Next up in the audition room … Reilly Smith.
Yes, with training camp approaching, it’s nearly time for the New York Rangers‘ latest attempt at finding a player to fill the sinkhole on the right side of Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad that has become a three-year project, one that shows no obvious signs of getting solved in the near future.
Right wing with the two top-six BFFs is well on its way to becoming a staple on the list of New York sports positions that just don’t seem to want to be filled. Left field for the Yankees. Quarterback for the Jets. For the old-timers, third base for the Mets. A second scoring option behind Patrick Ewing for the Knicks.
The Blueshirts’ self-inflicted conundrum that began July 23, 2021, hasn’t attained nearly that level of infamy yet. With the way things are going, however, achieving such “heights” might not be far off.
Every Ranger fan knows the significance of the aforementioned date – it marked the departure of Pavel Buchnevich, the multi-talented right wing who fit Kreider and Zibanejad like a glove, in a trade to the St. Louis Blues that infuriates much of the faithful to this day.
Rangers Still Trying to Find Running Mate for Kreider, Zibanejad
Then-rookie general manager Chris Drury sent the homegrown Buchnevich, a restricted free agent in the summer of 2021, away in a salary-cap move – one that’s not worth re-hashing on its merits at this point. That’s water under the bridge, even if so many fans still don’t feel that way, and the counterargument is that the team’s roster construction did in fact benefit from the deal (see Trocheck, Vincent). What’s relevant now is that Buchnevich has grown into a nearly point-per-game player in three seasons in the Gateway City, one who also still boasts the 200-foot game and nasty edge that began to emerge in his final season in New York. The Blues rewarded him with a six-year, $48 million extension this summer.
Replacing Buchnevich was always going to be a tall order, but the Rangers haven’t really come close. Listing the myriad of auditionees – both of the offseason and trade deadline variety – up until now is about as pointless as revisiting the reasons for Drury trading Buchnevich. It’s sufficient to say that the exhausting search has produced little progress, and with training camp drawing close, the team once again finds itself at square one.
That brings us to Smith, who’s an objectively heady veteran pickup that would probably fill a middle-six role in an ideal scenario. Given the Rangers’ challenges in finding a new long-term running mate for Kreider and the Best Man at his wedding last year, however, it’s impossible to believe the Blueshirts won’t make Smith the latest candidate to stop the revolving door from spinning.
Smith, 33, came at least somewhat cheaply after a down season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2023-24, requiring only a 2027 second-round draft pick and a conditional 2025 fifth-rounder, with the Penguins also retaining 25 percent of Smith’s $5 million cap hit on a contract that expires after next season. The small financial commitment helps the (still) cap-challenged Rangers this season as well as next summer, when the club faces major extensions for several young core players.
Smith managed only 13 goals and 27 assists last season, but he scored 26 goals with 30 assists in 2022-23 and might be a strong candidate for a bounce-back effort this coming season on a better roster. He’s scored 13 short-handed goals since the start of the 2016-17 season and has been a very effective playoff performer in his career, with 79 points in 106 games.
But he might be heading into a situation that despite the talent of Kreider and Zibanejad, has steadily churned through potential replacements that have tried to finally fill Buchnevich’s growing shadow. If Smith gets a crack at meshing with the BFFs – even if it’s likely for only one season – recent Rangers history suggests he’ll have to overcome considerable odds to succeed.
Much has been made of the need to find a linemate to “unlock” Kreider and Zibanejad at 5-on-5 – particularly Zibanejad, who scored only 12 even-strength goals and posted an expected goal share just below 50 in a down season in 2023-24. That’s an unrealistic expectation for almost any player to bear, of course. That said, the Rangers desperately require someone who can inject energy and chemistry into the long-time duo who once formed the backbone of the team’s clear No. 1 line, but decisively lost that distinction last season.
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That happened because youngster Alexis Lafreniere, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck found marvelous synchronicity in becoming one of the most productive forward units in the NHL. All three players turned in career-high point totals, with Lafreniere busting out for 57 points and finally looking like a No. 1 overall draft pick after an uneven start to his career.
That trio consistently delivered the kind of dominant shifts that the “KZB Line” used to at times, dominating possession, generating scoring chances and spending plenty of time in the offensive zone. And though blaming the Kreider-Zibanejad drop in even-strength effectiveness solely on Buchnevich’s departure is too simplistic, the fact that the club has been unable to find a long-term companion for them has to be seen as a consequential reason for it.
Moving Lafreniere to Kreider-Zibanejad Line Could Be a Solution
Could the answer be to put the rising Lafreniere with Kreider and Zibanejad? Maybe, but even if that finally ends the duo’s right-side upheaval, it might just as well be a case of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. Breaking up one of the most productive forward trios in the league won’t result in a net gain if strengthening Kreider-Zibanejad weakens Panarin-Trocheck. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, is yet another cliche that applies neatly here.
Kreider-Zibanejad-Lafreniere have been very effective in limited time together over the past three seasons, with the group posting a 53.7 expected goal share in 288:37, outscoring opponents 16-11. The fact that busting up such a dominant line would even be considered, however, shows how lacking the Rangers remain in potential options to fix the right-wing problem.
Smith and Trocheck do have some history as teammates with the Florida Panthers from 2015-17, playing 1441:27 together and posting a 53.6 expected goal share. Trocheck, however, was the primary driver of that strong number, as Smith’s expected goal share without Trocheck was 45.4, with the Panthers getting heavily outchanced with Smith on the ice minus Trocheck.
Kaapo Kakko’s inability to seize the job despite multiple opportunities likely means he won’t get another one. Whether it’s his game not fitting well with that of Kreider and Zibanejad, or him just not playing well enough to stick, or both, the former No. 2 overall draft pick doesn’t appear to be a viable option to play in the top six at this point – something the Blueshirts surely thought he eventually would. Kakko looks like a third-liner on this roster, and he might be traded before camp with his future with the organization murky.
The other options are youngsters such as Brennan Othmann or Brett Berard, neither of whom is guaranteed to make the roster this fall – and neither of whom is a natural right wing in an organization nearly devoid of prospects at that spot. Gabe Perreault, the club’s impressive 2023 first-round pick, might be an option for 2025-26, but he’s expected to remain at Boston College for the coming season and might not be NHL-ready even by next season.
That leaves Smith for now, seemingly sure to be the next shot at a fix that would likely be only a one-year patch job, even if he jells with Kreider and Zibanejad and produces anywhere close to his 2022-23 level. Rangers fans would take that, however, if it means this win-now club can get some short-term stability at a spot that has been quicksand since KZB became a thing of the past three years ago.
