Anthony Duclair is on his way to the Q.
On Tuesday, the Rangers announced they were sending their rookie forward back to his QMJHL team in Quebec -- just hours after Duclair helped Team Canada capture gold at the World Junior Championships.
The 19-year-old, who surprisingly made the Rangers out of training camp, is now bound to the Remparts for the remainder of their regular season and playoffs. Quebec is hosting the Memorial Cup this year, so that release won’t come until May 31.
Prior to getting sent back to junior, Duclair had one goal and seven points in 18 games for the Blueshirts, pretty impressive given he was taken in the third round (80th overall) at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft -- for comparison’s sake, picks 11 through 13 in that same draft (Samuel Morin, Max Domi, Josh Morrissey) have yet to make their big-league debuts.
But after playing significant minutes early in the season -- including 18:36 TOI in an October loss to the Maple Leafs -- Duclair had his ice time trimmed, and routinely sat as a healthy scratch.
In his last game with the Rangers, a 5-2 win over Philly in November, Duclair played just 12:06 and finished pointless.