Presumably, Glenn Gawdin didn’t join the New York Rangers in Calgary simply because he used to play for the Flames. No, there’s more to his recall from Hartford of the American Hockey League than that.

We should find out the reasoning behind Gawdin’s call-up Wednesday at some point. The Rangers hold a full morning skate in Calgary, after an off day Tuesday, and then play the Flames later on in the evening.

Will Gawdin be in the Rangers lineup when the puck is dropped Wednesday? The Rangers currently have two extra forwards (Gawdin and Matt Rempe) and one extra defenseman (Marc Del Gaizo) on the roster, after placing rookie defenseman Alberts Smits on IR on Tuesday. Smits is week to week with an upper-body injury, and fellow defenseman Sean Durzi is set to miss his sixth straight game with an unspecified injury.

If Gawdin plays, it’s likely in place of 37-year-old center Luke Glendening, who logged just 3:44 TOI in the 4C role Monday in a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, and was a healthy scratch the three games before. With a dearth of quality centers in the organization, the Rangers continue to struggle filling the void created by Joe Veleno’s injury that has him sidelined until January at least.

Since Veleno was hurt in the season’s fourth game, the Rangers used rookie Cole Beaudoin (who’s now injured in Hartford), Justin Dowling, and Glendening as the fourth-line center. They even moved winger Will Cuylle to 3C and dropped Noah Laba to the fourth line in a brief experiment.

Which brings us to Gawdin, the 29-year-old with 13 games of NHL experience, none since March 6, 2024 with the Anaheim Ducks. A consistent producer at the AHL level, Gawdin has one assist in the NHL, with the Flames back in the 2020-21 season.

Gawdin is tied with Liam Greentree for the Hartford lead with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 16 games. He had a goal and assist Tuesday in a 5-2 Hartford win over Springfield, and is a two-time 20-goal scorer in the American Hockey League.

If the Rangers had an injury concern with one of their wings and don’t believe Rempe is the right player to fill in, they would’ve recalled Greentree or Taylor Raddysh. So, there must be a further issue at center — thought it appears Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Laba are all healthy — or coach Mike Sullivan wants to give someone else a shot at the 4C role ahead of Glendening.

We’ll find out soon enough.

Rink Rap podcast Live show at Mustang Harry’s on Wednesday

Prior to the Rangers-Flames game Wednesday, we’ll be airing the Rink Rap podcast live from Mustang Harry’s at 4 p.m. Come watch the show, talk Rangers hockey, enjoy Happy Hour and/or dinner, and then watch the Rangers face off in Calgary.

Mustang Harry’s is located steps from Madison Square Garden and Penn Station at 357 7th Avenue (between 29th and 30th streets).

And if you can’t swing by, watch and join the live chat on YouTube during the podcast beginning at 4 p.m.

New York Rangers news and analysis

Liam Greentree — photo courtesy Hartford Wolf Pack

Top Rangers prospect Liam Greentree avoided serious injury on a scary hit from behind Tuesday, and then came back and scored the final goal for Hartford in a 5-2 AHL victory.

Our Lou DiPietro breaks down an all-around solid night for Matthew Robertson in his Edmonton homecoming, and examines how well Robertson and Scott Morrow are playing together on the Rangers third defense pair.

Steven Voogel looks into how much Hartford will miss its captain Marc Del Gaizo for however long he’s up in New York with the Rangers.

Jaroslav Chmelar has goals in consecutive games for the first time in the NHL, and is “on a mission” with the Rangers after his call-up from Hartford.

NHL news and rumors