What it means that the Rangers benched an entire line down the stretch

A lineup tweak could be coming soon for the New York Rangers, especially with the team having two days off before they return to action on Thursday vs. the San Jose Sharks. During the final minutes of the team's 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild, one line was stapled to the bench. This isn't something that can be a normal occurence, and it could hint at some tweaks coming to get more out of the current roster.

Rangers' line of Parssinen, Laba, and Raddysh sat final minutes of third period

Heading into Monday's game, the trio had logged just under 24 minutes together at 5v5, and collectively generated a 68.87 GF%, a 47.13 CF%, and a 52.25 xGF% per Evolving-Hockey. It is a very small sample size, and the lack of overall possession and a GF% that greatly exceeds the expected number suggest there's been some luck involved. It is clear that Mike Sullivan has some reservations about this line, and he's often given extra minutes to the line of Adam Edstrom, Sam Carrick, and Matt Rempe instead. That's not sustainable for the entirety of the season, so roster tweaks may be coming sooner than Sullivan would have liked.

Individual results reveal no surprises

The individual numbers for the players on the line are quite interesting, and there seems to be a trend. The trend is that each skater is losing the possession battle and not controlling play. Laba has a 48.82 CF%, Raddysh has a 47.28 CF%, and Parssinen has a 44.5 CF%. In terms of expected goals generated, Laba entered the game 8th on the team with a 58.98 xGF%. Raddysh ranked 15th with a 55.26 xGF%, and Parssinen ranked 19th with a 52.25 xGF%.

This isn't all that surprising for a couple of reasons. Laba is a rookie that is still getting accustomed to the game, and it's positive that he's had the success he's had. Parssinen's on his third team as an NHLer, and since his rookie season he's been a player in decline. Raddysh was signed as a free agent to bolster the bottom six, and thus far he's got one goal and seven shots on goal through eight games. An injury to Vincent Trocheck has really exposed that the team needs a little more scoring talent, and the team would be in much better shape if someone on this line were able to control play.

What options do Rangers have going forward?

For the time being the Rangers could continue rotating Parssinen and Jonny Brodzinski and see who the better fit is overall. A few weeks from now you might be able to make an argument that it will be time to call up someone like Gabe Perreault or Brett Berard, but right now both of those wingers need to play big minutes in Hartford.

They could also try and move Conor Sheary or Will Cuylle onto the line, scratch one of Raddysh or Parssinen, and bump Brodzinski into the top six to play a bit of a Jesper Fast like role. The Blueshirts could also try and create some cap space and try and make a trade, but something like that would become more of a possibility in December once there's been a larger sample size for how the current roster has performed.

The Rangers have time to practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we will see how things shake out for Thursday's tilt against the San Jose Sharks.