New York Rangers: Two Ex-Rangers Form Dangerous Senators Line

The New York Rangers lost forwards Derick Brassard and Victor Stalberg this past offseason. Both players are now line mates for the Ottawa Senators.

There will be a lot of familiar faces in the second round matchup between the New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators.

Derick Brassard and Victor Stalberg were both Rangers last season. Brassard was part of a trade in July that sent him to Ottawa in exchange for Mika Zibanejad. Stalberg signed a contract with the Carolina Hurricanes as a free agent this past summer. He was later traded to the Senators at the trade deadline.

Brassard and Stalberg now play alongside Bobby Ryan on the second line for the Senators. Their familiarity with the Rangers defense and their style could make them especially lethal.

Friendships Will Be Broken

The Derick Brassard-Mika Zibanejad trade took two players from organizations that they had long tenures with.

Brassard was with the Rangers for three and a half seasons. He was acquired at the trade deadline in 2013 from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Zibanejad began his career with the Senators in 2011 and played five full seasons there.

Mats Zuccarello and Brassard were great friends when Brassard was with the Rangers. Zuccarello publicly addressed his sadness on Instagram when hearing about the trade.

The Rangers must burn bridges if they want to win the series. If they, at any point, feel bad for their opponents who were once teammates, they will undoubtedly lose.

It’s also crucial that they use what they know about Brassard and Stalberg to their advantage. Alain Vigneault knows their strengths and weaknesses more than anyone. It’s his job to coach the team on how to make them look terrible.

Slowing Down The Production

The second line for the Senators was scoring in bunches against the Boston Bruins in the first round.

Brassard tallied two goals and six assists for eight points. Ryan had four goals and three assists for seven points. And Stalberg had just two assists.

The Rangers didn’t see anything quite like that in the first round against the Canadiens. Alexander Radulov had seven points, but his next closest teammate had just four points.

This symmetry that the Senators have can kill teams. It killed the Bruins and it can kill the Rangers.

However, Bobby Ryan will likely slow himself down. It’s easy to forget how disappointing Ryan’s regular season was after his first round performance. In 62 regular season games, he had just 25 points.

It’s possible that Ryan could unravel all of this line’s production. It was feeding off of his play in the first round. It’s hard to imagine it will continue against the surprisingly stifling Rangers defense and Lundqvist’s lockdown play. Their success could come back to earth quickly and hard.

Know Your Enemy

Zibanejad should also know a thing or two about the Senators from his time north of the border.

At the very least, he should know how to beat the Senators goalie, Craig Anderson. No one takes more shots on a goalie than his own teammates.

The same could be said about Brassard and Stalberg knowing Lundqvist. However, beating Lundqvist in the playoffs hasn’t seemed to come with an instruction manual. The goals just find their way from time-to-time. If there was a way to beat Lundqvist in the postseason, we would have heard about it by now.

Next: The New York Rangers Need To Exploit Erik Karlsson's Injury

There are no excuses left for the Rangers to make. They have all the tools to handle this line and win this series. They will be well-prepared for the Senators second line and they could be their only hope of beating the Rangers.

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