It is time for the Rangers to shake up the top-six

Ever since the trade deadline, the New York Rangers have been at least one body short in their top-six, which leaves all their lines unbalanced. First Pavel Buchnevich was involved in a car accident, and as soon as he returned Chris Kreider went down with a fractured foot. The Rangers have struggled mightily without a fully healthy top-six, with goalies stealing wins in Brooklyn and Montreal before the Flyers knocked the Rangers back down to Earth.

The losses against Philly are what truly exposed the Rangers as pretenders without a fully loaded top-six. The offense has been wildly inconsistent and unable to generate sustained pressure, relying solely on hot shooting, something that won’t last. The first liner Phil Di Giuseppe experiment has only lasted one game, but there’s a different feel to that top six now. It’s not as intimidating.

The Rangers are in a delicate balance of trying to sneak into the playoffs and managing the next steps of a rebuild. For the latter, the successes of Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko in the top-six is vital. With the team struggling to score, perhaps it is time to see if they are ready to shoulder that load.

Ryan Strome has struggled for a while now, hitting a low point of getting benched on Sunday. Jesper Fast, as great as he is, doesn’t do much offensively and it’s clear that line is all Artemi Panarin. Phil Di Giuseppe on the top line probably won’t last either. So there are several options here and it’s clear not all three will come off the top-six.

One option here is simply putting them both with Artemi Panarin, something suggested by Kevin Power. This is a very simple solution, and gives the Rangers a good look at how both rookies can do with the best player on the team. It does leave some options for ZIbanejad and Buchnevich’s third linemate, and perhaps Strome has a fit there simply setting up Zibanejad.

Another option, since it has worked in the past, is keeping Chytil and Buchnevich together. That line did work with Kreider as the third, but I think it’s safe to assume Panarin will work just as well. That leaves Zibanejad, Strome, and Kakko as a potential line.

Without going into all the potential options, it’s clear the Rangers have some options. It’s been four games without any semblance of consistent offense and something does need to change. Kreider’s injury is not a short term injury, so if the Blueshirts want to stay relevant, they will need to find something and fast. Perhaps the answer isn’t with a recall, and just a re-shuffle of the top-six.