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The hunt for the Stanley Cup likely will feature a third consecutive trade-deadline hunt for a right wing to ride shotgun for Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, who have had a revolving door on the starboard side since the Rangers traded Pavel Buchnevich following the 2020-21 season.
They have, in fact, had eight partners for 100 minutes or more while at five-on-five. Not all of that is due to former head coach Gerard Gallant’s penchant for juggling line combinations. It has been a difficult fit.
Where have you gone, Vitali Kravtsov?
(Actually, Kravtsov spent a sum of only 3:37 with Kreider and Zibanejad while he was here. When I think about the amount of words and space my dear colleague Mollie Walker and I expended upon the one-time No. 74, it reminds me that a more valuable pursuit would have been worthwhile. Like clipping my nails.)
When Frank Vatrano came from Florida as a rental a few days ahead of the 2022 trade deadline, his shot-first mentality served as the perfect complement for the BFFs as the Blueshirts advanced to the conference finals.
He left thereafter as a free agent, signing a three-year deal with the Ducks for an average annual value of $3.65 million.
The Shooter and his 14 goals will be at the Garden this Friday with Anaheim. He certainly is going to be available moving into the trade season. With a full year remaining on his deal following this one, the contract could be a tough one to absorb.
If, however, the Rangers are able to get a third team involved at a reasonable cost to eat half the deal and thus reduce the cap hit to $1.825 million, reacquiring the one-time No. 77 becomes a much more palatable option both as applies to this season’s squeeze and next season’s roster.
Let’s take a look at the eight partners who have played meaningful minutes with Kreider and Zibanejad in the past five-plus seasons.
If Filip Chytil, sidelined since Nov. 2 due to the fourth suspected concussion of his career, is able to return to the team, I wonder whether management and the coaching staff would consider moving him to wing in order to protect him from open-ice collisions.
That was a theory the Rangers employed from time to time with Eric Lindros, though it never quite stuck for more than a few games at a time. What a sight, though, with No. 88 on the flank with Bobby Holik in the middle.
I’d forgotten just how much Chytil played on the wing his first couple of years under then-head coach David Quinn. Indeed, that was pretty much his regular spot for his 2018-19 rookie season.
Chytil played 50 of his 75 games on the flank that season, and in fact 50 of his first 68 before shifting into the middle for the final few weeks of the season after Deadline Purge II, which cost the club Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes.
No. 72 lined up on the left for 36 of his 50 games on the wing, nine games with Ryan Strome and Vlad Namestnikov and eight with Strome and Jesper Fast. Chytil played nine games on right wing with Kreider and Hayes.
But Quinn used Chytil only twice on the wing the following season, both times with Kreider and Zibanejad.
After playing exclusively in the middle the following season, Chytil played seven games on the wing in Gerard Gallant’s first year behind the bench in 2021-22, twice with — uh — Greg McKegg and Kevin Rooney. Alrighty then.
Chytil last played the wing on Jan. 21, 2022, in Carolina on a line with Alexis Lafreniere and Barclay Goodrow.
It is not likely current head coach Peter Laviolette would reunite Chytil with Kreider and Zibanejad, but stranger things have happened.
Such as scratching Kaapo Kakko in favor of Dryden Hunt for a playoff elimination game. Come to think of it, scratching Brad Richards for Kris Newbury under the same scenario (twice!) likely applies here, too.