Soon after the conclusion of the regular season, reports surfaced that the New York Rangers would sign Russian winger Ilya Kovalchuk. If true, where would the sniper fit into the team’s lineup?
It didn’t take long after the firing of head coach Alain Vigneualt for the New York Rangers to be featured prominently in the hockey world.
On April 9th, reports came in that KHL winger Ilya Kovalchuk would sign with the Rangers this off-season for the next 2-3 seasons. Kovalchuk himself later refuted any such reports, but that makes sense considering he only came off of the NHL voluntary retirement list on April 15th (his 35th birthday) and he can’t sign a contract with an NHL team until July 1st.
However, assuming that Kovalchuk does indeed become a New York Ranger, how would he fit into this rebuilding team?
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On the Power play
Kovalchuk is a noted power play weapon and would naturally fill such a role for the Rangers as well.
Taking a look at his NHL resume, 138 of his 417 goals (33.1%) and 315 of his 816 points (38.6%) were scored on the man advantage. For the past five and a half seasons, playing with SKA St. Petersburg, 47 of his 138 goals (34.1%) were power play goals.
Kovalchuk would fill the role of being the right-shot trigger man on the power play. This is something that the Rangers lacked recently, until the addition of Mika Zibanejad.
Even after Zibanejad’s acquisition, there was not another player on the roster that could adequately fill that position. Zibanejad missing games due to injury highlighted this deficiency. Similarly, this void was noticeable whenever the second power play unit took the ice.
The Rangers could slot Kovalchuk in on the first power play unit. The benefit here is that he plays with higher end players, likely Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich and Kevin Shattenkirk. Mats Zuccarello (assuming he remains with the team), Kevin Hayes or Filip Chytil would be candidates to round out the unit. This also gives Zibanejad more ice time at even strength which he needs as the top center.
However, it may not be worth it to disrupt the chemistry of the Kreider, Zibanejad and Buchnevich. Slotting Kovalchuk in on the second power play unit would provide the Rangers with a potent one-two punch from the left circle. Kovalchuk is also no spring chicken, so less ice time may be beneficial for him.
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At Even Strength
As befits his resume and contract, the Rangers would deploy Kovalchuk in a middle-six role. I’m penciling in the aforementioned trio of Kreider, Zibanejad and Buchnevich as the first line, for now.
Unfortunately, with more roster turnover expected this off-season, it’s difficult to project exact line combinations for the rest of the lineup. Kreider and Zuccarello may both be gone, Rich Nash and Michael Grabner may find their ways back to Broadway. At least one of Hayes, Ryan Spooner and Vladislav Namestnikov will be gone too.
There is a non-zero chance that someone like John Tavares dons Ranger blue next season as well.
It is futile to predict Kovalchuk’s potential linemates, however Kovalchuk will line up on the right wing in the middle-six. Much like on the power play, that will provide the Rangers with a right shot shooting winger. This is something that the team has not been able to enjoy in some time.
The Rangers have a number of playmakers up and down the lineup, at center and on the wing. No matter who he plays with: Zuccarello, Buchnevich, Hayes, Chytil, Spooner, and/or Zibanejad, Kovalchuk will be well positioned to put pucks in the net.
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It’s not difficult to see why the Rangers would want someone with Kovalchuk’s skillset and pedigree. He instantly makes them a much deeper and dangerous offensive team. The Rangers have plenty of cap space to add impact players and the additional of Kovalchuk may be the ticket to expediting their rebuild.