Lines shuffled, which trios will we see tomorrow? Thoughts on Chicago (rangers)

rangers

Lines shuffled, which trios will we see tomorrow? Thoughts on Chicago

By Jan Levine

Oct 28, 2021 • 1:00 pm

0comment-bubble

The Rangers practiced Thursday in preparation of their Friday contest against Columbus. Chris Kreider (maintenance) and Ryan Reaves (lower body) did not practice today, Kappo Kakko was on the ice again and all signs point to him playing tomorrow. What you will see is a shifting of the personnel, somewhat in line with what Vince Mercogliano had proposed.

Mercogliano:

Moving Kakko Kakko up to Mika Zibanejad's line would accomplish two things: 1. Allow Chris Kreider to shift back to his natural left-wing spot; 2. Keep Kakko in a strong position to succeed with two accomplished linemates.

We've gone over the reasons to continue the Panarin-Strome marriage, with Barclay Goodrow a logical player to keep on their right wing. He can retrieve pucks, get to the net and defend in a way that frees up the other two to do their thing, much like Jesper Fast did effectively for them during the 2019-20 season.

And finally, the Rangers could give Alexis Lafrenière, Filip Chytil and Sammy Blais a chance to grow together on the third line. Having Lafrenière there would spread the offense more evenly, creating a more balanced look for the top nine.

Zib and Panarin have struggled to date this year, even when they were reunited. For all the talk about how Panarin drives Strome and is the reason for Strome's ascent, maybe just maybe, it is a symbiotic relationship where there are dual benefits. Kreider didn't practice today, so Julien Gauthier got a turn on that trio. If Kreider is back tomorrow, look for him on the top line at either wing with Goodrow on the opposite side, though Kakko could slide up. Gauthier has struggled scoring, so I am unsure if placing him there makes the most sense.

Based on the above lines, Kakko slides back into the lineup on the second trio, where he started the season. That group needs a chance to build chemistry and the time together has not been conducive enough for that to occur. That said, I could see Goodrow on the wing there with Kakko moved to the top unit to see how he fairs.

Many will view dropping Laf as punishment for his poor game Monday and call out by coach Gerard Gallant. While a kernel of truth and likelihood exists that this is the reason for the change, I prefer to think more of it is based on just how dominant that line was against Nashville. Let him have some success, and if that unit can play as they did that contest, don't mess it up.  

Much has rightly been said and needs to be continued to be said about what happened in Chicago. First, not enough praise can ever be given to Kyle Beach who stood up and revealed all that had happened for the world to see. For him to have gone through this and then dealt with the lack of response from the organization was dually painful. To the team who put off handling the situation to avoid taking away the focus from the run to the Cup, shame on you. But worse was the failure by every group and at every level, from the league to the NHLPA to the leaders on the team to anyone who had an inkling what was going on and didn't raise their hands or get assistance. Hopefully the lessons learned will make the sport and people better, but after knowing what happened with Graham James and the other incidents, forgive me if I am not confident this will be the case.

If you want an inkling of what the response should have been then, and even what the responses should be now from several individuals, see below from John Tortorella. Torts has his faults and demons. But he is a human being in every sense of the world and expresses how we should be thinking to a T:

Show Comments
Loading...
Loading...
0
Show comments for this article