Rangers’ Gerard Gallant Needs to Alter His Lineup Approach

Line shuffling and the New York Rangers seem to be synonymous this season. Head coach Gerard Gallant has habitually changed the lines mid-game and on off days, overthinking and mismanaging his lineup. He has made questionable decisions this season, but to his credit, he still has the Rangers in the thick of the playoff picture.

I never pretend to know more than an NHL coach, but from an outside perspective, the changes that need to be made seem abundantly clear. For example, some players like Jimmy Vesey and Barclay Goodrow have played well for the Rangers but are currently playing out of their roles.

There needs to be an ideology shift on Broadway that allows the Rangers’ head coach to utilize his players in the roles that are best suited for them. During their recent 3-2 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, Gallant saw that Chris Kreider was playing poorly and demoted him for Vesey.

Vesey was playing on a line with Vincent Trocheck (who had a rough game in his own right) and Barclay Goodrow. Surprisingly, that line had the top Corsi For percentage (CF%) for the Rangers that night before Gallant broke them up, per Natural Stat Trick. The trio registered a 75 CF% in five minutes of ice time.

The lineup tinker made by Gallant created a line of Kreider, Trocheck, and Goodrow, which had a 25 CF%, the lowest of any line that night. At the same time, the second-lowest mark, at 35.29 CF%, was Vesey, Mika Zibanejad, and Artemi Panarin. Instead of redistributing minutes to other lines, Gallant overmanaged, and the Rangers wound up with two underperforming lines.

Gallant Needs to Trust the Rangers’ Youth

Gallant put Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, and Kaapo Kakko back together to form the ‘Kids Line’ again, which was a marvelous decision. They were undoubtedly the best Rangers’ forward group, generating eight scoring chances while yielding just two and scoring both of the Rangers’ goals.

The problem that Gallant ran into was not the line itself but their usage. It has been evident throughout his Rangers’ tenure that Gallant favors experience like many coaches. Unlike others, he remains steadfast in that approach, despite the game evolving in front of him.

Despite their tremendous night, the ‘Kids Line’ played nearly two minutes fewer than the top-two lines. Gallant refused to put them out there more frequently despite a…