Veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves taking rookie Vitali Kravtsov under his wing at Rangers training camp

The New York Rangers have undergone a bit of a metamorphosis over the past few months, after physical altercations between Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson and a trio of Rangers that included Pavel Buchnevich, Artemiy Panarin and Brendan Smith occurred, warranting some big moves to become a much tougher group.

Enter Barclay Goodrow and Ryan Reaves - the latter of whom took some time at Rangers training camp to take young Russian winger Vitali Kravtsov under his wing to help prepare him for what should be an interesting Rangers' season opener against those same Washington Capitals and public enemy number one - Tom Wilson.

On Saturday, Reaves was spotted locked up with Kravtsov - gloves and sticks on the ice - sharing fighting pointers with the 21-year-old, so that if the time comes, he will be better equipped to handle himself should he find himself in a precarious position.




Kravtsov, the Rangers' first-round pick in 2018 (9th-overall) is anything but a fighter, but it's definitely encouraging for Rangers fans to see a kid who is more of a finesse player learning how to stand up for himself, should he need to.

The Rangers have already stated this offseason that they aren't fixated on the Capitals or Wilson, and that they have the bigger picture in mind.

Still, you'd have to imagine that what happened towards the end of last season won't sit well with the new Rangers' enforcers, who will ensure that similar liberties are not taken on October 13th when the Rangers are in D.C. to take on the Caps.