The New York Rangers enjoyed their strong start to the season, but reality has returned. Their goaltending depth is the main question mark, as they have no viable option behind Dylan Garand to start games until Joonas Korpisalo returns from a foot infection. Besides the goaltending, there has been one pressing issue that the Rangers have been dealing with since the start of the season, and that's their center depth.
The Rangers' top three centers were locked in with Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller, and Noah Laba. For the fourth line, Joe Veleno was the center, until he suffered an injury four games into the season that will sideline him for the foreseeable future. Center depth was already weak, especially after the Vincent Trocheck trade, and it's rearing its ugly head as of late.
Now, head coach Mike Sullivan is searching for any internal solution imaginable. His latest attempt to fix the center problem is to try out winger Will Cuylle at the position for the third line.
Mike Sullivan tries out Will Cuylle as third line center for Rangers
On Monday afternoon, Cuylle was spotted in practice as their third-line center, alongside wingers Oliver Bjorkstrand and Eeli Tolvanen. Meanwhile, Laba was bumped down to the fourth line amid his rough stretch.
Reporters attending the practice asked Sullivan why he decided to try out Cuylle at center. Sullivan said he is giving Cuylle the opportunity to "affect a little bit of change."
"Will has a lot of qualities or the attributes that I think would allow him to be effective at that position," said Sullivan, h/t Mollie Walker of the New York Post. "He can skate, he has good size, he can lean on people down low. He takes faceoffs regularly, on the penalty kill but also on the line he's been on. Him being the left and Labs being the righty. He's good in the faceoff circle."
While Sullivan gave Cuylle the chance during practice, he mentioned that it isn't set in stone and that he could opt to abandon that idea after one shift. But he said that Cuylle is "excited for the opportunity."
“I like to think I’m pretty responsible defensively,” said Cuylle, h/t Walker. “I think that’s the biggest difference just in the D zone. I have a good idea of what to do, I think it’s just actually going out there and applying it will be the challenge for me.”
Will Cuylle's chance as Rangers' third-line center is bold strategy for Mike Sullivan
Sullivan has been scrambling in recent days trying to put together the best lineup possible, for both the forwards and defensive groups. Moving Cuylle to center might be his most bold move yet, and it comes as the team has gone 3-6-1 in their last 10 games.
This season, Cuylle received a limited amount of face-offs, where he won 21-of-39 opportunities. But in his career, he's never more than 100 face-off chances in a single season. Overall, Cuylle has a 44.4 face-off win percentage.
At this point, with the Rangers skidding from firmly in second-place in the Metropolitan Division to one point out of third place, Sullivan is trying to right the ship. Considering it is incredibly early in the season, it's why you're seeing him make moves like this instead of resorting to giving up draft assets and prospects to trade for a center or another goalie right now. Let's not forget that the Rangers gave up multiple draft picks, such as three first-round picks for winger Pavel Dorofeyev and defenseman Marcus Pettersson, this offseason. So, they don't have a surplus of picks to work with.
Not to mention, it's too early to tell if the Rangers are viable playoff contenders. One month into the season, it's too difficult to tell. Is it wise to give up more draft picks if the team finishes the season outside of a playoff spot?
For now, the Rangers will continue to tool with the roster they have to try and put together the best lines and defensive pairings possible. Hence why Cuylle could get some playing time at center during Tuesday's game against the St. Louis Blues. He's up for the opportunity, but we'll see if it's a position change that Sullivan will stick with moving forward.
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