It was looking like Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was ready for another roster shakeup.
For Saturday’s practice, Vigneault juggled his forward lines yet again, most notably giving Oscar Lindberg a big chance between Chris Kreider on the left and Rick Nash on the right. Vigneault said he was “not 100-percent sure if I’ll go this way” for Sunday night’s Garden match against the Senators, but it sure looks likely.
“I do think that Oscar has played well,” Vigneault said of the 24-year-old Swedish rookie, who has impressed in scoring 10 goals through the first 27 games. “He seems to feel more and more comfortable with more responsibilities. There’s no doubt that if we do decide to go this route, those are two pretty good players, might be a good fit for him. We’ll see what we come up with.”
Kreider had spent the first part of the season playing with Derek Stepan as his center, but Stepan broke two ribs this past Friday in Boston and likely will be out until the New Year. Kreider also has been critical of his own game, and could use a bit of a spark.
“I’m excited for whoever I’m playing with,” Kreider said. “We have a really good group, really easy to play with regardless of who the center or right wingers are. They’re communicative down the lineup, work hard.”
Vigneualt also moved Kevin Hayes out of the middle to take Nash’s spot on the left side of the line with Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello.
“I do think there are some areas of his game that he’s working on,” Vigneault said of Hayes, “and hopefully we get him to where he needs to be.”
Emerson Etem practiced for the first time since he fell ill earlier in the week and missed the past two games, but he was used as an extra defenseman. The other two lines shook out as Tanner Glass-Jarret Stoll-Viktor Stalberg and J.T. Miller-Dominic Moore-Jesper Fast.
There had not been a decision made yet on the roster the Rangers are going to bring on the three-game road trip through Western Canada, which starts with a plane ride on Monday to Vancouver. They currently are carrying just six defenseman, and Vigneault said the extra call-up likely will meet them in Vancouver either Tuesday or on the game day, Wednesday. In order to make that move, they would need to place Stepan on long-term injured reserve to make room under the salary cap.
“There is some money situations here that come into play,” said Vigneault, who had spoken to general manager Jeff Gorton about the situation on Saturday afternoon. “We have not put anybody on IR, and have not — yet — put anybody on long-term. So we’re discussing that and we’ll what happens.”