Lineup
Forwards
- Nash-Brassaard-Zuccarello
2. Kreider-Stepan-Hayes
3. Miller-Lindberg-Stalberg
4. Moore-Stoll-Fast
Scratches: Glass, Etem
Defense
- McDonagh-Girardi
2. Staal-Boyle
3. Yandle-Klein
Scratches: McIlrath
Goalies
- Henrik Lundqvist
- Antti Raanta
Right off the bat the one thing you notice is how deep a squad they truly are. With Tanner Glass and Dylan McIlrath as healthy scratches, how could you think otherwise?
Like previously mentioned, the Rangers veteran shakeups did warrant some concern in drop-off of play. However, it’ll be the youth that’s once again counted on to keep trending upwards.
Alain Vigneault is clearly staying with the “roll all four-lines” philosophy. Look at that fourth-line – it’s a lockdown, shutdown line of epic proportions.
Kevin Hayes, J.T. Miller and Jesper Fast can all slide up to the right wing on the second-line if need be.
Admittedly, the lineup lost some speed with Hags. At the same time, they gained considerable size with both Hagelin and Martin St. Louis now out the door.
Jarret Stoll could wind up proving priceless by the end of the season with the way he can kill penalties and win faceoffs. The only question will be whether Vigneault breaks up Dominic Moore and Stoll so they can take faceoffs across two lines, instead of just one (at the moment).
