With mostly minimal cover space and a roster, it looks like Chris Drury’s season is mostly complete. There are some loose ends, like the incarceration of K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere, but for all intents and purposes, Drury’s done. So we can start looking at projected lines for the Rangers to start next season, albeit with some very big assumptions and if/then statements to really round things out.
One of the most important lines of thinking in the New School is that we should look at lines in terms of the top six, the third scoring line, and the closing line. The old method of two sign up lines, a check line, and a fourth line of misfits doesn’t work anymore. So it is important to identify the scorers who will cycle through the top nine, and the shutout players who are likely to be the shutout line.
To make things easier, the players most likely to shut down are Barclay Goudreau, Nick Bonino, Jimmy Vesey, Tyler Petlik and Will Coyle. They each have an offensive ability, but they are best served in a closing role.
There is a nuance in this, of course, and there are no absolutes. It’s a matter of putting players in a position to succeed based on their skill sets. After all, we know Goodrow isn’t a top scorer, despite hitting highs in the last two seasons. We also know that Vesey can put the puck into the net, but he’s also pretty healthy defensively.
Let’s also remember that everyone has their own guesses and preferences, so play nice in the comments.
Rangers projected lines – forwards
Predicting forwards is likely to be more difficult as Rangers’ projected lines are not as cut and dry as they were under Gerard Gallant. We’d have been able to assume that Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider would stick together, as would Vincent Troshek and Artemy Panarin. With Peter Laviolette at the helm, that is likely to change. This is where if/then statements are important.
This is really where we got two schools of thought. The first is with these two diodes in place. The second was Laviolette trying something new and giving the two top Rangers picks some time in their natural positions.
If Kreider/Zibanejad and Panarin/Trocheck are locked
Assuming these two are locked in, we can also assume that Kaapo Kakko will get the first shot at 1RW, with Blake Wheeler and Alexis Lafreniere given the 2RW spot. Let’s also give a little flexibility with Panarin, who has played LW his entire career but is definitely good enough to play RW.
Whoever loses the Wheeler/Lafreniere battle will end up on the third row with Filip Chytil and most likely Jimmy Vesey, who can play either wing. Thanks to NHL video games, the third line has always been labeled as a check line. This is not a check line. This is the scoring line.
The fourth line will likely be a shutout line with Barclay Goodrow, Nick Bonino, and one of Will Cuylle or Tyler Pitlick.
If the top six are shaken
The fun begins if the top six are divided. We can still assume Zibanejad will be 1C, but do we see him get time with Panarin and Kakko? This trio wasn’t overly good last seasonalbeit in 33 minutes (a small sample size), but the Panarin-Zibanejad duo played 332 minutes last season with approximate results as well.
It would probably make sense to go with Lafreniere-Zibanejad-Kakko as the top line, which was better than the above options. That would put Panarin, Sheitell, and Wheeler on the second row, bumping Chris Kreider to the third line, which is something people have been calling out for.
If I were a bet, I’d bet the top six are still more or less the same, given what we know about the players and how they worked together previously. But that’s not all that fun when guessing how the lines vibrate. So let’s get off the board a bit for some expected new Rangers lines, at least to kick off the season before throwing things into the blender:
Panarin-Zibanejad-Second
Lafreniere-Chytil-Wheeler
Crider Trochic Vesi
Goodrow/Cuylle-Bonino-Goodrow/Pitlick
The second line, in this case, would start the protected offensive zone. The fourth line is the shutdown line. It gives the Rangers some balance up and down the lineup, as well as assigning roles to each line. The only concern, at least for now, is the lack of chemistry in the senior classes. Maybe a more organized system and better puck movement outside the defensive zone would help.
Defense pairs are more straightforward
It is easier to anticipate the defending pairs to start the season. Again, hopefully a more organized system and zone exit strategy, plus the expected progression from K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider, will lead to much more balanced results down the lineup. The Rangers have been a disaster in their own area outside of Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren, so hopefully this structure will play out and evolve into a more stable blue line.
We’re also working on the assumption that Zack Jones – who will now be asking for waivers – and Erik Gustafsson will rotate to the third pair.
There are really only two questions on the blue line:
- Will Miller and Lindgren swap? We have strong evidence to suggest that Miller Fox and Lindgren Trouba will be more balanced and bring out the best in the quartet.
- Who will win between Jones and Gustafsson? Both will be on the list, but who wins the battle will determine the game time.
Personally, I don’t think there’s a problem with trying to make a top-four trade-off while also making it easier for Jones to get into the line-up based on opposition. The Rangers open up against Buffalo, a strong skill team, so we’ll take a guess based on that.
Miller Fox
Lindgren oven
Jones Schneider
Expect pairs to be shuffled at random, especially in the pre-season. Hopefully this is what couples look like, but it already assumes answers to the questions above, and also assumes that Trouba and Schneider do not reciprocate. That last assumption is probably fair for now, but it could change by the middle of the season.
Rangers’ predictable lines are filled with if/then statements because we don’t necessarily know what Peter Laviolette is thinking in his lines. However, it is fun to guess what lines the Rangers expected.