We are officially over the halfway hump of the season as the Rangers host the Dallas Stars for their second meeting of the season in game 43 of 82. Lots to talk about prior to this one as the Rangers will be without Chris Kreider for what feels like the first time in a very long time and we have a new player joining the Rangers which comes at a bit of a surprise. It was announced yesterday afternoon that the New York Rangers have claimed forward Jake Leschyshyn from the Vegas Golden Knights. It doesn’t seem like he’ll play tonight but either way there’s a lot to unpack from the latest roster move.
A lot of Rangers fans were quick to dismiss the roster move for a variety of reasons. For starters, just by taking a quick glance at any of Leschyshyn’s charts or advanced stats, there aren’t many visible positives to come from this player. He has no goals at the NHL level this season and only has a career tally of six points in 63 games with two of those points being goals. Next, the Rangers already have a handful of players that fit the type of role that Leschyshyn brings to the table so there wasn’t necessarily a dire need for him. Lastly, and for probably the most logical reason, the reality of it is that this is a very miniscule move for the Rangers as far as the big picture is concerned. It’s a low risk move and doesn’t add to the team’s salary cap problems which is really what you’re looking to avoid with any moves going forward.
So what exactly do the Rangers get in this player and why bring him on? Well, you’re getting a left handed shot centerman who despite a smaller size plays a hard nosed game and isn’t afraid to bring a physical presence or get in front of a shot in his own end. Despite being a former second round draft pick, Leshyshyn has not seemed to find a way to translate his game at the NHL level, but has put up some numbers in the American League. In 34 games with the Silver Knights last season, Leshyshyn put up 14 goals and 13 assists, just seven points south of being a point per game kind of player. An accolade he exemplified in three of his four final junior seasons. While the numbers don’t lie regarding his performance at the NHL level, Leschyshyn is only 23 years old and has only ever been a part of the Golden Knights franchise. A change of scenery can always hold potential for turning things around and perhaps that can be the case for Leschyshyn.
Sure, given the type of player he is, you probably shouldn’t bank on or hope that he will become this goal scoring offensive threat that can blossom into a consistent, contributing player. However, if he can pick up his offense and find ways to contribute more efficiently in both ends of the ice, he can win face-offs and be a cheap, solid depth option for the next couple seasons. One of the big questions regarding this move is why take on a player who plays a similar role to Brodzinski, Blais, Ryan Carpenter, Gustav Rydahl and others already with the Wolf Pack down in Hartford. Well, you can never have enough right? Leschyshyn is under contract past this season and down the road, cheap bottom-six options are only going to become more and more of a need so why not take a chance on a 23 year old who has plenty of room for growth in his game? Worst case scenario, he doesn’t perform and gets sent back to waivers or eats up some minutes in Hartford. I don’t see the Rangers playing him over anyone on their current roster except maybe Brodzisnki or Blais and there isn’t much harm in that. There’s a very real chance that once Kreider returns the Rangers try to send him down to Hartford anyway so it’s not worth overthinking this move a whole lot.
Now as for the game tonight, as mentioned at the top, the Rangers will be without Chris Kreider who was banged up late in the game against MInnesota Tuesday Night. While it absolutely sucks to lose Kreider, it does come as a great opportunity for a certain struggling, young Rangers winger, to get some top line minutes, as well as significant power play time. With Kreider out, Lafreniere is expected to join Zibanejad and Kakko on that top line which will certainly be the big thing to keep an eye on tonight. It’s no secret that Lafreniere has sort of lost his confidence as of late and this is the perfect opportunity for him to hopefully get some of his swagger back. With that in mind, we can expect the following lines for tonight:
Lafreniere - Zibanejad - Kakko
Panarin - Trocheck - Kravtsov
Goodrow - Chytil - Vesey
Blais - Brodzinski - Gauthier
Lindgren - Fox
Miller - Trouba
Harpur - Schneider
On Dallas’ end, they’ve sneakily been one of, if not the best team in the Western Conference this season and a lot of that has to do with their top players, including Jake Oettenger in net. First and foremost, you can’t talk about the Dallas Stars without talking about Jason Robertson who is blossoming into quite the NHL star right before all of our eyes. He had an incredible start to the season and still remains one of the top players in the league with 29 goals and assists for a total of 58 points in 42 games. He’ll be the story again tonight as he has six points in his last five games, with five of them being goals. Alongside Robertson, veteran Joe Pavelski has certainly aged like a fine wine as he continues to be a significant contributor to the Dallas Stars and has definitely found a home there as he recently re-upped for a very cheap contract extension.
Of course, Nils Lundkvist will always come to mind with Dallas as he has established himself very well since being traded there from the Rangers. With four goals and eight assists on the season, I’m sure there will be lots of chatter/comparisons to him and Braden Schneider, who has also had himself a very strong season. The Rangers defenders will be a huge key to shutting down Dallas’ starpower and for Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller specifically, have looked stellar as of late. As long as they can keep it going and get some offense from their forwards, the Rangers should be more than capable of coming out of this one with another pair of points.
The Stars are among the top ten teams in the league in every major category including special teams, goals for/against and face-offs. They’re in the midst of a two game New York road trip as they have most recently, beated the New York Islanders by a score of 2-1 Tuesday Night on Long Island. As of late, the Stars haven’t played a ton of hockey as they had a three game break last week and have only played four games before tonight on the New Year. With a record of 7-3 in their last ten, they will look to keep the points coming as the Rangers look to continue on their recent success as well. Last time the two teams dropped the puck, Vincent Trocheck helped lead the Rangers to a 6-3 win. The Stars will look to redeem themselves from that last outing while the Rangers will want to go undefeated against them on the season. Taking everything into consideration, we should be in for a great hockey game tonight.
Chris Feldman
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