanner Glass during his 12-year playing career, which spanned the NHL, AHL and professional leagues in France and Slovakia.The rugged winger wasn’t drafted until the ninth round in 2003 (for context, the NHL doesn’t even have a ninth round anymore) and didn’t become an NHL regular until 2009-10 at 26 years old. He grinded his way to 527 career games, including three seasons with the New York Rangers. But by the final one, he’d lost his grip on a lineup spot and primarily played for their AHL affiliate in Hartford, Conn.It was around that time the seed was planted for what Glass would do in retirement.“As a player, I was always trying to help the young guys, especially towards the end of my career, with going down to the minors,” he recalled from the MSG Training Center on Thursday. “I thought I had an impact on some of the young guys there, so when this opportunity came up, it was something that I was excited to do.”The opportunity came in 2019, when Glass began working as the Rangers assistant director of player development. He served under Jed Ortmeyer for the last seven years, but when New York moved in a different direction this spring, Glass ascended into the organization’s top development position.Promoting Ortmeyer’s No. 2 suggested there wouldn’t be wholesale changes to a department that’s fumbled several prospects over the years, but Glass’ first development camp in charge offered hints at the direction he’d like to take their operation.Camp opened Monday with an emphasis on skating under the guidance of coach Dawn Braid, which wasn’t out of the ordinary. But Tuesday and Wednesday featured three sessions, grouped by position, with a clear focus on puck touches, shooting and other skill work. On Thursday, camp concluded with all 33 prospects coming together for one big practice that included drills aimed at both attacking off the rush and generating within the offensive zone.“The changes we’re making is trying to give the guys just more attention,” Glass said. “We did a little more individual, small-area skill work. We tried to be position-specific.”“If you watch the camp in detail, we try to focus a lot on the skills that these guys are going to need to be successful as pros,” he added. “Some of the things like contested situations. The game is getting faster all the time. There’s not a lot of space out there, so we’re trying to help the guys navigate those tight spaces and create chances and make plays in traffic. I think from a skill perspective, it’s something we tried to instill this week.”Many of the sessions were run by Jay Leach, who was hired last month as Hartford’s new coach. He was brought in specifically for his work with young players and will be charged with cultivating a Wolf Pack roster that should have more promising prospects than any point in recent memory. That will include forwards such as Nathan Aspinall, Liam Greentree and newly acquired Cole Beaudoin, who came over as part of Wednesday’s trade that sent Vincent Trocheck to Utah, and possibly No. 5 draft pick Alberts Šmits.NHL free agency: Early winners and losersShayna Goldman and Madison EadesOne of Glass’ primary objectives must be turning Hartford into a breeding ground for those players as they take the final step toward the NHL.“It’s super important,” Glass said. “Leachie’s been great to work with so far. We have a really good connection already. We think we complement each other well on how we think about the game and how we think about prospect development. So, it’s something that we think a lot about and we talk a lot about.”There’s a long way to go to change the narrative surrounding New York’s player development and improve a shaky organizational hit rate, but the 42-year-old Glass is putting his fingerprints on the department in the hopes of having better success with the next wave of prospects. Expect him to hire a new assistant to join a staff that already includes Mark Ciaccio, Colin Downey, Antti Miettinen and fellow former Ranger Marc Staal.“I don’t think pressure is the right word, at least that’s not how I look at it,” Glass said. “It’s exciting for us.”OHL Flint line stays intact with NYRMoments after Darian Anderson’s name was announced as the 163rd pick in last weekend’s NHL Draft, his phone started buzzing. Among the messages were a couple from Aspinall and Jacob Battaglia, OHL Flint teammates and now fellow Rangers prospects.“They both texted me right away and just kind of just said, ‘Congrats, we’ll be seeing you soon,’” Anderson said Thursday. “That made it so much easier for me.”Not only are they junior-league teammates, the trio spent a handful of games together on the same line for the Firebirds late this season. What are the chances?