Vincent Trocheck's Latest Injury Has Just Became A Significant Problem for the New York Rangers
Photo credit: Adam Hunger/AP
With Vinnie Trocheck out of the lineup for the New York Rangers, the team will have to adjust on the fly. His absence has created opportunities for other players in the lineup to step up, but can they produce at the level he does?
The New York Rangers lost forward Vinnie Trocheck to an upper-body injury during last Thursday's shutout against the Buffalo Sabres.
While the victory was great, it was bittersweet as the team will have to consider their next moves to keep the offense pumping and lines healthy.
This is a problem for a Rangers team that has plenty of unproven players in the lineup who will have to step up their game in his absence. That has ended up being players like Conor Sheary, Jonny Brodzinski, who have risen through the ranks not by choice, but necessity.
«He's an extremely talented guy,» Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. «He plays in a lot of key situations for us, one of our best center icemen in the faceoff circle, and obviously plays in every situation - the power play, the penalty kill, and part of our top six. So those guys aren't easy to replace, but it's going to provide opportunities for others to step up. We'll see what we have.»
The New York Rangers Find A Flexible Lineup Out of Necessity
Mika Zibanejad has had to re-assume his role on the 1st-line for the Rangers, and has found himself in an old role. Now, he'll have to find a way to be his old productive self we've seen before.
Sullivan said of moving Zibanejad to center. «I feel like when we have J.T. and Mika in our top two center positions, and now we surround them with some of the people that we have that we think are gifted offensively, those two guys can think the game along those terms. So I just think the balance part of it is an important element. We feel like, when Troch was out of the lineup, it was a necessary choice to put Mika back in the middle.»
In the last 4 games, he's scored 1 point, but has found a way to create offense and play aggressively. A sign that Trocheck's absence shouldn't be felt that hard.
It seems as if this is a short-term solution, but it could create long-term problems. If the team needs to make a call-up from the AHL's Hartford Wolfpack, place Trocheck on the LTIR, as they only have $842K in cap space.
While this seems insignificant, there could be penalties involved, as the team would have to make sure Trocheck is out for ten games or more before calling up Brett Berard, Brennan Othmann, or Gabe Perreault.
It would also prevent the team from accruing cap space if it exceeded the salary-cap ceiling, which it would do if any of the young forwards came up.
Once you peel the onion, the issues get deeper and deeper here.
Previously on NY Rangers Insider
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