Brennan Othmann received a call-up just shy of a week ago, but after three games with the New York Rangers, the 2021 first-round selection was sent back to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL). In those three games, he saw 12:26 time on ice (TOI) in his first contest against the Chicago Blackhawks but didn’t see more than 7:33 TOI in the preceding two games. His lack of usage, especially under the circumstances, was astonishing. If you are going to call him up, why not give him the chance to play?
In the same three-game span, Barclay Goodrow, Nick Bonino, and Blake Wheeler all managed to play double-digit minutes despite glaring turnovers and continued poor play. The Rangers, who were defeated by the Vancouver Canucks 6-3 at Madison Square Garden on Monday night (Jan. 8), dropped their second consecutive game for just the second time all season (from, ‘Rangers dominated by high-octane Canucks in another lopsided loss,’ NY Post, 1/8/24). By no means is it time to panic, but it is time to wonder if management realizes that the answer to their troubles has been staring them in the face all along.
Chris Drury did a solid job piecing together a roster this offseason that had balance despite the salary cap constraints. Injuries to Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, and the latest, Tyler Pitlick, have exposed the Rangers’ depth, bumping players out of position and, in turn, throwing off the entire team’s flow of play.
It’s no easy task, but replacing Goodrow, Bonino, and Wheeler has to be among the top priorities heading toward the deadline for Drury. The Canucks demonstrated that a team who can skate would cause the aging forwards to cough the puck up, with turnovers from Bonino and Goodrow directly leading to Vancouver goals. The Blueshirts need to increase their team speed and depth, and making trades or call-ups for younger, more mobile forwards is the route that they must take.
Their overall game needs some cleaning up, but help is available. And this season’s trade deadline will have some enticing names floated about.
Rangers Need to Make Moves
Arguably, the biggest roadblock standing in the way of the Rangers adding at the deadline or sooner is the contract of Goodrow. Owed $3.64 million annually through the 2026-27 season, Drury has committed roughly four percent of the total salary cap to the forward who, in a league where every dollar matters, has failed to replicate his earnings.
Moving the veteran will be challenging, but it must be done if the Rangers are to add essential pieces. Adding at the deadline is nonsensical if you are on a tight budget, and when you are looking to bolster your roster for a run at the Cup, you want to have the freedom to add pieces that bring the intangibles with them. Two seasons ago, the Rangers did just that, adding Frank Vatrano and Andrew Copp, two players who were not the most notable names but fit the team nicely.
To add players like Vatrano, or maybe Vatrano himself at the deadline, the Rangers could certainly use extra space, and freeing up Goodrow’s cap hit for this deadline and future seasons would be a huge reprieve. Trotting out a lineup with Goodrow and Bonino is worrisome, with the two forwards lacking the footspeed to keep up with the skilled forwards around the league.
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Players like Vladimir Tarasenko, Sean Monahan, Elias Lindholm, Anthony Duclair, and Vatrano could all be Rangers’ targets, and having Goodrow’s cap hit gone would serve Drury well. Replacing him with any of the previously mentioned names would increase the Blueshirts’ team speed and deepen the lineup immensely.
The Rangers could also utilize the additional cap space to add to the backend and shore up the third pairing. Braden Schneider has not evolved into the shutdown defenseman that was hoped, and adding a veteran blueliner would undoubtedly help the team’s defensive woes.
Return Injured Players and Fresh Legs From the Wolf Pack
Othmann was not given a fair shake in his three-game stint with the Rangers. The Blueshirts selected Jake Lecshyshyn to be his replacement on the roster due to previous call-up Adam Edstrom being out with an upper-body injury. Still, the move comes as a shock, especially when you dive deeper into the numbers.
Leschyshyn split 35 games last season in the NHL between the Vegas Golden Knights and Rangers. During those 35 games, he had no points and a minus-10 rating. With Hartford in the AHL this season, he has just three goals and three assists in 14 games. Despite Edstrom being out and the Rangers not believing Othmann to be fully ready, there were still two other options that seem more suitable at the present time.
Veteran Riley Nash has 22 points in 23 games with the Wolf Pack, and Alex Belzile has 28 points in 31 games. Belzile seemed to be the next man up, bringing more speed and offensive instinct into a lineup that desperately needs an influx of those attributes into the bottom six.
Obviously, the biggest influx of skill and depth will be returning Kakko and Chytil to their regular spots in the lineup. Kakko, who is back practicing with the team, is nearing a return, whereas Chytil remains in his native Czechia, working his way back. If and when both return, having Belzile in the lineup over Goodrow or Bonino would be beneficial to increase the overall speed and skill on the roster.
Reinforcing the depth with mobile skaters has worked for many teams around the league in recent years, and the Rangers have the players, both on the injured reserve and in the minors, to implement that. The holdup is finding room in the lineup over the slower veterans who currently occupy spots. Wheeler, who is no longer suitable for a first-line role, would be better served in the bottom six as well, and with Kakko and Chytil back in the fold, that is where he would be.
Imagine a lineup that featured Kakko as the first-line right-wing, Chytil as the third-line center between Will Cuylle and Wheeler, and Belzile and Jimmy Vesey on the fourth line with one of Goodrow or Bonino centering them. That would be awfully more efficient than what is being rolled out right now.
Ultimately, the onus is on Drury to assemble a roster at the deadline that is faster and deeper than what we are seeing right now. The flexibility could be there, but there has to be a commitment and an understanding that in their current spots, Goodrow, Bonino, and Wheeler are currently weighing the team down. They need to get faster and deeper quickly, and infusing the injured players, some trade acquisitions, and call-ups will do the trick.
