AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

In case you missed it, Jesper Fast is currently skating in a non-contact jersey at practice. While there is no timetable for his return, it is always promising to see someone with a knee injury skating again. Eventually he will return to the lineup, and at that point, the Rangers will have a bunch of lineup questions that will need to be answered.

Do you break up Hagelin-Hayes-Miller?

Prior to his injury, Fast was skating with Carl Hagelin and Kevin Hayes. The line was solid, albeit unspectacular. When Fast went down on February 8, J.T. Miller took his spot on that line, playing the off-wing, and the results have been fantastic. In those seven games, Hayes has a line of 4-2-6. Hagelin has a line of 3-3-6, and now has his first career 20-goal season in his sights. Miller has a line of 0-3-3, but has been willing to go to the corners, be in hard on the forecheck, and has been averaging close to 60% SAT%/CF%.

For the first time all season, the Rangers have a third line that is a legitimate scoring threat. This line took over the secondary scoring role when the Chris Kreider-Derek Stepan-Martin-St. Louis line was slumping. Now the line provides tertiary scoring, with Hayes and Miller playing on PP2.

Are you comfortable with Fast on the off-wing?

If you don’t want to break up that third line, then are you comfortable with the simple substitution of Fast for Tanner Glass, playing Fast on the off-wing? That’s a difficult question to answer. Playing the off-wing is great for generating offense, but it is difficult to provide that stellar level of defense we expect from the fourth line (loaded with DZ starts) while on the off-wing. It’s also very difficult to ask Fast to play the off-wing while learning the system as a rookie.

It is worth noting that the Hartford Wolf Pack do play the same system that AV does, so Fast is ahead of the learning curve there. He’s an intelligent player with a high hockey IQ, so if there’s someone who can do it, it’s him.

If not Fast on the off-wing, then Stempniak?

The same risks apply if you put Stempniak on the off-wing over Fast, but Stempniak has that “veteran factor” going for him. He’s been solid –but unspectacular– this season in whatever role Alain Vigneault has asked of him. The problem with Stempniak is that folks expected him to be Benoit Pouliot, and he simply hasn’t produced offensively. What Stempniak has done is provided solid defensively play and has assisted Dominic Moore in dragging around the possession anchor that is Tanner Glass.

Do you simply sub Fast for Stempniak, and leave Glass in the lineup?

Sigh. This is a legitimate possibility.

Trade for a 4LW to replace Glass, then sub Fast for Stempniak?

This is also a legitimate possibility, and honestly this has the potential to be a great upgrade, assuming the Rangers target the proper player (cough, Daniel Winnik or Sean Bergenheim, cough).

Those are five possibilities for managing the return of Jesper Fast to the lineup. He will certainly be welcomed back to the lineup, having proven he can play at this level. The bigger question though: Which option does AV go with?

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