Expect many iterations of the Rangers lines in the coming days

Yesterday we were treated to a first look at the Rangers lines, and they were what most expected. Zac Jones was the extra defenseman. The top-nine didn’t have any surprises like Barclay Goodrow or Jimmy Vesey. All is right in the world. But that doesn’t mean there weren’t at least one or two oddities.

Notably, Will Cuylle was playing RW. This had been reserved for Alexis Lafreniere, but his bad preseason knocked him out of the top-six. Lafreniere out of the top-six isn’t the surprise, but Cuylle on RW was. Shifting to the off-wing isn’t overly difficult for an NHLer, as the only real change is in the defensive zone coverage, taking hte opposite point man.

Cuylle earned his top-six shot, even if it was at the expense of Lafreniere. Assuming these lines hold, I’d venture a guess that the Panarin-Chytil-Cuylle line will get the lion’s share of offensive zone starts, while lines 1 and 3 will get a more even split. The fourth line looks to be a shutdown line.

Speaking of that shutdown line, it’s very surprising to see Jimmy Vesey as the extra skater. Tyler Pitlick must be fully healthy, which is a good sign. Vesey was excellent last year, and there’s nothing wrong with some healthy competition. That said, Pitlick is a career 13F. Aside from his 61 games last season, his most games played was 63 with the Flyers in 2019-2020. I’d expect Vesey to eventually get the last winger spot.

There were no changes on defense. At least not yet. Jones will get reps, the same way Vesey will. Things will take time to shake out, and we will see many iterations of the Rangers lines. This is just the first cut.

This is just the first cut of the Rangers lines

In the age of social media, it’s become the norm to (over)react to each iteration of the Rangers lines. This first look of the “final” Rangers lines isn’t going to be the lines that they finish the season with. It may not even be the lines for opening night. There are many variables like health, injuries, Cuylle’s shift to RW, Vesey, Lafreniere, and others.

There are only two certainties on a fully healthy Rangers team:

1. Barring any demotions/messages, none of Vesey, Pitlick, Goodrow, or Nick Bonino will be in the top-six.
2. The Jones, Erik Gustafsson, and Braden Schneider will be on the bottom defense pair.

Aside from that, we will get tinkering with the Rangers lines. Chytil and Trocheck will flip. Lafreniere and Cuylle will flip. Vesey will get into the lineup. Wheeler will wind up in the top six. It’s all part of the process.