Blue Blooded
Most people rejected his message
I like to dig into the numbers and see which combinations have worked and which have not. Just because a certain combination has worked in a small sample doesn't mean it will continue to do so, but I still think such a combination should continue to be used until it doesn't.
What is the current issue for the New York Rangers? Our bottom six is getting destroyed every night.
In games where Panarin and Zibanejad both dress, we have outscored our opposition 36-23 when at least one of them is on the ice while we have been outscored 16-30 without them. While you easily can limit the TOI of your fourth line to almost nothing, your third line is always going to have to play significant minutes.
The current third line combinations of Lemieux/Howden-Chytil-Kakko have had disastrous results, registering shot attempt differentials of 12-35, xG 0.28-0.71 and being outscored 0-4.
There is an elegant way of solving this problem, where the available data suggests that we can have a good third line without destroying the top six that is working so well: Rotating the three RWs.
Kakko is struggling mightily 5v5, but the one situation where he hasn't struggled is playing with Panarin and Strome. As a line they have performed arguably as well as with Fast at RW (albeit in a smaller sample 50 vs 141 minutes).
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[/TBODY]While Buchnevich has gotten some great chances lately, the KZB line hasn't actually performed very well this season and with Fast at RW the metrics significantly improve in every category.
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[/TBODY]This also frees up Buch to play alongside Chytil, which is the C-RW combination where Chytil has performed at his absolute best - even if you take away the minutes where Panarin/Kreider has been the LW. This allows us to have a third line that should be able to play even hockey instead of being outchanced 1-2 like they are at the moment.
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[/TBODY]*X is any player besides Kreider/Panarin.
There are no guarantees that the lines will all perform just as well as their current metrics show, but I think the evidence strongly points to a top-9 that would perform significantly better than the one we have at the moment.
Kreider-Zibanejad-Fast
Panarin-Strome-Kakko
Howden-Chytil-Buchnevich
What is the current issue for the New York Rangers? Our bottom six is getting destroyed every night.
In games where Panarin and Zibanejad both dress, we have outscored our opposition 36-23 when at least one of them is on the ice while we have been outscored 16-30 without them. While you easily can limit the TOI of your fourth line to almost nothing, your third line is always going to have to play significant minutes.
The current third line combinations of Lemieux/Howden-Chytil-Kakko have had disastrous results, registering shot attempt differentials of 12-35, xG 0.28-0.71 and being outscored 0-4.
There is an elegant way of solving this problem, where the available data suggests that we can have a good third line without destroying the top six that is working so well: Rotating the three RWs.
Kakko is struggling mightily 5v5, but the one situation where he hasn't struggled is playing with Panarin and Strome. As a line they have performed arguably as well as with Fast at RW (albeit in a smaller sample 50 vs 141 minutes).
| LW | C | RW | TOI | CF% | xGF% | GF% |
| Panarin | Strome | Fast | 141:18 | 45.06 | 57.19 | 61.54 |
| Panarin | Strome | Kakko | 50:16 | 58.43 | 52.75 | 75.00 |
| LW | C | RW | TOI | CF% | xGF% | GF% |
| Kreider | Zibanejad | Buchnevich | 68:37 | 45.53 | 41.10 | 50.00 |
| Kreider | Zibanejad | Fast | 37:22 | 58.67 | 50.34 | 60.00 |
| LW | C | RW | TOI | CF% | xGF% | GF% |
| X | Chytil | Kakko | 35:43 | 32.47 | 31.16 | 0.00 |
| X | Chytil | Buchnevich | 60:31 | 49.58 | 51.67 | 50.00 |
There are no guarantees that the lines will all perform just as well as their current metrics show, but I think the evidence strongly points to a top-9 that would perform significantly better than the one we have at the moment.
Kreider-Zibanejad-Fast
Panarin-Strome-Kakko
Howden-Chytil-Buchnevich
