Dennis Schneidler-Imagn ImagesThe New York Rangers have finally found a reliable top-six line consisting of Alexis Lafrenière, Gabe Perreault, and Mika Zibanejad.
Throughout the entirety of the 2025-26 season, Mike Sullivan has tirelessly shuffled his top-six forward unit with the hopes of finding sustainable offense.
Despite practically exhausting all possible line combinations, the Rangers struggled to find consistent offensive trios, and let their season slip away in the process.
It may be too little too late, but it appears as if the Blueshirts have finally found a line Sullivan can stick with in Lafrenière, Perreault, and Zibanejad.
Over the past few games, this trio has provided the Rangers with an offensive spark they simply haven’t had all season long.
What makes this line so effective together?
“I think Mika’s line in the last handful of games has been really good,” Sullivan said. “They all have really good offensive instincts. They are a little bit different in how they play, but in a lot of ways, that makes them complementary.”
The numbers speak for themselves. Through the Rangers’ past four games, Lafrenière and Zibanejad have recorded eight points, while Perreault trails slightly behind with four points.
Lafrenière’s recent resurgence comes as a pleasant surprise, as he’s struggled to produce points for much of the season.
It even came to the point where Lafrenière’s name was the subject of trade rumors, given the frustration of his overall lack of improvement from his breakout season during the 2023-24 campaign and failure to live up to a seven-year, $52.15 million contract extension.
The 24-year-old has flipped the script in an emphatic way. In the Rangers’ 4-0 win against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, Lafrenière recorded his second career hat trick and he credited his newfound confidence for his sudden success.
“Just playing with a little bit more confidence,” Lafrenière said. “Skating a little better, hanging onto pucks a little bit more in the neutral zone offensively. Just trying to put myself in better spots to get the puck.”
Some criticism thrown Lafrenière’s way over the years has been centered around his one-dimensional game.
Since Sullivan’s arrival, the two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach has tried to encourage the 2020 first-overall pick to find different avenues to generate offense.
We are finally beginning to see this new mentality pay dividends. Lafrenière is generating offense at a rapid rate, recording nine shots in the Rangers’ two previous games, as he’s finding ways to impact the game in an abundance of situations, which is translating to the stat sheet.
“I think one of the things we’ve tried to encourage Laf to do a little bit more of was finding ways to create offense in different ways,” Sullivan said. “He’s adding a dimension to his game that we’ll call the grind game, where he can create offense underneath the hash marks from below the goal line, getting inside, whether it be a net front, tips, deflections, rebounds, things of that nature.
“I think he's just adding that dimension to his game a little bit more consistently. It's hard to score consistently in this league if you don't have that element to your game. I think he's doing a better job in that aspect of his offensive game.”
Perreault’s nifty passing, whether it’s putting the puck between his legs or finding his teammates without even looking at them, may have come as a surprise at first, but everybody has grown accustomed to his unique facilitating skills.
The 20-year-old rookie seems to have full command of the game, knowing where his teammates are at all points and being able to create for them in ways where you can only shake your head in disbelief.
“What I did encourage him to do is trust his instincts because he has excellent instincts,” Sullivan said of Perreault. “I think he’s making high-end plays. His confidence is building. You can see it when he's hanging onto the pucks, things of that nature. Gabe is continuing to build his game… We're obviously real encouraged with his overall growth and development.”
In just a matter of months, Perreault went from having a difficult time keeping up with the pace of NHL play to playing the game with a certain poise rarely seen from rookies, and that’s a credit to his ability to create offense.
On the other hand, Zibanejad has been consistent all season long.
The 32-year-old’s struggles during the 2024-25 season feel like a distant memory. Zibanejad has already scored 27 goals in 63 games compared to his 20 goals in 82 games last season.
Zibanejad recorded the 400th point of his career on Tuesday night, and he lamented on how special this achievement was on top of just not taking hockey for granted.
“It feels surreal,” Zibanejad said. “Starting to play hockey, I don't know if that's what I was dreaming about. I'm hoping I have a lot of good hockey left to play. I don't feel old, so that's a good sign I guess.”
The trio of Lafrenière, Perreault, and Ziabenjad may not save the Rangers’ season, but it’s at least creating a sense of hope and excitement for a fan base in desperate need of both.