Rangers shake up roster with series of moves following J.T. Miller injury

The fallout from J.T. Miller’s move to injured reserve is already beginning to ripple through the organization. In a flurry of corresponding roster moves, the Rangers have recalled forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Parssinen from the Hartford Wolf Pack, while assigning forward Brendan Brisson and defenseman Scott Morrow to the AHL.

Morrow's demotion gives him another chance to log big minutes

Scott Morrow hasn't been given a ton of opportunities this season, and this latest transaction puts him in a position to get top pairing time with Hartford. Morrow has been a healthy scratch for three of the last four games in New York, and with the team carrying eight defensemen, the move makes plenty of sense.

He needs to play, and he isn't going to find meaningful, developmental minutes in a luxury suite. Getting him back to Hartford ensures he can log major ice time rather than letting his confidence erode on the fringes of the NHL roster. It is quite possible that the Rangers have seen enough of him, and the fact that he wasn't utilized when Adam Fox was sidelined pretty much sums things up.

Miller's injury, and a possible trade of Vincent Trocheck, put the Rangers in a position where they needed another center, and Morrow going down creates room for Parssinen.

Parssinen gets another chance to show what he can do

Parssinen was exiled to the American Hockey League at the start of the season, and poor injury luck limited his playing time with the Pack. The Rangers added Parssinen to their ranks at the trade deadline last season, and he became yet another bottom-six option in what was already quite a crowded mix. He appeared in just 11 games for the Rangers before earning his two-year extension with a cap hit of $1.25 million, $100,000 more than the amount you can bury in the AHL, and he didn't do much to justify the extension.

This season he has appeared in 14 games and posted a 66.59 GF%, a 41.43 CF%, and a 41.89 xGF% per Evolving-Hockey. He enjoyed a ton of luck as the Rangers shot 17.86% and had a .947 save percentage in the 124 5v5 minutes Parssinen graced the ice, during which he tallied two goals and an assist.

He arrives back in New York on a bit of a heater with four goals in his last five games. The 25-year-old has been bouncing around and looking to establish himself as a legitimate NHL contributor, and this stint will likely see him tasked with injecting some offensive energy into a bottom-six group that has struggled to find consistency. This very well feels like a last chance of sorts to show he can be counted on, and the need for a center is the only true reason he's getting another look.

Brisson didn't make an impact, Chmelar's near career year in Hartford earns him a promotion

Brisson didn't really stood out in a meaningful way, and his return to Hartford opens the door for Chmelar to get another chance to show what he can do. He was on pace to have a career year in the AHL, and re-joins the team having posted a line of 8-17-25 in 46 games (0.54 points per game). For context, Chmelar appeared in 71 games with Hartford, and he finished with 12 goals and 17 assists for 29 points (0.41 points per game). At 6'4" and 227 pounds he will bring some snarl and pugnacity to the lineup, and he can provide a presence that's been lacking since Matt Rempe was once again sidelined.

The Rangers had Chmelar up on the roster earlier this year, and in six games he logged 47 minutes at 5v5. In that stretch he posted a 41.79 CF%, and a 42.24 xGF%. He wasn't on the ice for a goal for, and therefore his GF% is 0.00. His average time on ice per game was just 7:51, and the role he was deployed in makes it hard to put any stock in his numbers above.

With the season all but officially over, now is the time for the Rangers to deploy Chmelar in a variety of roles, preferably in the top six, but any consistent deployment with more than 10:00 a night will do for now. It is entirely possible that Chmelar doesn't have it, but it would be better to get an updated sense of what he's capable of.