The Future Isn't Now For A Couple Of Highly-Touted Rangers Prospects
The opening night roster is official, and it's missing a couple of key prospects many had expected to have middle-six spots a month or so ago. For 19 year-old Vitali Kravtsov, it shouldn't be a shock that some more time adjusting to the North American game is necessary - and the preseason made it fairly obvious. Perhaps the biggest surprise though is the omission of Filip Chytil. It's a gut punch whenever one of your top prospects isn't ready for an opportunity that was his to lose (2C), but being sent down is honestly the next best thing. In my blog last week I had Chytil as the most important Rangers forward in terms of success for this season - so this isn't a good start. I also noted though that his style of play would've meshed like oil & vinegar with the checking forwards in the bottom six, so it's a positive for his development that he's not being crowbarred into that role. Instead he can pile up top C minutes in Hartford flanked by Kravtsov sharpening his pivot skills and hopefully be ready for the inevitable "for good" call-up. Remember, Chytil & Kravtsov are only separated in age by less than 4 months. Plenty of time.
Artemi Panarin was clearly the biggest fish hooked by the Blueshirts when free agency opened July 1. But an under-the-radar signing netted them another opening night forward in Greg McKegg. McKegg skated all preseason like a man on a mission, and there wasn't a single game where he wasn't noticeable. 90% of the time, these bargain bin summer deals amount to nothing and the player ends up on waivers. For Quinn though, McKegg looks the part of his prototypical bottom-sixer. He's a versatile forward who can step in up the middle if needed, always has his feet moving and plays responsibly. He's got some quality experience, centering the analytics darling Hurricanes' 4th line through the Conference Final. Also chipped in a couple primary apples this preseason although I wouldn't bank on any significant offensive output. Still, the line of McKegg/Lias/Lemieux (reported at today's practice) should be a real difficult, in-your-face line to play against.
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The rest of the lines:
Breadman-Zib-Buchnevich Kreider-Strome-Kakko Vlad-Howden-Fast (Haley the extra)
PP1: Breadman-Zib-Buchnevich-Kreider-Trouba PP2: Strome-Kakko-Lemieux-Fox-Skjei (who I assume is just skating in place of DeAngelo who's out for grandfather's passing)
The top six is as expected outside of Strome for Chytil. Strome's offense last year came in part due to an unsustainable shooting percentage, but it still happened. If Chytil isn't the guy, Strome makes the next-most sense in terms of offensive abilities. I know his 50-point sophomore season was 5 years ago, but the 5th overall pick pedigree is still there. It wouldn't be all that surprising for the 26 year-old to hold his own between the Killer K's & threaten a career-high point total…or at least push that pace until the deadline if the Rangers wanna ship off the RFA along with Kreids. My only issue with the lines - and they'll change a zillion times throughout the season - is Quinn splitting up Vlad & Lias. I still like the McKegg/Lias/Lemieux trio and I'm fine with insulating Howden with Vlad/Fast. But there was clearly some chemistry there the last couple games with each setting the other up for goals. Not sure why the Rangers wouldn't want to see if that could carry into the regular season.
The top PP unit is without Kakko (for now), but it makes sense to keep the first line together and promote Kreider for a net-front presence. Lemieux will have that role on PP2 where Quinn is apparently gonna deploy two defensemen. A little unorthodox nowadays, but when the two are Fox & Tony I'd rather see their puck skills together when up a man ahead of forcing a 4th forward. This unit is going to rely on their playmaking talents (along with Kakko) heavily for production.
As far as the defense is concerned, things went as expected and the pairings will shape up to be what I figured a couple weeks ago. Brendan Smith stays with the big club as the extra, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him get a few nights at forward ahead of Haley unless Quinn wants a bruiser in the lineup. Ryan Lindgren had a very good showing playing gritty, mean defense and I'm sure Quinn would've loved to have him up, but as usual Marc Staal ruins everything. Still it's great to see a stay-at-home banger improving in the system among all the highly-skilled defensive talent. Gotta assume he's the next guy up in case of injury.
These Blueshirts are gonna need something like a 20-point swing if they're gonna sneak into the postseason. While it sounds like a lot, they ceded a league-leading 14 points in OT/SO last year. Cut that in half then flip 6 regulation losses into wins and they're right on the doorstep. It's not as outlandish as it might seem. Either way, we've got REAL hockey kicking off this Thursday and if you're not excited - well, then you're probably not even reading this. VIVA LA BLUESHIRTS!!