Going into the season, the New York Rangers second line was supposed to consist of Artemi Panarin, Filip Chytil, and Alexis Lafreniere.
The line got off to a decent start, but on November 2nd, in a game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Chytil, 24, suffered an upper body in a collision in the first period. He never returned to the game and is still not playing as of this writing (Sunday night, January 14th).
Chytil’s injury changed the whole dynamic of the team’s lineup. With Chytil injured, head coach Peter Laviolette replaced Chytil with Vincent Trocheck to center Panarian and Lafreniere.
That move is easily one of Laviolette’s best this season. All that line has done since being put together is produce offense, create offense, and be the team’s top line on a nightly basis.
Panarin, 32, is having a magical season. He currently leads the team in goals (27), assists (32), points (59), and shots (177).
Here is where Panarin ranks among league leaders:
- Goals: Fourth in the league (27)
- Assists: 17th in the league (32)
- Points: Third in the league (59)
- Points Per Game: Sixth in the league (1.40)
- Even Strength Goals: Second in the league (19)
- Power Play Points: Fourth in the league (25)
- Shots: Fourth in the league (177)
Trocheck, 30, is also having a fine season for the Blueshirts. He is currently second on the team with 42 points on 13 goals and 29 assists.
Trocheck brings everything to his line. Besides producing, he wins a lot of faceoffs (62 percent), puts a lot of pucks on the net (108), and does a great job of leading the line up the ice to generate scoring opportunities.
The other member of this line, Lafreniere, 22, finally looks very comfortable as an NHLer. One reason why is that Laviolette has not juggled Lafreniere up and down the lineup and instead, has strictly kept him with Panarin and Trocheck.
In turn, Lafreniere has rewarded Laviolette’s faith by being one of the team’s most consistent players this season. He has 26 points on 11 goals and 15 assists and has become one of the team’s best two-way players as he now plays a 200-foot game, forechecks hard, plays physically, creates turnovers, and goes hard to the net with the puck.
Together, this line has been lethal this season. They know how to pin the opposition on their end, they are not afraid to put the puck on the net, they all produce, and they all play responsibly.
As long as Laviolette keeps this line together, the Rangers have a line that does all the right things and helps the team win a lot of hockey games.