“It’s just crazy how things work out like that sometimes,” Battaglia said.They might have spent even more time together, but Battaglia didn’t join Flint until January following a trade from Kingston, where he’d served as captain. He was traded again two months later, this time in an NHL deal. New York acquired the 2024 second-round pick from the Calgary Flames in exchange for fellow winger prospect Brennan Othmann.He was riding on the team bus next to Aspinall when he got the call.“I look over after finding out the news, and he’s smiling ear-to-ear,” Battaglia said. “I’m just like, ‘Oh man. This is gonna be pretty cool.’”Battaglia’s move to Flint was career-changing — not just because of his future ties to the Rangers, but because of a suggested position change from Firebirds coach Paul Flache.“Within my first week there, he tells me, ‘I think you’d be a pretty good centerman,’” Battaglia recalled. “I go, ‘I don’t think anyone’s ever told me that. I don’t think I’ve ever heard that,’ and he says, ‘Yeah, we’ll give it a try.’ So I started getting some reps in practice. He started mixing me in in games towards the third period, where I was getting a couple more shifts. And then eventually from there, I was playing centerman pretty steady.”The 6-foot-1, 196-pounder had always played winger to that point, but his move to the middle allowed him to center a line with Aspinall on his left and Anderson on his right. Battaglia felt it allowed him to take advantage of his speed and plans to continue the experiment in the coming season with Hartford.“He’s probably the most creative player I’ve ever played with,” Aspinall said.The driving force of their line, though, was Aspinall, who exploded in his final OHL season to finish second in the league with 94 points (33 goals and 61 assists). That literally doubled his total from the year prior and made the 6-foot-6, 198-pounder arguably the fastest riser in New York’s pipeline.“At his height, the way he skates, like, that shouldn’t really be possible,” Anderson said.Emery, Spence both taking steps in NCAADefenseman E.J. Emery and winger Malcolm Spence, the Rangers’ top picks in the 2024 and 2025 drafts, both reached the NCAA Frozen Four this past season, giving them a taste of college hockey’s highest-pressure games. Emery’s North Dakota lost to Wisconsin, and Spence’s Michigan fell to Denver, the eventual champions. Both are returning to school for at least one more season in 2026-27.“We had a lot of new guys last year, freshmen and transfers, and it’s going to be great going into this year having all that experience,” Spence said.“You’ve got to not put too much pressure on yourself to do more,” Emery added when asked what he learned. “Just keep it simple and keep doing what we were doing all year.”With North Dakota and Michigan set to return talented rosters, both players will look to make deep runs again in 2027, and they want to build off strides they made this past season. Emery, drafted No. 30 overall in 2024, jumped from only one assist in 31 games as a freshman to 13 points in 38 games as a sophomore. He said he added 10 pounds of muscle on the year.“I can feel it with the skating and extra power, especially defending against players, boxing out,” he said. “You can feel the size and all the work I put in to do that.”Spence, who had 10 goals and 25 points in 40 games his freshman season, said he too has focused on getting bigger and taking advantage of Michigan’s weight room.“I’ve kind of stayed off the ice and limited skating (in the spring),” said the 19-year-old, drafted No. 43 overall in 2025. “It helps put some weight on and keep the weight going. … All of our returning guys really pushed it this spring.”Eriksen helps Norway make historyNorway’s hockey history is not as rich as nearby Sweden or Finland, but Rangers prospect Mikkel Eriksen helped the national team achieve something it never has before: medaling at the IIHF World Championship.Eriksen, a 2025 fourth-round pick and one of the Rangers’ top center prospects, played in six of Norway’s 10 games. He did not have any points, committed one minor penalty and was minus-one at the tournament but left with some hardware after Noah Steen scored an overtime goal against Canada in the bronze medal game.