Taylor Raddysh emerging as obvious odd man out on crowded Rangers roster

There's a lot of time between now and the New York Rangers' season opener in September, but it is becoming increasingly clear that some tough decisions need to be made sooner rather than later. It has been rumored that the Rangers still have interest in adding another top six forward, and if that were to happen, it would push someone down. Even if the team fails to add another scoring forward, the way the roster has been constructed suggests that Taylor Raddysh is the clear odd man out.

Youth movement taking shape doesn't bode well for Raddysh

NHL.com has been releasing projected lineups throughout the month of July, and it felt notable that even though Raddysh was a mainstay last season, he was omitted from their mockup.

Part of the reason for this could be the fact that Tye Kartye was a waiver pickup last season, and he was sensational during his limited sample. Having him with Will Cuylle and Noah Laba feels like a given, especially considering the chemistry that was starting to develop.

The projected fourth line has Adam Sýkora and Jaroslav Chmelař on the wings, two players who started the season in Hartford and looked very comfortable during their brief NHL stints, and free agent signing Joe Veleno completes the trio at center. While you could say that Raddysh's omission makes him a no brainer to make the roster as a healthy scratch, I wouldn't count on it.

Rangers have more interesting options waiting in the wings

The beauty of the way the Rangers' lineup is built is that if one of the top youngsters expected to start the season in Hartford pops, they can slide existing options down and then scratch the weakest remaining option. What would this look like in practice? Well, if Liam Greentree shows he's ready to be a guy, you could move Oliver Bjorkstand from line two to line three, and then move Kartye from line three to line four.

In this hypothetical I'd suspect Sýkora moves to healthy scratch for the time being. There also could be a world where him and Chmelař trade off depending on who the Rangers are playing. In this scenario, it doesn't make sense to have Raddysh around as an option. He is a veteran with experience, but the Rangers seemingly have players who can better execute the role he was originally brought in for. He finished this past season with a line of 9-10-19 in 68 games played, a 55.66 GF%, a 45.71 CF%, and a 44.75 xGF% per Evolving-Hockey.

If it were just Greentree waiting in the wings, you could say having a veteran backup plan makes sense. But beyond Greentree there's names like Nathan Aspinall, Jacob Battaglia, and even Aidan Thompson at center who could try and force the issue. Beyond them, Juuso Parssinen is still in the organization, and he technically would check the box of bottom six veteran with NHL experience, even though he doesn't have the most successful track record.

Where do the Rangers go from here?

Ultimately the most likely option is Raddysh ending up on waivers before the start of the season, and there's a good chance he gets claimed. If there were a true market for him, the Rangers would have traded him by now. It is possible they may still try and dangle him to see what teams will pay, but that may come after all the arbitration hearings are finished and the fringe free agents that remain on the market sign a deal or decide to take their talents overseas.

In any case, the writing is on the wall for Raddysh, and while the move didn't work out as well as the team originally thought, fans will always be able to look back on his hat trick against the San Jose Sharks, even though it came during a game that ended in a loss.

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