Mike Sullivan has recently made Conor Sheary a healthy scratch to try and shake things up, and Brett Berard was recalled from Hartford to skate in the veteran's place. With this type of accountability being enforced, could another NHL veteran be in line to see a healthy scratch in order to shake things up?
Taylor Raddysh's impact has diminished for the New York Rangers
The Rangers' offseason signing made an impact during the team's ninth game of the season back in October, and he scored a hat trick against the San Jose Sharks which almost propelled the team to their first home victory of the season. Since that game Raddysh has appeared in 18 games for the Rangers and he's scored one goal and added two assists for three points. On the season Raddysh has five goals and two assists for seven points, so one night of work against San Jose represents the majority of his contributions this season.
Raddysh was signed to a two-year deal this offseason, and he joined the team from the Washington Capitals. The 2024-25 season saw Raddysh finish with a line of 7-20-27 in 80 games, and he previously had a season of 20-17-37 in 78 games with the Chicago Blackhawks. All of this is to say that no one was expecting him to be a primary contributor for the team, but with Sullivan choosing to send a message with Sheary, one wonders if Raddysh could be next.
Options at the Rangers' disposal
The easiest option would be putting Sheary (0-5-5 in 24 games) back in the lineup to see if the time away was beneficial, potentially something that was intended to light a fire under him. You can make a case that Sheary was playing better than Raddysh, and the only difference between the two was pucks going into the net for one and not the other.
This season Sheary's got a slash line that includes a 46.6 GF%, a 52.12 CF%, and a 55.79 xGF%. SImply stated, the Rangers have the puck more than the opposition when Sheary is on the ice, and they generate a good deal of chances, but the chances aren't being finished.
Raddysh has a 56.66 GF%, a 47.93 CF%, and a 49.51 xGF%, which is the Wario to Sheary's Mario. The Rangers are scoring despite having the puck less often than their opponents, and generating less chances. Professional sports is a business in which decision makers care what a player has done lately, and Raddysh having five goals and Sheary having zero is something they could be noticing.
But to that point, Raddysh's goals mostly came in one game, and Sheary arguably should have a few by now. That Sheary has already been sat should open the door for Raddysh to take a game or two off given his recent struggles.
Rangers could recall Gabe Perreault, shift Will Cuylle further down the lineup
If the Rangers wanted to try and give their team a bigger boost, they could recall Gabe Perreault again, scratch Raddysh, and then shift Will Cuylle down to create a top six spot for Perreault. This would mean reuniting the team's best line which includes Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafrenière, and putting Perreault with J.T. Miller and Mika Zibanejad. That would then result in a third line of Brett Berard, Noah Laba, and Will Cuylle, with the fourth line featuring Adam Edstrom, Sam Carrick, and Jonny Brodzinski.
In truth, those combinations wouldn't be all that bad in practice, and the Rangers having a productive player like Cuylle further down the lineup would give the team more depth, and it would create a chance for them to generate offense against weaker competition. Brodzinski would get a bit of a demotion here, but he's a tenacious shoot first player who would arguably be more of a threat on the fourth line than Raddysh is currently offering.
What's next for New York?
The Blueshirts are off on Sunday and Monday, and return to action on Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. They will then take on an Ottawa Senators squad which has played pretty well to start the season, and they end the week with a back to back on home ice against the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights.