At the Rangers morning skate today in Pittsburgh, the lines being used are (Baugh):
- Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad, Reilly Smith
- Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere
- Will Cuylle, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko
- Adam Edstrom, Sam Carrick, Jonny Brodzinski
- K’Andre Miller, Adam Fox
- Braden Schneider, Jacob Trouba
- Zac Jones, Victor Mancini
Chad Ruhwedel and Matt Rempe are skating as extras. (Baugh)
Ryan Lindgren is in a non-contact jersey and full face shield. (Baugh)
The PP Units being used are (Baugh):
- Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck
- K’Andre Miller, Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, Reilly Smith, Kaapo Kakko
Adam Rotter: Up front the Rangers are basically as they should be but with Adam Edstrom and Jonny Brodzinski on the fourth line instead of Jimmy Vesey and Matt Rempe. I don’t expect Rempe to be out of the lineup too long, but Edstrom had such a strong preseason that he deserved the start.
All three defense pairs are jumbled because of Ryan Lindgren’s injury and what seems like a preference to keep Victor Mancini on his natural right side for his first career game. Mancini staying on the right side moves Braden Schneider to the left of Jacob Trouba and keeps K’Andre Miller with Adam Fox. Mancini also had a strong training camp and preseason and you’d much rather than shuffle everyone else around to keep him on his natural side as opposed to shuffling everyone around to keep Chad Ruhwedel on his natural side. Fox and Miller is potentially the first defense pair of the future, especially if Ryan Lindgren isn’t brought back to the season, but part of me would almost rather she Braden Schneider next to Fox as he has a more similar style to Lindgren. Schneider’s future though is not on the left side and once Ryan Lindgren does return, Schneider will shuffle back to the right side. Zac Jones is getting his shot to stick as an NHLer, but I think he should be the one as the QB of PP2 and not Miller. It’s not as if the second PP unit gets a lot of time anyway, but Jones is a much more natural fit there as an offensive defenseman and Miller already has such a big role at 5-on-5 and the PK.