TORONTO — Victor Mancini’s return to his home state of Michigan earlier this week was filled with many emotions.
Excitement to play in front of his friends and family.
Anxious to get out on the ice immediately.
And walking into Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit that Thursday morning, the Rangers rookie was hit with a wave of nostalgia — one with layers to it for different reasons.
Not only did Mancini grow up going to games there, as well as the old Joe Louis Arena, but the 22-year-old played for the Little Caesars 16U AAA team and spent a lot of time on the practice rink in the building.
“Our coach at 16s was Kris Draper,” Mancini told The Post on Saturday morning, referencing the four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, before he recorded his first NHL assist in the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs. “To have a coach like that with NHL experience, to get to be around him and be coached by him was really good. Just being around the facilities, right, with him being Kris Draper. Every once in a while we got to use the weight room that the Wings had.
“As a 16-year-old, that journey is just beginning where everything is getting very serious and Juniors is coming up. To kind of see how far you were and where you want to be, the level and the facilities, it was kind of cool and definitely drives you even more.”
It was a full circle moment for Mancini, who punctuated his homecoming with his first NHL goal/point in the Blueshirts’ 5-2 win over the Red Wings.
After watching the puck find the back of the net before it was disallowed in the 6-5 overtime loss to Utah, Mancini said his initial reaction was to make sure it was called an official goal.
Then the elation of scoring in front of his friends and family set in.
“The reaction from the guys on the ice and the team on the bench meant a lot,” said Mancini, who had an assist in the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the Maple Leafs on Saturday night in Toronto. “It was very special.”
Mancini has looked like he belongs through his first four NHL games, over which he has collected one goal, one assist, nine shots, three hits and seven blocks.
After playing on the right side of Zac Jones, Mancini was projected to be paired with Chad Ruhwedel against the Maple Leafs on Saturday.
That took Jones out of the Rangers lineup, which is still without Ryan Lindgren as he recovers from an upper-body injury that landed him on injured reserve on Oct. 7.
Scratching Jones could just be more about getting Ruhwedel a game and keeping him involved, but regardless, it’s an indication of Mancini’s standing among the Rangers defense corps.
Head coach Peter Laviolette willingly went with five right-handed defensemen by taking the left-handed Jones out.
The pairings are expected to change when Lindgren returns, and one defenseman will have to be sent to Hartford.
Mancini doesn’t require waivers, which could make him the favorable option over Ruhwedel or Jones.
If Mancini maintains his level of play, however, the Rangers’ 159th-overall pick in 2022 could ensure he’s not the odd-man out.
“I think it’s just a growth mindset,” Mancini said of his mentality going forward. “Go out each day and have that drive to grow and to learn and to get better everyday. Keep with the things that I have been doing, right? Believe in my abilities, stay confident and not get too high or too low.”
