Dryden Hunt skated on the second line alongside Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome during practice Thursday ahead of the Rangers’ much-anticipated matchup with the Hurricanes in Carolina.
Though Gerard Gallant said the Rangers’ lineup isn’t set in stone, it did sound like the coach was leaning toward bumping Hunt back up to the top six.
“He’s an aggressive guy, he skates, works hard, competes hard,” Gallant said of Hunt, who was recently activated off injured reserve after missing four games with an undisclosed upper-body injury. “I like what he’s done there, for the most part. If he plays there [Friday] night, we want some jump from him again.”
Despite participating in practice in the days prior, Hunt was scratched for the Rangers’ 6-3 win over the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. After the game, Gallant confirmed Hunt was ready to go, meaning it was just a lineup decision.
The Rangers surely want to get Hunt back to bring some more consistent forechecking and grinding play into the lineup to combat the Hurricanes. Though Gallant said he doesn’t make lineup decisions based on opponents, Carolina’s style of play certainly calls for the Rangers to roll with the grittier version of their squad.
If Hunt moves to the right wing of the second unit, that would bump Filip Chytil down to the third line. During practice Thursday, Chytil was part of a rotating third line that also featured Alexis Lafreniere, Barclay Goodrow and Julien Gauthier. It’s possible Gallant wants to see more of Chytil on the wing, which means Goodrow would likely center the third line.
As a result, Gauthier will likely be in street clothes. It’s hard to imagine Gallant breaking up the fourth line of Greg McKegg, Kevin Rooney and Ryan Reaves after their performance in Wednesday’s win.
“I’m not sure what we’re doing right now,” Gallant said. “That was for practice today and on the plane ride, we may change something different. I mean, we’ll see what tonight brings.”
Friday will mark the halfway-point in the season for the Rangers, who are tied for second in the NHL in wins (26) and third in points (56) entering the matchup with the Canes. A win would give the Rangers their most points at the halfway mark since the 2011-12 season and the second most in franchise history.
After facing the Hurricanes, the Rangers welcome the Coyotes to Madison Square Garden on Saturday for their eighth back-to-back matchup of the season. The Rangers are 4-2-1 in the first game and 4-2-1 in the second half of back-to-back contests.
The Rangers recalled forwards Jonny Brodzinski and Tim Gettinger, as well as defenseman Zac Jones to the taxi squad on Thursday.