derek stepan
Stepan (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)

As the New York Rangers powerplay continues to struggle, one area that has become a glaring issue is the lack of right-handed shots, specifically those that can be used on the powerplay. Last week I looked at the 1-3-1 powerplay the Rangers use, and how Dan Boyle’s presence as the QB has kept penalty killers honest.

The main purposes of the 1-3-1 is to create multiple passing lanes for easy shots on net. This is accomplished by having shooters at the circles on their off-wings. The problem is that the Rangers have just two right-handed shots that can play on the powerplay: Boyle and Derek Stepan. Outside of that, their only righties are Lee Stempniak, Dan Girardi, Kevin Klein, and Jesper Fast. Girardi is not the answer on the powerplay, as outlined by Kevin Power of Blueshirt Banter. Klein has a rocket of a shot, but that’s all he has for that spot. Fast is unknown to be honest, and Stempniak has exactly zero powerplay points.

Outside of PP1 (Stepan, Boyle, Nash, MSL, Brass), which has a combined 51 powerplay points, the rest of the team has combined for just 25 points across ten players, one of whom isn’t even with the team anymore (Anthony Duclair). Of those 25 points, half come from Chris Kreider or Ryan McDonagh.

And therein lies the issue: PP2 has a dreadful combination of no lefties and a rotating door of players that either shouldn’t be on the powerplay (Girardi) or guys that are played out of position on the powerplay (Zucc). This has particularly affected Zucc, who has just two powerplay points this season (and zero PPGs). He’s been given nothing to work with, and it shows.

Since the trade market has exactly zero right-handed shots that can play on the powerplay, the answer must come from within. And that answer is likely splitting up Boyle and Stepan.

PP1 can survive with Boyle on the off-wing, still QBing the powerplay (you don’t need to be at the top to run it). You keep Kreider in front where he belongs, Brass in the middle and either Nash or Zucc on the other off-wing. McDonagh stays up top.

PP2 now has Stepan and either Nash/Zucc rotating with MSL for the off-wing or slot presence. The harder spots to fill are up top and in front. If J.T. Miller is in the lineup, he has a comparable skill set to Kreider, so putting him in front may work. Up top, you’re looking at some combination of Stempniak/Klein/Hayes. Maybe put Step up top if it’s Stemp/Klein? Just spitballing here, but that’s not really ideal.

Potentially, the Rangers would look to acquire someone to round out their bottom-six that can also play on the powerplay. That’s where the Antoine Vermette rumors come to play. In reality, PP1 would need to carry the load, but at least this spreads it out a bit and gives the Rangers two units that can score, instead of one that can score and one that can kill time while the other rests.

Either way you slice it, the Rangers have some serious powerplay personnel issues (note: not system issues, personnel issues). The Rangers are two for their last 22 with the man advantage. If the system works, then every now and then you need to shake up the personnel.

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