Lineup decisions? Head coach Gerard Gallant faces a small handful in preparing for the match Sunday at the Garden against the Red Wings.
Let’s discuss:
1. If Ryan Lindgren, who left the loss Thursday to the Bruins midway through the first period with an upper body issue minutes after being blindsided by David Pastrnak, is unable to go on Sunday, Libor Hajek will replace him in the lineup.
There is no other option available under the law. The Blueshirts, who are at the NHL roster max of 23, could clear a spot by placing Vitali Kravtsov on retroactive IR, but they would not have the cap space to promote an alternate replacement even if that were a germ of a thought. They have six healthy defensemen, so the Rangers and their $200,000 of space would not qualify for an emergency exemption.
Plus, if Hajek isn’t deemed worthy of stepping in when injury strikes, why on Earth have the Rangers been protecting him from waivers since the start of last season?
But I wonder if Hajek would simply slide into Lindgren’s spot on Adam Fox’s left side or whether Gallant would take this opportunity to split the K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba pair that has been inviolate since the first weeks of Miller’s rookie season and move Miller to Fox’s left side.
Miller and Trouba have been paired together for every game in which both have been in the lineup since the third game of the 2020-21 season — in which Lindgren skated with Trouba, Miller played with Brendan Smith and Fox was joined by Jack Johnson. Per NaturalStatTrick, Miller has played a career 2,634 minutes at five-on-five. He has been on with Trouba for 1,989 minutes, or 75 percent of the time.
But neither Miller nor Trouba is operating at his best through the opening 12 games. Miller has not used a dominant preseason as a springboard into the year. His decision-making has been faulty, with his defensive zone coverage going in and out. Trouba has been somewhat less physical and a bit more erratic than he was last season. Maybe this is the time for a break.
If so, why not Miller with Fox and Zac Jones, who has been far more assertive playing the last three straight following successive scratches and got a career-high 23:46 against the B’s, with Trouba to round out the top four with Hajek and Braden Schneider comprising the third pair?
2. I think everyone appreciates the effort Alexis Lafreniere is making in his transition to right wing. But it seems apparent he is much more comfortable and plays a far more instinctive game on his natural left side.
So if Filip Chytil, sidelined for the last six games with a suspected concussion he sustained early in the previous match on Oct. 23, is able to return against Detroit, that would represent an opportunity to get Lafreniere back to left wing by reuniting him with No. 72.
That would give the Rangers their best chance to become a three-line deep offensive threat while giving Lafreniere his best chance to succeed by playing, a) in his preferred position; and b) alongside a center with whom he is simpatico and has achieved his greatest success.
By the way, the Blueshirts won’t be a three-line deep threat until the Mika Zibanejad-Chris Kreider connection gets its first-unit act in gear. Through 12 games, Zibanejad has yet to score at five-on-five. And through 12 games, Kreider — invisible against Boston — has one goal at five-on-five.
Indeed, the players who skated on the third line against the B’s — Jimmy Vesey, Barclay Goodrow and Julien Gauthier — have amassed four goals at full strength to the three that first-liners Kreider, Zibanejad and Kaapo Kakko have recorded.
But back to the original point. Moving Lafreniere to Chytil’s left side provides the Rangers with a legit third-line threat. Doing so also opens up a top-six spot on the right that I would fill with Goodrow while using Vesey to fill out the third line.
I’d just as soon move Goodrow up with Zibanejad and Kreider while shifting Kakko to the second line with Panarin and Trocheck, but I’m not sure Gallant would want to break everything up at this juncture. Plus, this might signal an overreaction to a bad night against a premium opponent that followed three consecutive victories.
Then again, such moves might be needed to jolt the offense of this team that ranks 23rd in five-on-five goals per 60:00.
3. The Blueshirts have the Red Wings on Sunday and the Islanders at home Tuesday before a Thursday-Saturday trip to Nashville and Detroit that precedes the Nov. 13 Garden contest against the Coyotes.
I’d expect Jaro Halak, who is 0-3 with an .867 save percentage and 3.69 goals against average and hasn’t played since Oct. 26 on the Island, to start two of these next five contests, most likely both games against Detroit.
It is imperative that Igor Shesterkin and Halak both find their game for a team whose .905 save percentage at five-on-five ranks a disastrous 25th.
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November 05, 2022 at 11:54AM
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Examining how Libor Hajek likely will fit in Rangers lineup as fill-in - New York Post
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