It’s only been two games, but Jack Roslovic and Alex Wennberg, the two “big” trades the Rangers made at the deadline, are proving they could be the right acquisitions for the Blueshirts. Many were displeased following the trade deadline, as the flashy 1RW the Rangers needed was not acquired. But it’s not the shiny new toy that matters, it’s the right complements that matter.
Roslovic appears to be the right complement at 1RW
The key for Roslovic is he adds another element of speed along the wing. This forces teams to respect both wings (Chris Kreider) on the breakout, which opens up space for Zibanejad to work. Roslovic is also solid in the corners and along the boards, again opening up space for Zibanejad, which we saw last night.
The proof is in the pudding, as they say, and this newly formed trio has been putting up solid underlying numbers, something that had been missing since Kaapo Kakko was removed from that line. In two games, they’ve had a 24-18 shot attempt advantage and are close to even in high danger chances (4 for, 5 against).
Obviously two games is nowhere near a large enough sample size, but they are trending in the right direction. Goals will come as they spend more time in the offensive zone. With Vesey, the line simply didn’t spend any time in the offensive zone. With Kakko, they were far better defensively, but offense died on their sticks on the attack. Roslovic addresses both needs.
Wennberg stabilizes the third line
What may come as a surprise to some, or perhaps not if you were focusing on roster balance and depth, was how impactful Alex Wennberg has been for the third line. Again, just two games, but the numbers are again solid. They have a 23-11 shot attempt advantage, indicating they are spending far more time in the offensive zone than the defensive zone.
One potentially troublesome area is they have surrendered 4 high danger chances against while generating just one attempt for, but again it’s only two games. The trio isn’t getting traditional shutdown minutes, at least in terms of defensive zone starts, so it’s unlikely we see them in a shutdown capacity. At least not yet.
The key with Wennberg is that he stabilizes the third line. Again, we like Jonny Brodzinski around these parts, but there’s a reason why he was the odd man out once the trade deadline passed. Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko needed a bit more skill to be effective, and we are starting to see it.
Balance balance balance
Depth wins. By simply pushing Kakko to the third line and Vesey/Barclay Goodrow to the fourth line, the Rangers finally have four balanced lines. The top nine appears to be set, especially if we start seeing Zibanejad and Kreider contribute at 5v5. The fourth line will likely get some changes, with Brodzinski replacing Matt Rempe here and there. Perhaps we see Brodzinski at center as well.
Assuming all four lines remain the same, the Rangers have some solid matchup options as well. It looks like they will have home-ice for at least one round, so the matchups do matter. It’s safe to assume the Panarin line gets sheltered and the fourth line gets shutdown/defensive zone start minutes. Those are the two “guarantees.”
It does look like the Zibanejad line will get matched up against top competition, which plays into their strengths of two-way, three-zone players. That would leave the Wennberg line to feast on lesser competition. However if the Wennberg line can show top defensive ability, it would free up Zibanejad’s line for more scoring opportunities.
Balance matters. Depth wins. The Rangers now have that. The Blueshirts have been in first place in the Metro all season without a 3C or a true 1RW. Now with both in tow, they appear to be firing on all cylinders. With Igor Shesterkin cooking, the Rangers are trouble for a lot of teams in the East.
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