How the Rangers could adjust if Vincent Trocheck is out for a while
Buffalo Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram clears the puck away from Rangers center Vincent Trocheck during the first period on Thursday. Credit: AP/Adrian Kraus
BUFFALO — The Rangers were scheduled to practice in Pittsburgh on Friday but opted to cancel it, meaning there likely will be no update on the status of first-line center Vincent Trocheck, who left Thursday night’s 4-0 win over the Sabres in the second period with what the team said was an upper-body injury.
Trocheck, who had assisted on Alexis Lafreniere’s first-period goal, already was playing with a full shield on his helmet after getting hit in the nose with a puck at practice during training camp. He also was one of only two players (defenseman Will Borgen was the other) who did not take part in Thursday’s optional morning skate, a possible indication that he might have been nursing some sort of problem going into the game.
He didn’t seem to have taken a big hit when he left at 6:50 of the second period after a penalty-killing shift. Lafreniere said he didn’t know what happened to his centerman.
“It’s really tough,’’ Lafreniere said. “He’s one of our best players, obviously, and he does everything for us . . . I don’t even know what happened, so hopefully we get him back soon.’’
The Rangers have back-to-back games over the weekend, Saturday in Trocheck’s hometown of Pittsburgh (in coach Mike Sullivan’s return to the city where he coached for 10-plus seasons and won two Stanley Cups), and Sunday at home against Washington. If Trocheck is unavailable for either or both, that would be a blow to a team still trying to find itself under Sullivan.
Most likely, he would move Mika Zibanejad from the J.T. Miller line, with Will Cuylle, to take Trocheck’s spot between Artemi Panarin and Lafreniere. Doing that would leave a hole at right wing on Miller’s line.
With Zibanejad taking most of the shifts between Panarin and Lafreniere on Thursday night, Conor Sheary moved up from the third line and played some time on the wing with Cuylle and Miller. Fourth-line center Sam Carrick had a shift with them as well.
“It’s fine,’’ Lafreniere said of adjusting to different centers. “It doesn’t make a big difference. Try to go out there and play and just try to make some plays at least and defend well.”
The Rangers are at the maximum 23 players on the roster, meaning they have two extra forwards, so they wouldn’t need to make a roster move to replace Trocheck if it’s just for a game or two. Either Juuso Parssinen or Jonny Brodzinski would enter the lineup, and Sullivan would have to reconfigure the forward lines.
If Trocheck were to be out longer term, the Rangers could put him on injured reserve and perhaps call up a forward from AHL Hartford, maybe Gabe Perreault or Brett Berard.
“I mean, just, everyone knows they’ve got to step up a little more,’’ defenseman Carson Soucy said. “Obviously, [Trocheck]’s a big part of our team offensively, defensively. But I think our forwards did a great job stepping up tonight.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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