The New York Rangers have had a few issues to work through in the early going of the 2025-26 season. The winless home record, inability to maintain consistency, and some key injuries have left a defining mark on the rest of the season.
One of those injuries was a real killer to the top-six forward group, and specifically the center position. Vincent Trocheck, who suffered an upper-body injury, was placed on long term injured reserve on October 15. There is still no indication as to when he will be lifted back to full duty.
In his absence, the Rangers have certainly been missing his spark. There has been some coverage for him, but the team is reeling without No. 16 in the lineup.
Until Trocheck can return to the ice, can head coach Mike Sullivan find a comparable solution?
Who can step up?
Trocheck had an opportunity to stick with his fellow winger Artemi Panarin for another full season. Obviously, that didn’t really happen as Trocheck only appeared for the first two games of the year thus far. Instead, some line shuffling and the return of a center-turned-winger in Mika Zibanejad have tried to fix the hole.
So far, it has added a single rip of duct tape, but not a complete fix. There are a couple of centers that need to step up to the plate, like captain J.T. Miller and rookie Noah Laba.
Miller has been the guy
In Trocheck’s absence, Zibanejad has taken over the duties of 1C once again, and Miller has moved down to 2C. Zibanejad has had a better year than last, as he is steadily creating offensive scoring chances with each game.
As Miller battled injuries himself to start the year, he is now healthy and making some consistent efforts. In nine games, he has a set of goals and added four assists for six points. Much like Trocheck, Miller has been excellent at the faceoff dot with
Until Trocheck comes back, it is going to have to be Miller to take the reins. Noah Laba has been improving in his rookie campaign, but not enough to overtake Miller in the top six. So, for now and for the rest of Trocheck's long term injured reserve stay, Miller will be the guy going forward on the second line. Not a perfect fix, but good enough for now.