Daily News from New York, New York • 76

76 Friday, October 3, 2014 DAILY NEWS NYDailyNews.com Rangers' Brassard draws top-line duties Bailey is battling to stay with Isles inability to consistently raise his game amid an influx of new players could force him out of a job. GM Garth Snow signed veteran free-agent forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Nikolai Kulemin in the offseason, but Bailey said he didn't approach training camp any differently than he has in the past. "I was excited (about them joining), how could you not be? With two guys of their caliber I think we instantly became a better team, so how could you not be excited about that?" Bailey said. "If there's not already a fire lit under you, then I think there's something wrong. Obviously we all want to be better after last year and I think that was a fire in itself.

Bailey, however, still has a few more days to raise his game, but coach Jack Capuano would like to see more from him. "(Bailey) knows that he has another level," Capuano said. "There's still two games left (to the preseason). I think he knows that the way he finished and the way that last year went for him, he has to be better." BY STEPHEN LORENZO NEW YORK DAILY NEWS THE ISLANDERS finished last in the Metropolitan Division last season, so it would seem that only a few players are locks to return once final cuts are made next week. Josh Bailey is not on that list.

Bailey, the Isles' first-rounder (ninth overall) in the 2008 draft, has underwhelmed in his six seasons with just 66 goals in 406 career games. Perhaps the most frustrating stretch of his young career came last season, when the left wing went 38 games without a goal. "There were ups and downs, but I'm tired of talking about last year as a team and individually," Bailey said on Thursday, his 25th birthday, of his eight-goal, 38-point campaign. "Whether you win the Cup or come in last, I think last year is last year and you have to move on and focus on this year. That's what I've been doing." Bailey is signed through the 2017-18 season at an average of $3.3 million per year, but his In fact, despite Brassard already being a staple on the power play and at even strength, Vigneault is about to heap even more on his plate by adding him to the penalty kill.

That's not an insignificant step. The French Canadian logged a grand total of two minutes and 17 seconds of shorthanded time all of last season. "We've talked to Derick about the possibility of using him killing penalties this year, especially at the beginning with Step being out," Vigneault said Thursday. "I prefer having a guy in the middle taking the draw in our end who's got a good chance of winning it. Derick has improved his face-offs.

"He's been good so far this year. He's worked at that. So he definitely might get more (responsibilities). If we have to lean more on certain players, we will." and it's even more important for the four centers." Brassard said he doesn't wish to lay claim to the No. 1 center tag, even though he likely will start the season between speedster Chris Kre-ider and returning leading scorer Mats Zuccarello.

He prefers to think of Alain Vi-gneault's system as favorable because its balance means anyone can be the top center on any night. "Last year, we had four good lines that all could contribute," Brassard said. "Some nights it was (ex-Rangers center Brad Richards') line, some it was Step's, some nights it was ours, or Dom (Moore) 's. Of course if you play well, you'll get more minutes, but I don't see it as I'm the top center on the team." Brassard, the sixth pick of the 2006 draft, has the skill for this position, this spotlight. His talent does not put him in over his head.

BY PAT LEONARD NEW YORK DAILY NEWS DERICK BRASSARD won't call himself the Rangers' No. 1 center, but that doesn't mean that's not what he is. With Derek Stepan out 4-6 weeks due to a broken left fibula, Brassard will open the season with increased responsibility and pressure to raise his level even higher than the 45-point season that helped him earn a five-year, $25 million contract this offseason. "Even if Step was in, personally I would want to take the next step in my game," Brassard, 27, said Thursday afternoon in Greenburgh while preparing for Friday night's home preseason match against the Chicago Blackhawks. "But now that Step is not there, I think there's pressure on all 12 forwards who dress next week in St.

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