Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury is expected to speak to the media for the first time this season after the March 21 trade deadline, which is already less than a week away.
There’s a plethora of topics to address with Drury, but the coming days should reveal a lot about how the player-turned-executive views the current state of the Rangers. Whether he’s all-in on a season that exceeded expectations, or opting to be patient with the process and waiting for a better market in the offseason.
One thing that is certain, however, is that retooling the third line should be at the top of the to-do list.
The third unit has featured myriad combinations over the past couple seasons. Last year, it was home to players who couldn’t quite crack the top six. This year, the constant changes have made for a line that is unsure of its identity. Both have been largely ineffective.
Even though Kaapo Kakko and Kevin Rooney aren’t expected to be back for at least another week, according to head coach Gerard Gallant, they should be back in time for the playoffs. That’s a top-six right winger and a fourth-line center the Rangers will be getting back.
And with Braden Schneider way ahead of schedule in filling out the back end, the Rangers could, in theory, make do with their D corps right now. Even though adding another defenseman is also on Drury’s agenda, the most logical place to start is with the third line.
Filip Chytil has been a staple on the third line for most of the season, aside from a few appearances on the right wing, as well as a couple healthy scratches. Playing with Sammy Blais for a bit before his season-ending injury and Alexis Lafreniere before his promotion to the top six, Chytil has also skated with some mix of Julien Gauthier, Barclay Goodrow, Dryden Hunt, Greg McKegg, Jonny Brodzinski, Tim Gettinger and Morgan Barron.
“For me, just trying to play my game, I know I have different linemates almost every game, but I have to [do] what I can do,” Chytil said Tuesday as the Rangers prepped to face the Ducks. “I have to still talk to them [about] how we’re going to play as a line, still I try to bring my game to the team. Of course, we have great players in [the] first two lines. Everybody has a different role and we just have to play like that.
“I can’t choose the lineup. There are injuries, illness and all this stuff [that] we can’t choose. It’s just part of the game. I’m just playing when I’m out there, just playing my game. What linemates I have, I try to talk to them, try to build some chemistry in that little time.”
One of the Rangers’ potential targets to rectify this third-line problem, Ducks winger Rickard Rakell, watched the game from above Tuesday night at the Garden due to an upper-body injury. With 16 goals this season, including eight in his last 15 games, Rakell would be an instant offensive upgrade over Gauthier, Brodzinski or McKegg. He also could be an option for the right-wing spot on the second line next to Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome.
The 28-year-old Rakell is in the final season of a six-year deal with a cap hit of $3,789,444 per year, which is a much cheaper rental than some of the other options out there such as the Flyers’ Claude Giroux ($8.275 million) or the Sharks’ Tomas Hertl ($5.625 million).