The New York Rangers have two more preseason games left to play before they begin playing real hockey for the 2026-27 season. There has been a lot that has happened over the past week and change, but one recent development has seemed long overdue.
Head Coach Mike Sullivan is changing up his penalty kill lines and excluding two big parts of last year's units. Those big parts are centers Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller.
About time.
On PK Day, Mika and J.T. got no PK reps.
— Colin Stephenson (@ColinSNewsday) September 23, 2026
"My hope is that we can take some of those minutes away from J.T. and Mika,'' Mike Sullivan said. "And I think if we do, we'll have the ability to get a better version of them."
They will play PK, Sullivan said. Just, hopefully less.
Fewer unnecessary minutes
This is a really good thing to happen for the Rangers, as both Zibanejad and Miller can now take those few minutes that they are on the ice and score, rather than try to desperately defend an onslaught. Of course, they were key members of that unit, and the replacements would not fall onto Noah Laba and Joe Veleno, which is something that everyone is going to have to get used to.
The Rangers need to preserve their top centers for key offensive moments of the game. Both are highly skilled at attacking the opposing goaltender and have a track record of going over and beyond 30+ goals in a season. That is what they need to bring to the table, not trying to keep the puck out of the net from five of the opposing team's most ruthless attackers.
Time to adjust
It is unclear if adjusting to Laba and Veleno on the PK will be more or less of an issue. The trade-off of having both Zibanejad and Miller rested in bigger moments of the game, like a power play, or a key, late-game 5-on-5 situation, might make this change worth it.
Of course, as Sullivan said, they will still be out there on the penalty kill at times, but in limited amounts. This could shave off two, or even over four minutes of unnecessary ice time for both forwards and can give players like Laba and Veleno another leg to stand on with the future of this organization. Those are two bottom-six centers trying to make a living, and what better way to impress General Manager Chris Drury than to be a stud penalty killer.
The Rangers are going to have to try a couple of different things this season, as the retool is possibly over already. They could become contenders with another move or two, or this could be the group to bring themselves back into the fold.
This move on special teams could be the first, big step.
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