“I have it at home and look at it every day,” Eriksen said at Rangers development camp, adding that he’d like to win another.The 18-year-old called the tournament “a great experience” and hopes the bronze medal will give Norwegian hockey some momentum in terms of funding. The hockey team was honored on the field at one of Norway’s pre-World Cup soccer games, and Eriksen said he got to go into the locker room and meet national team players, including superstar Erling Haaland.Eriksen — who ranked No. 11 in colleague Scott Wheeler’s March ranking of Rangers prospects — played for Färjestad in Sweden last season and did not disclose whether he plans to go back next season. Ultimately, he hopes to follow in the footsteps of other Norwegians who made it to the NHL, including Espen Knutsen, his uncle. Knutsen played for Anaheim and Columbus and is second all-time in both points (111) and games played (207) by a Norwegian. Ex-Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello, whom Eriksen met when he was younger, broke both Knutsen’s records.“(Zuccarello) is the idol for every young hockey player in Norway,” Eriksen said. “Everyone in Norway roots for New York, even now, even if Zucc’s not playing here. … Hopefully I can have an impact on New York as he also (did) in his best years.”A timely bathroom breakDanai Shaiikov was optimistic about getting drafted in his second year of eligibility, but he didn’t think it would happen so soon.As the draft flipped to the third round on Saturday, the Russian goalie decided it was a safe time to slip away. Little did he know the Rangers would be calling his name with the 67th selection.“Honestly, I was in the bathroom when I got picked,” Shaiikov said, smiling. “I came back and everyone was clapping and looking at me.”It added humor to a moment the 19-year-old won’t soon forget, but he knows what happens from here is serious business.“It’s a good moment for me, for my family, for all my former coaches,” Shaiikov said. “But the real work starts now for me.”The 6-foot-2, 192-pounder came to North America last year and joined QMJHL Gatineau to get more eyeballs on his game. As he noted, “It worked.”The Olympiques finished last in their division, with Shaiikov posting modest numbers across the board: 18-26-2 record, .903 save percentage and a 2.78 goals against average. But he still caught the attention of Rangers goalie scout Scott Clemmensen, who pushed for New York to make him the fourth netminder selected and first for the organization since 2021.Shaiikov, who called fellow Russian goalie Sergei Bobrovsky his idol but said his playstyle compares more to Rangers starter Igor Shesterkin, plans to return to Gatineau next season.More notes• Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury addressed the media on a Zoom call Thursday and stressed the importance of not rushing Šmits, who was scheduled to go home to Latvia following camp but plans to return to the New York area to train this summer. The 18-year-old will have a chance to make the NHL team this fall, but Wednesday’s addition of veteran Marcus Pettersson could buy the Rangers time if they decide Šmits would benefit from a stint with Hartford.“We think he’s obviously a terrific prospect, but with that said, we’re gonna do right by him and the long-term health and well-being of him as a Ranger,” Drury said. “This is not a sprint for him. We hope he’s a rock-solid defenseman for the Rangers for the next 15 years. We’re not going to put him in any positions or situations that he can’t handle.”• Beaudoin was unable to make it to camp given the timing of the trade, but Glass said he spoke with the 2024 first-round center on Wednesday night.“He was great on the phone,” Glass said. “He’s been a captain. We watched him a little bit this year. I personally watched him a little bit this year, because of (prospect Evan) Passmore being in (OHL) Barrie, so that was nice. I have a little bit of familiarity with him. But again, just a really quality kid. You can hear the confidence in his voice on the phone. Everything that I’ve heard about him, from our scouts to some of our people who’ve watched him, it sounds like we’re getting a great player.”• Charlie Morrison was selected at No. 77 on Saturday, wedged in between fellow Rangers third-round picks Shaiikov and center Tomáš Chrenko. He was the third of five left-handed defensemen New York came home with this year and profiles as the most physical. The 6-foot-4, 200-pounder called himself “a simple defenseman,” but the Rangers believe there’s ample room for growth for the UConn commit who plays with a chip on his shoulder.“I never played for Team Canada, or even Team New Brunswick,” said the Miramichi, N.B. native. “I did start a little late. I was 8 or 9 when I started. I was a bowler growing up, so I was a little bit of a different one — kind of weird one, too. But yeah, I’d say a little bit late-bloomer.”