The NY Rangers hole at RW isn’t a secret. It was such an issue last season until the trade deadline that the Blueshirts went out and acquired two right wingers in Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko, plus a third player that could play both wings in Tyler Motte. All three are free agents, leaving the Rangers RW hole into the coming season as well. With minimal cap space, the Rangers will need to be creative to address this.
Alexis Lafreniere is the key to fixing the Rangers RW hole
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Alexis Lafreniere was just fine at 2RW last season before Gerard Gallant blew it all up in November. The line of Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin, and Vincent Trocheck was actually one of the Rangers best lines in a period when the goalies were struggling and the overall team shooting percentage was rough.
In 157 minutes, that trio put up a whopping 58.46% shot share, but with a far less impressive 50.58% expected-goals share. The problem wasn’t the offense, as this trio was putting up 70+ shot attempts per 60 minutes and 3.4 expected-goals-for in that span. The issue was defense, as they were just giving up quality chance after quality chance. It was the purest definition of a track meet line.
Naturally, though, that line was broken up because of that poor goaltending in the first month of the season. They got an on-ice SV% of just .875, which is far, far below what you expect of Igor Shesterkin. Individually, all three had on-ice save-percentages over .910 over the full season, so this is a significant impact to their overall appearance on the ice. The trio’s collective 7.3% shooting rate didn’t help either (over 10% individually for the whole season).
Lafreniere was fine at RW with Panarin and Trocheck, and it’s not hard to argue that Gallant blew things up that didn’t need to be blown up. The results would have steadily improved as goaltending rounded out and as their collective shooting percentages rose throughout the season. Yet here we are, discussing what could have and should have been.
The Rangers RW hole is closed by simply putting Lafreniere back in the top-six at RW. He’s shown he can handle it, and has produced solid offensive numbers. A good tactical coach will recognize this trio’s offensive capabilities and deploy them as such.
Add in Lafreniere’s hopeful skating improvements and continued maturation, and you have a solution to the Rangers RW hole. And a cheap one at that.
What other options are there?
Aside from moving Lafreniere to RW, there aren’t many internal options to address the Rangers RW hole. Kaapo Kakko could and should get another look with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad on the top line. They, like the second line, produced good offensive numbers, but were hamstrung by poor puck luck and goaltending.
Jimmy Vesey, as good as he was, isn’t a true top-six option. If the Rangers are competing, then Vesey is in the bottom six. Ditto Barlay Goodrow. Both can play either wing, but the Rangers RW hole is more at the top six level than the bottom six. Plus, Goodrow may not even be with the Rangers next season.
Brett Berard, Will Cuylle, and Brennan Othmann are all left wings. The same argument about shifting one to RW could help, but only Othmann has true top-six potential to address this Rangers RW hole.
Free agency doesn’t bring much help either, as the list of top free agent RWs are going to be too expensive to fill the Rangers RW hole. Maybe Alex Killorn on a cheap one year deal, if he’s cheap and if he accepts a one year deal? Seems unlikely, especially since his 64 points will land him one last payday. The cheaper free agent options are bottom sixers as well.
Trades can address the Rangers RW hole too, but it naturally comes at a cost. The fan favorite of “dumping” Lafreniere on Vancouver in a deal that includes Connor Garland at 50% retained seems nice, but is it necessary if Lafreniere should be fine on RW himself?
More About: Offseason