As expected, Mike Sullivan is debuting some new NY Rangers lines at practice today. Unfortunately, the defense pairs remained exactly the same as they have been all season. That means it’s still Vlad Gavrikov-Adam Fox, Marcus Pettersson-Sean Durzi, and Alberts Smits-Braden Schneider. This is a tad disappointing, as it’s clear teams are targeting that third pair while the second pair is sinking with their minutes. As mentioned on Blue Seats After Dark, if it’s not the pairs changing, then their deployment certainly needs to change.
Meanwhile, the new NY Rangers lines mean Gabe Perreault has shifted to the third line with Will Cuylle and Noah Laba. Pavel Dorofeyev takes his spot alongside Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere. Tye Kartye stays on the second line. Eeli Tolvanen was a non-participant due to personal reasons, but it’s safe to assume he’d move into Matt Rempe’s spot on the fourth line.
Again, the deployment is what matters here. Cuylle and Laba had received the lion’s share of defensive zone starts as a secondary shutdown line. That doesn’t fit Perreault’s skill set, so hopefully there are more offensive zone starts for the third line, preferably at the expense of the JT Miller line playing a more hybrid role. The fourth line still has no role, but with Tolvanen I wonder if they get a bit more offensive zone starts for some tertiary offense.
The new NY Rangers lines are probably triggering some PTSD for fans. Hopefully the deployment and roles change.
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