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CALGARY, Alberta — Despite riding a three-game win streak into Edmonton on Monday, the Rangers still made a lineup change.
Replacing Matt Rempe with Luke Glendening and rearranging the bottom six was certainly not a major factor in the 3-1 loss to the Western Conference-leading Oilers, but it is a reflection of their current center depth and how Blueshirts head coach Mike Sullivan is trying to manage it.
Without the advantage of the last line change while on the road, the Rangers presumably wanted the peace of mind that comes from having another true center in the lineup.
Including another penalty killer against the No. 3 power play in the NHL couldn’t hurt either.
After utilizing Will Cuylle as their third-line center the previous three games, however, the Rangers’ limited options and production down the middle are beginning to be felt.
Of course, the lower-body injury Joseph Veleno suffered four games into the season has exacerbated the situation. Tuesday marked exactly a month since the Rangers announced he would be sidelined for about 3 1/2 months.
The Rangers gave rookie Cole Beaudoin — acquired in the Vincent Trocheck trade — a look for four games before turning to veteran Justin Dowling for another four.
When it became clear neither option was a fit, the Rangers signed Glendening to a professional tryout before giving the 37-year-old a one-year, $850,000 contract. Glendening hasn’t been the most impactful, sitting with zero points through four games, but he has been serviceable.
Beaudoin has been hurt essentially since his last NHL chance. Neither Juuso Parssinen nor Carey Terrance, acquired in the Chris Kreider trade, inspire much confidence or are near ready.
And Tuesday afternoon, the Rangers recalled the 29-year-old Glenn Gawdin, who hasn’t played in the NHL since logging one game during the 2023-24 season with the Ducks.
Alberts Smits, who missed the past two games with an upper-body injury, was placed on injured reserve to make room for Gawdin.
When looking at the big picture, it’s understandable why Sullivan looked to move Cuylle to the middle.
Though it is likely not a long-term solution and Sullivan continues to tinker with the lineup, the Rangers have even bigger problems at center than just a shallow pool of players.
Top two centers Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller combined for just four — four! — 5-on-5 goals through the first 19 games of the season.
With only seven goals between the two, the Rangers have suffered tremendously without the offensive production they have needed from two of their marquee players.
In their nine losses, including Monday night in Edmonton, the Rangers have been limited to one or no goals six times.
“Hard on myself in that department,” said Miller, who has four goals. “I feel like I’m all over the net right now, and nothing seemed to find the net. We’re just missing that timely goal. That was a big game for us [Monday]. I thought if we could get one [Monday], it really had the ball rolling for us. It hurts a little right now, but we got a day off [Tuesday] to think about it and then we’ll move forward to Calgary.”
Miller has rather consistently generated scoring chances and made for an effective duo with Tye Kartye, but the finish has evaded him both 5-on-5 and on the power play. In addition to hitting three posts, Miller has just one power-play goal.
Sullivan and assistant coach David Quinn, who is in charge of the power play, opted to split up Zibanejad and Miller — as well as double-shift Adam Fox — in hopes of giving the two units a jolt.
Like Miller, Zibanejad also has just one goal on the power play so far this season.
The Rangers were able to score on the power play two games in a row against the Flyers and the Kraken recently, but the club’s overall body of work with the man advantage has been underwhelming at 18.9 percent.
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Against the Oilers, Sullivan went with the second unit — Fox, Miller, Cuylle, Kartye and Oliver Bjorkstrand — at the start of power plays more than usual.
When Ryan Shea got called for tripping Alexis Lafrenière with 1:26 left in regulation, however, the Rangers put Fox, Miller, Zibanejad, Kartye, Lafrenière and Pavel Dorofeyev out there with an empty net.
The group represents the players Sullivan and his staff believe are the Rangers’ best right now.
“They’re, for the most part, getting fairly split even,” Sullivan said of the two power-play units. “Sometimes, if Mika’s line’s on the ice and they’re tired, we’ll go with the other unit. And then sometimes, if they’re both fresh, it’s a sense of, ‘OK, who do we think is going well?’ The other thing is I thought J.T. was pretty good in the faceoff circle, so he’s inclined to win the opening faceoff, which gives us zone time. When he’s dominant in the faceoff circle like that, that helps.
“So there are multiple reasons why we make the decisions, but it’s not a case of one’s getting favored over the other. For the most part, they’ve been pretty split 50-50 down the middle.”
