The Rangers 3rd line needs a new look and role - Blue Seat Blogs

"The Rangers 3rd line has been a bit of a conundrum through the first six games of the season. Individually, all of Noah Laba, Conor Sheary, Taylor Raddysh, and Juuso Parssinen have been fine, though Parssinen's season long numbers look worse because one of his two games was pretty rough. The problem isn't with individual performance, but more with cohesion and role. Compounding matters is the Rangers' inability to score, which is putting more focus on the third line to provide tertiary offense."

"What is the role for the Rangers 3rd line? Initially projected to be a shutdown line with Juuso Parssinen at center, the Rangers 3rd line had to be re-evaluated after Noah Laba stormed onto the scene and forced Mike Sullivan to re-think his plans. Laba is a solid two-way center, but putting shutdown responsibilities on a rookie isn't the best path to success."

"That shutdown role has, interestingly enough, shifted to the JT Miller line. Miller was matched against Conor McDavid at home. Sullivan tried to get him out against Auston Matthews last night, and when he couldn't it was Mika Zibanejad who was out there. Clearly the Rangers 3rd line is not going to be a shutdown line at the moment. This is probably a good thing in the long run, but for now it creates a few concerns."

"Notably, the Rangers still aren't scoring, and the Rangers 3rd line has played a role in these struggles. As a collective unit, the Rangers 3rd line has a scoring line of 2-4-6, with goals coming from Parssinen and Raddysh. Laba has a pair of assists. They've also received primarily offensive zone starts, which to me signals this line should be a sheltered scoring line, much like the Zuccarello-Brassard-Pouliot line in 2013-2014."

The Rangers' third line has struggled with cohesion and role clarity through the first six games despite competent individual performances from Noah Laba, Conor Sheary, Taylor Raddysh, and Juuso Parssinen. Parssinen's numbers suffer from one rough game. Noah Laba's strong play forced a re-evaluation of the originally projected shutdown center role. JT Miller's line has assumed shutdown matchups instead. The third line's collective scoring is 2-4-6 with goals from Parssinen and Raddysh and two assists from Laba. Primary offensive-zone starts suggest a sheltered scoring role similar to the 2013-14 Zuccarello-Brassard-Pouliot line. Success requires dominating weaker depth and forcing opponents to defend this trio.

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