The Rangers just made multiple BIG moves...

Alright, it's time for a wake-up call. Four straight losses, and the Rangers have been outscored 22-12 in those losses. And in one quick move, Mike Sullivan has completely changed what this entire lineup looks like. He has moved Will Cooley to center, and he's also changed up the power play entirely. And the Rangers have made multiple roster moves, swapping two players from the Rangers to the Hartford Wolfpack. He even commented about the power play since he made changes to it, saying, Is this the long-term solution? I'm not sure. I don't know the answer to that yet. So tonight against the Blues, we're not watching a final product. We're not watching a fix. We're watching a coach playing with things, because this team has lost four in a row. Sean Durzi, major update on him. Another big update on Dylan Guenther. And again, two big roster moves with one familiar face and fan favorite coming up from the Hartford Wolfpack. Now before we get into that update and much more on this episode, a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button. I am giving away a jersey here on the channel for whatever comes first, either 15,000 subscribers or the Rangers make the playoffs. So if you guys are enjoying the daily content on everything around the New York Rangers, make sure to hit that subscribe button. Thank you so much for now over 12. 1,000 subscribers now before we get into the roster moves because there's a couple of them and it changes what this lineup looks like There's a big changes coming to the lineup tonight On the power play the rangers are 8 for 40 on the power play this season That is 20 percent and good for 19th in the entire league and it wasn't always like this last season The rangers power play despite how bad they were was 24.7 percent, which was fifth in the entire league So the drop off is crazy, especially considering some of the talent that they added in the offseason. So that is what Mike Sullivan is reacting to and trying some new things. Here's the new look power play from yesterday's practice. The first unit is now Fox, Perreault, Zibanejad, Lafreniere, and Dorofeev. The second unit is now Gavrikov, Miller, Cooley, Karchi, and Bjorkstrand. It just seems like a weird collection of players. And the captain JT Miller is now on the second unit. And JT Miller has been. decent in terms of point production this season and they move him to the second power play has four goals and six assists in 15 games so far this season and one of those goals came on the power play but you know who looks better on the power play Gabe Perreault. Speaking of Gabe Perreault without Sean Durzi in the lineup on Sunday the second power play unit was Gavrikov, Perreault, Cooley, Bjorkstrand and Tolvanen. And Sullivan has now tried a bunch of different combinations. Sullivan also said that he spoke to the original first unit before making the changes. And then he made the changes. He said, I felt like we're being patient with that first group for a long time. So we're just trying to get it to work and try something new. He also said something pretty interesting. He said his college coach, Jack Parker, told him to always go with what he deems as the five best players on the team and put them on the power play. So he said that that's what he did. Now, I don't really agree with that, but he said, I just think at this particular point in time, I could feel or sense an element of frustration just because these guys care deeply. And Miller wasn't really giving any pushback, wasn't arguing with the choice to put him on power play too. He said, just some juice. We've been way below our standard, I think, so far. And head coach Mike Sullivan said that JT Miller gets it and quote, I think JT understands it. Now, I like the transparency. They haven't been good enough on the power play, especially for the firepower that they have. So shuffling five players around on a 20% power play, that's an easy fix. That's something that I could see that happening. Now, some of the other moves that Mike Sullivan did, because he didn't stop there. Now they are pretty interesting. Will Cooley is a winger. Will Cooley has always been a winger and Will Cooley has four goals and four assists in 15 games this season. He actually hits more than anybody else on the team as well with 4.1 hits a game. And for the first time in his life at practice and in this game, he will be playing center between Tolvanen and Bjorkstrand. And Sullivan says that it's a position Cooley has. Again, never played in his life. Mike Sullivan said the reason for this is that he just feels like with where we're at, we need to effect a little bit of change. He can skate. He has good size. He can lean on people down low. Cooley was asked about the change too, because again, he's never played this position before. And he said, quote, I like to think I'm pretty responsible defensively. I have a good idea of what to do. I think I just actually got to get out there and start applying it. And that will be a challenge for me. There's some interesting numbers behind this as well. He currently has zero takeaways a game. And that is still in the fifth percentile, which is pretty funny. But the real question here is what does he give you away from the puck? Because you know that he's physical, but can he play center? He's never really played that position before. And I don't know if I agree with this move, although. They have nothing left to lose right now. And my biggest concerns are positionally with him, but not in the face-off dot because the face-offs aren't as scary as they sound with this player. He's actually winning 53.8% of his draws from the wing when he takes face-offs, which is already higher than Zibanejad at 53%, 53.6% and Noah Laba. He's the best of them all at 58.7, and he will be playing fourth line center. But from Sullivan's point of view, while I don't necessarily agree with some of these moves, I can understand just trying to shake it up and get some change. He said, quote, we could flip it back in one shift if we wanted to. We'll have a discussion and decide whether we want to keep it or not, but it's an option for us. And nothing is ever etched in stone is something that he said recently, especially revolving around the defense pairing. Watch the defensive zone tonight. See how he is positionally. Maybe they flip back to something that's a little bit more familiar at some point in the game. But my read is that he's going to be back on the wing pretty, pretty quickly. Now, those are some big changes that they made, but the Rangers also made some roster moves. So Yaroslav Hemelosh has actually been recalled from the Hartford Wolfpack. He's one of my favorite young players in this entire organization. And as a result, and a subsequent move. Taylor Radish has been sent down to the Hartford Wolfpack. No real reason was given for this call-up or assignment for Taylor Radish, but he had six games and one assist this season, and he played roughly