Somewhat astonishingly, hockey returns to the metropolitan area tomorrow. In fact, the Devils are playing a preseason game at the Bruins right now. The Rangers return to the scene of the crime of last Spring’s awful conclusion. They will host the rebuilding Devils in a exhibition Monday night at the Garden on MSG.

Alain Vigneault revealed the roster for the first preseason game. Per Andrew Gross on Twitter, here are the Rangers forwards and defensemen:

Vigneault said that Antti Raanta and Magnus Hellberg will split duty for the first two exhibitions. Henrik Lundqvist will get a start at Boston Thursday. The third-year Rangers coach plans cuts after the first two games. Interestingly, the Rangers will hold out Mats Zuccarello until the third game so he gets more practices in.

One of the camp invites is former Islanders 2010 third round pick Kirill Kabanov. After spending the past two years in the Swedish Hockey League, he’ll try to make the roster. It’s highly unlikely considering the Rangers’ improved depth with additions Jarrett Stoll and Viktor Stalberg. It would be nice to see Ryan Bourque play his way on. But Oscar Lindberg is the favorite. And what of Dylan McIlrath? Can he stick? The Rangers went out and added Raphael Diaz to be the seventh defenseman. Is AV serious about having eight D? Only time will tell.