The Rangers saw the return of Rick Nash and Michael Grabner over the weekend. While Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein remain out, recently joined by Henrik Lundqvist, a key component is close to returning. Jesper Fast, out with a separated shoulder suffered February 28 on an Alex Ovechkin "hit," might be able to play Friday against Florida.
Fast's return will definitely help New York while also causing some likely handwringing among the faithful. He is expected to slot back into his usual spot on the fourth line, as well as play a key role in the penalty kill. Fast gives AV a comfort blanket for late in games and the Rangers are up by one. But his pending return means that someone has to sit, but who?
With Grabner and Nash back, AV has been able to reunite some old forward lines, with the Grabner-Kevin Hayes-J.T. Miller unit back together as well as the Pavel Buchnevich-Mika Zibanejad-Nash line. Remaining together has been the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Mats Zuccarello line, and created a mish-mash fourth line of Tanner Glass-Oscar Lindberg-Jimmy Vesey. As a result, Brandon Pirri and Matt Puempel rightfully have each been sitting. Of the above, who sits?
The answer for many has of course been Glass, but no so fast. Glass has brought a certain toughness and edge to the lineup. In addition, he has displayed a bit better offense than most of us expected. Glass' poor puck possession history has been less of a factor since his return, as both his Corsi and Fenwick numbers are up from prior years, though that doesn't mean it has become a strength Plus you definitely have to factor in our perceived view of AV's affinity for Glass.
If not Glass, then it comes down to Buchnevich and Vesey, because Lindberg will remain the fourth line center. Both rookie wingers have had their ups and downs this year. Buch got off to a red hot start with eight points his first 10 games but then was sidelined two months while he strengthened his core. Since returning, Buch has eight points in 23 games while also in-and-out of the lineup as he has seen his ice time fluctuate.
Vesey tallied 16 points his first 27 games, with much of that production in October and early-November. But he has just eight points his last 42 games, while also seeing his line placement and ice time fluctuate wildly. Like Buch, he is probably miscast on the fourth line, since that doesn't really play to his strengths, which is an offensive game. One of the two wingers will sit, as Glass is likely to remain in, and whoever plays will snd up with fourth line duty and minutes.
My guesstimate is that Buchnevich sits. Vesey is bigger and can play a bit more of a physical game when needed, which plays well opposite Zib and Nash, while also having the wheels to take advantage of chances created. Interestingly though, Buch has had better puck possession numbers than Vesey, possibly due to his broader offensive talent, but Vesey's size could give him the edge here. Lindberg has offensive talent while Fast possesses some, but the last trio with Glass on it with those two becomes a true checking line. That means if Vesey is in, he moves up Buch's spot on the Zib and Nash line. The concern has to be with losing Buch, resulting in him wanting to go back to the KHL, which will be a key for AV and the coaches to manage. For now, look for Buch to sit, but if Glass doesn't maintain his level of better play since his promotion, look for Buch to get back in on the Zib and Nash line with Vesey sliding back to the fourth line.