The New York Rangers have been doing a solid job on the power play, with four tallies with the extra skater over their last 11 chances. But, with an injury to Adam Fox, their quarterback on the first unit, there was a pretty significant change during Monday's practice.
Looks like the #NYR are going with five forwards on PP1: Panarin, Zibanejad, Trocheck, Miller and Cuylle
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) December 1, 2025
If you want to describe what this team's vision of going all in looks like, it is that five-man formation right there. Five forwards, no defenders. All gas, no breaks. The five best goal scorers on this team on one unit, which should pay off with an immense amount of offensive pressure and hopefully, goals.
Can it work?
Yes and no. You would think that this unit, looking like this, would breed nothing but success, but there is a major gap here. Having no defenseman means that the other team has more of a chance of grabbing a shorthanded goal, because if there was an odd-man rush the other way there isn't someone who is best equipped to try and shut it down. Simply put, if this unit of Artemi Panarin, Will Cuylle, Vincent Trocheck, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad turns the puck over inside the offensive zone, near the blue line, goaltender Igor Shesterkin is going to have to make a highlight-reel stop.
But this unit is an offensive juggernaut. Sure, Braden Schneider or Vladislav Gavrikov could slide in as the defensive quarterback of the first power play unit, but it will not have the same effect as Fox. Using another forward gives this line a chance to be more aggressive, which should result in many more chances.
No matter what, it will be fun to watch
This is a fun unit to watch. If this is actually used in a game, there is a chance that this could be game-changing for the Rangers. At 21.3% with the man-advantage, this team is the 12th best in the NHL. That is a respectable number, but it obviously can be improved.
This new overkill line could do the trick. Until Fox comes back, Schneider has to prove himself to head coach Mike Sullivan to grab some power-play time. For now, let’s see how this goes.