All signs point to the Rangers deploying relatively the same power-play units to start the season, aside from the addition of offseason signee Blake Wheeler to the second group.
The top unit that features Adam Fox, Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck is one that head coach Peter Laviolette indicated would likely stay together before the Rangers even made final roster cuts.
K’Andre Miller, Filip Chytil, Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko and Wheeler have been skating together as the second power-play unit.
The fact that both units are either lefty-shot or righty-shot heavy begs the question whether that’s the most effective alignment the Rangers have.
Should the Rangers be spreading out the talent?
Should there be a balanced mix of righties and lefties?
Laviolette said he sees his power-play personnel as interchangeable, but that doesn’t mean he won’t start with what has worked in the past.
“I think that when power plays move, they become a little bit more dangerous,” Laviolette said. “So if we have interchangeable parts out there, I think that’s a positive. I think sometimes it’s better to have some hands in certain areas, so I think hands matter at times. But movement also helps as well. We have some guys that can shift and move out there on the power play.”
The top unit has four righty shots in Zibanejad, Panarin, Trocheck and Fox, while Kreider — who usually occupies the bump spot — has a left-handed shot.
On the contrary, the second group features four lefty shots in Miller, Chytil, Lafreniere and Kakko, while Wheeler is the lone righty.
The history, chemistry and track record of PP1 is difficult to ignore, which is why Laviolette has used it as a starting point.
Though that track record does include some streaky scoring, so we could see some quick changes if the production isn’t there.
The Rangers have heavily relied on their power-play production in the past, but there were rarely any changes made to ignite a spark when it wasn’t there.
Since Laviolette probably won’t have as much time as he’d like to experiment with vastly different units before the start of the season Thursday in Buffalo, that may have to come later on if it’s needed.
The Rangers had the day off on Monday and are scheduled to return to the ice for practice on Tuesday.
On Sunday, however, Chytil and Lafreniere both skated in red non-contact jerseys.
Chytil is coming off an undisclosed upper-body injury that sidelined him for a majority of training camp and kept him out of five of six exhibition games. The Czech center has donned a non-contact jersey in the past two practices.
Lafreniere missed Saturday’s practice with an upper-body injury, but Laviolette indicated there was no real concern.
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