Miller back, Brodzinski up, Motte/Lindgren still out, PP changers (Miller)

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Miller back, Brodzinski up, Motte/Lindgren still out, PP changers

By Jan Levine

Mar 7, 2023 • 1:04 pm

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On Sunday and Monday, they rested. After three games in four day, all played shorthanded, the Blueshirts had a well-deserved two days off, though that may depend on your view if a team 2-5-1 in their last eight deserves anything. Tuesday brought a fresh body from Hartford, the return of a suspended blueliner, updates on a pair of injured players and tweaked power-play combinations.

Call up: As seen from the below, the call up of Jonny Bronzinski is an emergency recall due to Tyler Motte still being out and the Rangers lacking the cap room to promote another on their own without the option. As mentioned last week, the emergency recall option allows New York to call up a player making 850K if they were unable to fill a complete roster.

Options that existed for the call up were Bronzinski, Will Cuylle, Ryan Carpenter and William Lockwood. Bronzinski can play center and wing, has a modicum of speed and is well-versed in the system. The same can be said about Carpenter, but I prefer Brodzinski, while the organization likely wants Cuylle to get as much ice time and top six minutes as he can rather than 8-10 minutes on the fourth line. That could change, though I expect Brodzinski to remain up until Tyler Motte returns.

Injury Updates: (Colin Stephenson had a few spelling issues): Brodzinski was promoted because Motte is not yet ready. The good news is that Motte was on the ice in a non-contact jersey, so he is progressing. As we have seen though, concussion symptoms can linger or reoccur, so even when he practices in a regular jersey and/or plays in a game, a setback is possible. Though each day he gets further away from the injury and progresses is a positive. Maybe we see him Saturday in Buffalo or Sunday in Pittsburgh, but more likely, next Tuesday at home against Washington.

Lindgren skating on his own is a good sign. Larry Brooks laid out nicely some of the rationale as to why the Rangers opted not to put Lindgren on LTIR, which would have aided the suboptimal roster in the short-term last week. Time will tell, depending on when Lindgren returns to the lineup, if that decision was correct. But if he makes it back within the next week, we will have our answer, if not, then challenging the medical and coaching staff on their decision is a more than valid option.

Had Lindgren gone on LTIR as of Feb. 25, he would have been ineligible to return for at least 10 games and 24 days, per the CBA. That means he would have been sidelined from Feb. 26 through at least March 21, a stretch with 12 contests on the schedule. It is unclear whether Lindgren will be able to rejoin the team for practices Tuesday (we know he hasn't) or Wednesday in advance of the team’s challenging trip to Montreal, Buffalo and Pittsburgh that commences Thursday, but he has been skating on his own for the past few days.

If Lindgren can return during the trip, that would mean he would have missed four, five or six games as opposed to a mandated dozen had he been placed on LTIR  If he is sidelined throughout the trip, that would extend the absence to seven games, but he would be eligible to return for the ensuing five-game homestand that begins on March 14. If on LTIR, he’d be compelled to miss all of those tilts, as well, eligible to return on March 23.

Lines: Brodzinski slots on to the fourth line while the other trios remain the same. The team's performance the last week plus has been fairly brutal, promoting suggestions to make changes. Gallant is going to give the Panarin - Trocheck - Kane a chance to gain some chemistry, before he considers breaking that group up. The easy move would be to just swap Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko and see that move provides the balance desired.

Of slightly more concern is that the Kid Line - or at least two-thirds of that trio - has hit a wall or speed bump. As Brooks noted, and something we discussed last week, Filip Chytil has gone from a heater to the Arctic. Chytil  has gone 12 straight games without a goal following a spree in which No. 72 recorded 11 goals in a 13-game stretch that ended Feb. 8. Granted, his streak was bolstered by an unsustainable 30.6 shooting percentage, but to go from penthouse to outhouse that fast is a bit surprising.

Chytil's two wingers are on inverse trajectories. Kaapo Kakko, brilliant leading up to as well as on the West Coast trip, has one goal in his past 10 games and three in the past 28. That slump helped cost him his spot on the power play.  On the flip side, Alexis Lafreniere has recorded three goals in the past four matches, five in the past nine (including the first two PPGs of his career), seven in the past 14 and eight in the past 17 games. The hot stretch comes as Laf has been rewarded for going into the dirty areas and putting in the effort along the wall and boards. I am not saying Gallant will split up this group, but if the top-nine struggle to connect and display any chemistry over the next few games, don't be surprised if we see completely revamped lines.

PP Units: Gallant and the team force fed Kane on the top unit Thursday, moving Mika Zibanejad from the wall to the bumper spot. Initial returns were not good, but the PP has been struggling well before that change. To adjust, Gallant took a paintbrush to the canvas and made significant adjustments. 

First, I am not sure which is the first or second unit despite how they are listed. Second, moving Kreider and Zib to another uniti is a stark change. Laf gets rewarded for his play recently by sliding up. Panarin and Kane man the wingers while Laf gets the net-front presence and Trocheck the bumper, sliding up to the point. This fibe-man unit now has three righties and two lefties.

Kakko and K'Andre Miller are off the second unit with Tarasenko now on that five-man group. Zib should be back in his unusual spot with Kreider down low and Chytil in the middle. Trouba is on the point with Tarasenko sliding up and down from the point to the wing. This unit has three lefties and two righties, creating better balance,

The PP did get stale. But that could have been also fixed by better puck and especially player movement rather than stagnancy. We will see if these changes have the desired effect or if they remain together tomorrow and in Thursday's games. 

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