The Rangers welcome in the Blackhawks and what’s believed to be the next generational type player in Connor Bedard tonight at MSG. New York will have their own shiny new rookie in the lineup, as 2021 first round pick, Brennan Othmann, was promoted yesterday and is expected to dress tonight. Who Othmann skates with remains to be seen.

Room for Othmann, who has nine goals and 14 assists in 28 games for Hartford, was created with Tyler Pitlick suffering an injury Tuesday that will sideline him week-to-week. New York’s struggles 5x5 still might have resulted in Othmann getting the nod, though his current nine-game goalless streak could have presented a narrative to keep him in the minors. Pitlick’s injury though made the promotion easier.

If Laviolette really wanted to shake things up, he could use Othmann - who turns 21 on Friday - on the first line, shifting Blake Wheeler down to the third line. Laviolette likes deploying players where they have been skating prior to their promotion, but this would be a stretch for Othmann. Not only would he be sliding onto the first line in the NHL, he also would be doing so on his off-side since Chris Kreider is locked in at left wing.

With Pitlick sidelined, coach Peter Laviolette may just make make Othmann’s transition to the NHL easier by utilizing him as Pitlick’s replacement on the fourth line, or they could drop Nick Bonino - the current third-line center - into that spot and play Othmann on the third line. He would be joined by a pair of familiar faces in Will Cuylle and Jonny Brodzinski. Othmann played with Cuylle for Team Canada in the 2022 World Junior Championships - as he did with Bedard - and spent time playing with Brodzinski as teammates with Hartford earlier this season. One caveat is that both Cuylle and Othmann are natural left-wingers and where Othmann has exclusively played in the AHL, but both players have expressed a willingness to try the right side. For both to play together, one will have to move to their off-side wing.

Othmann should not be viewed as a savior. But like Cuylle, he brings a bit of edge and physicality to his game. If those two are the wings on the third line, we should see an uptick in energy and hopefully offensive production, especially 5x5, that has been lacking since Filip Chytil went out.

New York needs to focus on remediating the issues that have cropped up in their game. Their own zone and neutral zone coverage has been lacking, especially in the Erik Gustafsson-Braden Schneider pair. Even strength scoring remains a problem. Then hope is that the call up of Othmann helps provide some ballast to the lineup, affording the bottom-six another offensive weapon which in turn helps the 5x5 scoring. Against Chicago, limiting their speed through the neutral zone, especially for the Bedard line, is key.

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