Management made a conscious offseason effort to add depth and reduce the burden on top Rangers players.
asserted
Management → make → players
President and general manager Chris Drury targeted not only skaters adept on special teams, but also emphasized adding versatile players who could play on both wings and both sides on defense, and move up and down the lineup.
uncertain
who → target → lineup
tRY IT NOWNow the actual deployment is in the hands of head coach Mike Sullivan.
asserted
deployment → try → Sullivan
“My hope is we can take some of those [penalty-killing] minutes away from J.T. [Miller] and Mika [Zibanejad],” Sullivan said during training camp.
asserted
Sullivan → take → camp
“I think if we do, we’ll have the ability to get a better version of them, just because of managing workloads.
asserted
we → think → workloads
I think we leaned on those guys a lot.
asserted
we → think → guys
And my experience has been, if you put your top guys in — if they’re first over the boards in every situation — power play, penalty kill, top six — it adds up to north of 20 minutes every single night.
asserted
it → put → minutes
That’s just my experience.
asserted
That → ’ → ?
J.T. and Mika are excellent penalty killers, it’s not to say they won’t be a part of it.
asserted
they → ’ → it
“But we’d like to lessen their load there a little bit there.
asserted
we → like → load
With some of the guys I think we have in the bottom six now, we should be able to do that.”
asserted
we → think → that
The Rangers have been shorthanded an NHL-leading 10 times so far this season. To put it in perspective, the Panthers, with Brady and Matthew Tkachuk, are the only other team that has also been shorthanded that many times entering Saturday’s slate of NHL games.
asserted
that → shorthande → games
Miller, whose average ice time of 16:24 ranks third among Rangers forwards, has logged just 32 seconds on the penalty kill.
asserted
time → rank → kill
As for Adam Fox, the Rangers No. 1 defenseman has seen only 49 seconds of shorthanded time.
asserted
defenseman → see → time
It’s obvious that Sullivan is especially wary of how Fox is being utilized after the 28-year-old defenseman suffered two long-term injuries last season.
asserted
defenseman → ’ → injuries
The mileage on Fox has been a concern in the past, but it appears the Rangers are actively limiting his usage.
asserted
Rangers → appear → usage
For the past six seasons, Fox has averaged at least 23 minutes of ice time per game.
asserted
Fox → average → game
Twice he’s finished with an average of over 24 minutes.
asserted
he → finish → minutes
Friday’s 2-0 win in Detroit marked the first time Fox led the Rangers in ice time (22:50) and the first time he cracked 20 minutes since the season began.
asserted
season → mark → minutes
As much as it’s about the ice time, Sullivan is also looking to make different personnel decisions situationally.
asserted
Sullivan → ’ → decisions
“Last year we leaned on J.T. and Mika a lot in those [defensive] situations,” the veteran coach said.
asserted
coach → lean → situations
“[Noah Laba] was a young guy trying to find his way in the league.
asserted
Laba → try → league
I certainly didn’t want to put him in difficult spots.
asserted
I → want → spots
I think now he’s got a year under his belt.
asserted
he → think → belt
I think he has a better understanding of how he needs to play in order to be successful.
asserted
he → think → understanding
The one thing about Labs is he’s pretty good in the faceoff circle.
asserted
he → ’ → circle
I think he has a better understanding of how we’re trying to play.
asserted
we → think → understanding
I think he can win faceoffs.
asserted
he → think → faceoffs
He’s big and strong, he can defend well, he skates well.
asserted
he → ’ → ?
“Our hope is maybe we can take J.T. and Mika out of some of those situations and deploy them in a more advantageous situation offensively to try to take advantage of their strengths as a group.”
asserted
we → take → group
On Friday night, Tye Kartye was moved up to skate on the second line next to Miller and Pavel Dorofeyev.
asserted
Kartye → move → Miller
Noting that the team felt flat in the middle part of the Rangers victory over Detroit, Sullivan sees Kartye as a perfect example of one of those players who can be plugged into the top of the lineup if the Rangers need a shake-up.
asserted
Rangers → note → up
“I think that what I like about where we’re at is, there could be a little bit of interchange there,” Sullivan said.
uncertain
Sullivan → think → interchange
“Somebody moving in the top six, depending on what the lines look like and it could be on a nightly basis, depending on who’s playing well and what we think the needs are for a particular line in the top six.
uncertain
needs → move → six
We have different players that we need different types of games, different skill sets.
asserted
we → have → games
One of Tye’s greatest strengths is he can really skate.
asserted
he → skate → strengths
He’s a dog on a bone on the puck.
asserted
He → ’ → puck
So when he gets in on the forecheck, he’s a disruptive player.
asserted
he → get → forecheck
“It helps his line establish a possession game in the offensive zone.
asserted
line → help → zone
We felt like we were just a little late arriving, and so that’s why we made the switch.
asserted
we → feel → switch
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
