An early look at potential NYR line combos

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For the first time since, I don’t know the 90s, the Rangers had pretty stable line combinations at the forward position. While most of us figured there would be more consistency with this new regime, I don’t think anyone expected to see the lines stay together as often as they did for as long as they did.

Even if you look back at AV’s tenure in Vancouver, he rarely kept the lines together as consistently as he did last season. Obviously, this had a lot to do with depth. With the departure of many key players at several different forward positions, you wonder what kind of consistency we’ll see during 2014-15 season.

Today, we take an early look at what the Rangers potential line combinations could be come October.

First line

Chris Kreider (L)- Derek Stepan (R) – Martin St. Louis (L)

I know the predictable choice would be to keep Rick Nash on this line in the right wing spot, a spot that he has had for two seasons now. However, I think MSL deserves to be on this line over Nash. Although both players prefer to play the off wing, MSL has consistently produced on the off wing for decades.

As I broke down last season, MSL generally plays better with a right-handed linemate, and since Stepan is the best one on the roster, it only makes sense that these two play together. Also, let’s not forget Stepan and Gaborik provided this club with a lot of transitional offense back in 2011-12. Like Gabby before him, MSL thrives on neutral zone turnovers. Add in Kreider’s forechecking ability and wall play and these three could provide a potent first line.

Second line

Rick Nash (L)  – Derick Brassard (L) – Mats Zuccarello (L)

If you look at Nash’s linemates over the years in Columbus (Voracek, Brass, Vermette), you could make the argument that he had to be the guy to physically engage the opposition. In New York, others have done that job for him. Moving Nash to play on a line with Brass and Zuke forces him to reprise that power forward role.

I also like Nash back on the left side where he spent a lot of time in Columbus. I’ve always pushed for Zuke to play the left side to help with his board play, but it never happened and to date, he still has no experience there. I’m not sure if that’s something AV would experiment with after such a successful season.

Third line

Carl Hagelin (L) – JT Miller/Oscar Lindberg (L) – Lee Stempniak (R)

The bottom six could have several different looks to it depending on how Miller/Lindberg progress and whether or not Lombardi has anything left in the tank. Miller gets a lot of flack for his defensive play, but I don’t think he’s that much worse than Kreider. Of course, Kreider scores goals so all is forgiven. If Miller can start putting up points, I doubt he would be shuttled back and forth between NY and Hartford. Perhaps he’ll at least get a shot on the wing, if the center position doesn’t work out for him.

Stempniak was a good signing this past weekend. He gives us another right-handed shot, decent puck possession stats, and will replace Pouliot’s 30 point production without taking all of the stupid offensive zone penalties.

Fourth line

Matthew Lombardi (L) / Tanner Glass (L)  – Dominic Moore (L) – Jesper Fast (R) / Ryan Bourque (R)

Depending on the opponent, I could see AV running a platoon with the wing positions around Dominic Moore. Lombardi obviously has more pop offensively than Glass, and the latter can bring the heavy forechecking game. Against the Flyers you probably insert Glass. Against the Devils, you go with Lombardi.

The dark horses here are Fast and Bourque. Both can play physical at the AHL level, but both are undersized for the NHL. Another right-handed shot would be a welcomed addition, but ideally, you would want them in the top 9 and not the fourth line where many teams are still dressing grit guys.

Overall, there is a lot of reliance on youth, which is risky, but you’d have to figure Gordie Clark is comfortable having these guys competing for these roles. If not, I’d expect another depth signing or two before puck drop.