Bottom six move give Rangers significant depth – Where do they all fit?

The Rangers had three glaring holes coming into the offseason: The defense, the bottom-six, and the penalty kill. Two of the three –the bottom-six and the penalty kill– were addressed with a pretty massive overhaul. The Rangers signed three players and cut loose two in an effort to get younger, faster, and better defensively.

Michael Grabner, Nathan Gerbe, and Josh Jooris give the Rangers a ton of options. Losing Viktor Stalberg is a bit of a wash with Grabner, but it’s arguable that Jooris and Gerbe can be effective replacements for Dominic Moore. Deployment is key, but versatility can make the Rangers dangerous.

The big fish was Grabner, who has enough speed and skill to play on the third line, but is solid defensively and would make a great fourth line player as well. Grabner can fit multiple roles, and his versatility gives the Rangers a few options. He can play 3RW alongside Pavel Buchnevich and Kevin Hayes (projected lines), he can play 3LW in case Buchnevich isn’t ready. He can also play 4LW/RW if Alain Vigneault wants to give Jesper Fast time on the third line.

Jooris might be the more under appreciated signing of the trio. He doesn’t have great offensive numbers, but he is one of the top defensive forwards in the league. At a full decade younger than Moore, he could be the bargain bin signing that helps bring more stability to the fourth line. If he makes the team, of course.

Gerbe is a wild card. Fast and talented, but his size likely limits him to a battle with Jooris for the 4C spot, and then a battle with Tanner Glass for the 13F spot once Oscar Lindberg comes back.

Which brings us to the incumbents: Lindberg, Fast, and Glass. Lindberg and Fast will play when healthy. We’ve seen AV’s habit of playing Fast in scoring roles, so it wouldn’t shock me to see him as the 3RW, switching with Grabner every now and then if Buchnevich is ready.

What I find to be interesting is where Glass sits in all this. When fully healthy, the Rangers have seven legitimate options for six bottom-six spots, and that’s before we even get to Glass. The way the offseason has unfolded, he may be on the outside looking in as the 14F or even the 15F, depending on Buchnevich.

The bottom six for the Rangers seems to have been remade into one that can be a strength to a team that needs all the help they can get. There’s a good balance of speed, skill, two-way play, and youth. All these add up to a potential sweeping change in the way sextet –or really just the trio on the fourth line– is used and the effectiveness. The moves may be minor at the individual level, but put them all together and you have the possibility for major change.