seven minutes against the Oilers on Sunday. It's also the second call up that the Rangers have made since Saturday. They called up Matthew Robertson on October 31st, and now he is going to be a healthy scratch tonight. Mike Sullivan did explain some of the moves, including the one for Hemelash, and he said Chris Drury and his staff felt that reinserting him into the lineup here based on how he was playing down in Hartford potentially. Could help our group. So playing with a lot of confidence right now. And Hamilash has played seven games for the Rangers this season and had no points. But the team is five and two with him and two and five and one without him. So I don't know how much you can read into that or think about it, but the seven games that he did play, he was on the fourth line. He played roughly eight minutes a game and the team did win five of those seven games. Now, it's not always about points. And I do think that this is a player that can chip in for points, but it's the other intangibles and what he brings to a lineup. And that's something that he spoke about himself today. He said, quote, I want to be all over pucks. And that is his main goal for tonight, just to bring energy and to skate. He also mentioned that the person that got him through being sent down and who has been by his side the entire time is his fiancee who moved in with him for this full season. So shout out to that as well. Quote, she went through it all with me for the first time having her over. It's been a huge part of the mental side. So getting sent down, continuing to get after it, playing well, and now he's back with the Rangers. So now he steps into Radish's spot on a fourth line that now looks like Hemilash, Laba, and Rempe. That is you know what they're trying to get out of that. You got two big boys. You're trying to get some speed, some energy out of that line. And now tonight you take all of those changes and you put them against another struggling team in the St. Louis Blues at home at MSG. The Blues are pretty much identical to the Rangers this season, 7-6-1, they have 15 points, exact same as the Rangers. Their power play is quite good, much better than the Rangers, 9-38, that's 23.7%, 10th in the league, and the Rangers are sitting at 20%. The Blues have come away with 4 wins in their last 6 games, but they were shut out twice in that stretch, 4-0 to Carolina and 2-0 by Montreal. So while they have picked up quite a few wins here, they have struggled at times this season and have struggled to score goals so the Rangers have a chance to get some redemption here get back in the win column. Now another update on the lineup on the defense pairings no Sean Dursey tonight per Mike Sullivan. The Rangers haven't said why he's clearly dealing with an injury everyone thinks it's his hand now he skated by himself on Monday and Sullivan wouldn't say if he would play or if there's even a timetable. For his return. We're just getting nothing. He has 5 points in 14 games this season. And he hasn't played since October 26th. Dylan Grant will be the man in goal again tonight. And he is starting for the 11th straight time. To clarify that by the way. It's his 11th start. He's actually played in every single game. He's made an appearance in every single game since October 9th. He hasn't started all of them. But tonight is his second straight start. The season so far for Grand is 4-6-1, an .896 save percentage, and a 2.73 goals against average. But in his last five appearances, he's allowed 17 goals on 128 shots, and that's an .867. He was pretty hard on himself after the Edmonton game, saying, quote, pretty disappointing, put that loss on me. As for some of the other changes in the lineup, Per Vince Marcagliano, Glenn Denning and Robertson look to be the scratches tonight. So Rempe and Morrow will play, which means Morrow getting another game. Another shot at a prove-it opportunity for Matt Rempe. He has two games and five penalty minutes this season. He's going to be relied upon to be, I guess, an energy guy. That fourth line, we know what they're going to bring to the table tonight. Hit. Play with speed, get pucks deep, try to create some chaos. Let's talk about Scott Morrow for a second. He made his season debut on Sunday on his 24th birthday. So tonight is his second game with the Rangers this year. And here's where the full lineup stands as of practice yesterday. You have a first line of Dorofeev, Zibanejad, Lafreniere. You have Cartier, Miller, and now Perrot picking a new spot on the second line. Tolvanen, Cooley in the middle with Bjorkstrand. And then the new look fourth line with Hemelosh. So here's the recipe for success and the menu heading into tonight. Here's three things. Can the new look power play get on the board and start feeling good about themselves? The Rangers are eight for 40 and the Blues kill is the 10th best in the NHL. So honestly, one goal would be a great start for this unit. Number two would be Will Cooley. What does that look like? What does he look like at the center position? That's going to be a real test. We know he can take face-offs even as a winger. But what does it look like positionally? At number three, Dylan Garan, how he looks. He's played a lot of hockey and the Rangers defense core. They have an injury to Sean Durzi. They have to plug the holes. And he's let in 17 goals in his last 128 shots. So and that's in the last five games. So the Rangers don't need him to be perfect, but they need him back at what he was earlier in the season. And there's not much wiggle room in the standings right now at 15 points. They're fifth in the Metropolitan Division, and they're playing a team that's pretty much in the same spot as them with 15 points. And that's why dropping a game here tonight would be absolutely brutal. It's not just a streak anymore. That would be a huge gap. In the schedule where you've lost a bunch of games. Now, it's pretty interesting. There's a lot of messages being sent with a lot of these changes to certain players to pick up the pace, to pick up their play. I'm excited to see what the power play can do. Is it a long-term answer? Are some of these lines a long-term answer? I don't think so, but it's just a way to shake things up and hopefully get a couple guys going. The Rangers are 7-7-1. They've lost four in a row, and a fifth loss in a row would really do some damage to the morale of this team and just their overall chances of making the playoffs. I know a lot of you guys are going to think that's crazy. But I mean, you're still technically in it and anything can happen to any other team at any moment. So guys, let me know in the comments, which move do you think actually makes the biggest difference? Do you think Hemelosh coming back into the lineup on the fourth line or Will Cooley at center? Let me know how you feel in the comments below. That's it for me today. My name is Darius Dominguez. This is Rangers Digest. Make sure to hit that subscribe button. Guys, I'll see you in the next video.