Notes and quotes from the New York Rangers practice on October 18th, 2023.
The New York Rangers practiced this morning ahead of a game against the Nashville Predators taking place tomorrow, October 19th, at Madison Square Garden. Here is today's notebook from today's exercises.
Wheeler Off of PP2: During the team's powerplay drills, Blake Wheeler was working on the penalty kill against the man advantage unit he was formerly on. "The Kids" line reunited with Will Cuylle working at the bumper position and Gustafsson walking the blue line, swapping with K'Andre Miller.
It's a notable change as Wheeler has not brought a lot to the table in the club's first three games, now rotating out of the second powerplay unit slot.
Lindgren and Fox Practice: Ryan Lindgren appeared to be banged up following a routine check from Lawson Crouse in the 1st period of play against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. Last week, the stalwart defender was listed as day-to-day following the season opener against the Buffalo Sabres and missed the October 14th match against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Adam Fox also hit into the boards awkwardly in the home opening game following a missed tripping call on Clayton Keller.
Both defenders were practicing in full today. Keep an eye on Ryan Lindgren, as the Rangers can't afford to lose their top-pairing d-man to injury.
Laviolette Preaches Patience: Peter Laviolette covered an array of topics today, talking about the lineup and coaching young players in Nashville.
He preached patience regarding his lineup decision through the team's first regular season matches, stating, "It's early on. I think before you go changing things too much, you've got to give it a chance, got to take it for a test drive and see how it looks... I think you have to do it for a stretch of time, evaluate it, and see whether or not you like it... Like I said we are looking at everything from five on five to the penalty kill to the powerplay."
One line has generated dazzling offense for New York centered by Filip Chytil. Laviolette explained the decision to unite the 24-year-old with Alexis Lafreniere and Artemi Panarin, "I think at some point you have to expand your mind on what the potential is of that player. You've seen in the exhibition and first three games that Kakko is in a spot, Laf is in a spot, and that's the starting point...There's a skill set that comes with playing with Panarin and with Laf and I think that line is all a little bit different.... I like what I've seen. I'd like to see it continue."
Blake Wheeler has not caught traction yet on the scoresheet, but Laviolette is letting the third line build an identity, " I think that these lines are still trying got work out their identity. I see them as a responsible line. " He continued to speak on Cuylle's impact on the third line, "Will's [Cuylle] is a young player... there hasn't been any 'uh-oh' type of moments. He's done a really good job of playing defense, using his size and physicality...you'd like to see that chemistry continue to evolve."
Earlier in the week I released a video about the young talent Peter Laviolette has coached, and he detailed some of that today," All those players when I got to Nashville all of those players were young players... Arvidsson was young, Josi was a young player, and Filip Forsberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Ekholm, and Ellis, were all in their early 20's. That was a young team that kind of built itself."
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