The Rangers look to win their fifth game in their last six contests tonight against Dallas. New York will be without Chris Kreider, who suffered what looked to be a shoulder injury Tuesday against Minnesota. Julien Gauthier, also injured in the contest, practiced Wednesday and will be in the lineup versus the Stars. The Blueshirts claimed Jake Leschyshyn off waivers from the Golden Knights.

The lines in practice were the below. Alexis Lafreniere gets his chance in the sun, replacing Kreider on the top line. Whether he or Kaapo Kakko replace Kreider on the top power play unit remains to be seen, though all signs point to Kakko moving up to that grouping.

Lafreniere-Zibanejad-Kakko
Panarin-Trocheck-Kravtsov
Vesey-Chytil-Goodrow
Blais-Brodzinski-Gauthier

Gallant on the move of Laf to the first line:

"I don’t know how many times I’ve said, ‘He doesn’t get the same opportunities some kids get as the first overall pick,'" Gallant said following Wednesday's practice at the MSG Training Center. "You can blame that on me, or you can blame that on (former Rangers coach David Quinn), but we’ve got star players ahead of him. We’re trying to win games every night. That’s what our job is."

"It gives 13 a good chance to go up there and play good hockey with good players," the coach said. "He’ll be excited. He’ll get an opportunity to go up there and play, and we’ll see what happens. That’s what you hope for when you get guys knocked out. Somebody gets another opportunity. Go up there and do the job."

Kreider will be reevaluated in a couple days. Coach Gerard Gallant said he doesn't think it'll be a long-term issue. Hopefully that is the case and the injury is not as severe as what it looked like watching the game.

Vince Mercogliano's tweet gave the positive spin on picking up Leschyshyn. But, in his column he provided the view that many of us have, which is why make this move. Leschyshyn has struggled this season, registering zero points and a minus-seven rating in 22 games played. His 41.29% xGF is easily the worst of any Vegas player who has appeared in at least 10 games, according to Evolving Hockey.

The Rangers likely view Leschyshyn, a second-round pick in 2017, as a possible full-time center with a lower cap hit and a PK option. Jonny Brodzinski has leveled off a bit from his solid play after he moved into the lineup full time and could be a waiver candidate. other than being younger, what is the difference between Leschyshyn and Ryan Carpenter? Why not give a chance to Gustav Rydahl? Who makes the player evaluation decisions on this team to land at this spot?

#NYR see Leschyshyn as taking a shot on center depth moving forward. Under team control for a cheap $766,667 AAV for the next 2.5 seasons and they like him on the PK. Belief is the 2017 second-round pick could develop into a 4C option. Solid on faceoffs, too, with 51.75% win rate

— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) January 11, 2023

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