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Rangers scrimmage Sunday, Zib out, Miller/Trouba as a pairing

January 10, 2021, 6:54 PM ET [163 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Rangers open the season in four days. Sunday, the team had an other full scrimmage. The good news is that Mika Zibajenad, out due to undisclosed reasons, skated in the morning, but he will not play in the scrimmage. Additionally, K'Andre Miller, who sat out yesterday due to procedural reasons, was on the ice for practice in the am and paired with Jacob Trouba for the scrimmage.




The Tony DeAngelo experiment of shifting him from the right to left side appears to have ended almost as quickly as it began. A bit surprised that David Quinn and Jacques Martin didn't try it for longer, though he and Trouba and all of Team A scuffled defensively Thursday. Instead, ADA is back on the right side, paired with everyone's favorite blue liner, Jack Johnson. Libor Hajek, who had seen some practice time with Trouba is paired with Brendan Smith, who is in the mix to be the team's sixth d-man. If Miler proves capable, does NY open the season Thursday with the neophyte Miller against the Isles? My guess is yes, seeing the praise he has received this camp and that no other option has presented as better to date. Will Hajek or Johnson or Smith be paired with ADA?

Brett Howden gets to try and build off his success from the other scrimmage, as he is taking Zib's spot again. The second and third lines are pretty set in stone. Same for the first trio, where Pavel Buchnevich, Mr. Happy, has been a fave of Quinn since camp has opened. Nw York's fourth line is completely up in the air right now and might be a work in progress even when the season starts. Brendan Lemieux would seem to be a lock. Is Howden? Morgan Barron? Kevin Rooney? Plus, who starts on the taxi squad and how much maneuvering should we expect in between games to maximize the possible cap space since players can be shuffled back and forth on off days to minimize their overall cap hit.

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