Asked what he’d learned from his 2025-26 season to date, Vincent Iorio, the newest member of the New York Rangers, leaned heavily into his mindset.
“I think just staying in the present, staying focused,” Iorio said after his first practice with the Rangers. “There’s a lot of ups and downs in hockey, and since I’ve been playing pro, I’ve gone through a lot of ups and downs. For me, just to continue to have that positive mindset and just be the happy, go-lucky kid that I am.”
Iorio prides himself on smiling and being happy at the rink every day — not an easy task for a 23-year-old defenseman who’s bounced between three organizations this season and appeared in just 30 NHL games over the past four years.
There weren’t a ton of opportunities for him with the San Jose Sharks, who placed Iorio on waivers on Jan. 30. New York claimed him a day later.
Having a few familiar faces around has helped the 6-foot-4, 220-pound defenseman settle into New York. Iorio played with Braden Schneider for a couple seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He played with Scott Morrow at Shattuck-Saint Mary’s in Minnesota. Conor Sheary and Taylor Raddysh were in Washington while Iorio was with the Capitals’ organization.
‘Play simple, play solid and build confidence’
Iorio described his game as a “solid, two-way defenseman.”
“I want to break pucks out, play hard defensively, try and contribute, and join the rush as much as I can. But for the first couple games, or however much I play, just to play simple, play solid and build that confidence,” Iorio added.
“I pride myself in trying to close as hard as I can in the D zone. Obviously, you want to be as physical as possible, and I want to continue to build on that. Watching [Schneider], I know he’s only a year older, but growing up and playing with him in Junior, he’s very good defensively and physically … and just trying to emulate that.”
Head coach Mike Sullivan agreed.
“He looks like he has decent puck skills,” Sullivan said. “He has good size. It’s not an easy thing, just jumping into a brand new team like that, but I thought he executed pretty well … maybe the biggest thing that jumped out at me was his ability to move the puck. That skillset will certainly help us.”
On mindset and privilege
Iorio said that he wants to work on “every area” of his game with the Rangers, a team in need of young defensemen.
“In particular, just staying firm defensively and breaking out pucks we have,” he explained.
This team has such an amazing and skilled forward core, and for me, just distributing pucks to them and letting them make plays.”
But on the day-to-day, Iorio’s positive mindset carries him the most.
“My parents growing up, they really preached the ‘1% better each day,’ and just being happy with where you’re at in life,” Iorio said. “For me, playing this game is such a privilege. Playing in this league is such a privilege, and especially a team like New York is such a privilege.”
