It is as if, upon the acquisition of Patrick Kane 18 days later, Vladimir Tarasenko became kind of an afterthought for the Rangers.
There was a reason that the Rangers prioritized Vladimir Tarasenko when seeking to fill a top-six hole on the right side and were willing to sacrifice a first-rounder in order to acquire the wing from St. Louis by jumping the market three weeks before the trade deadline.
Games 1, 2 and 5 were three of the eight playoff games in which Tarasenko has gotten the least amount of ice time over his career. It is impossible to believe that was the plan when general manager Chris Drury acquired him. Vladimir Tarasenko is seventh among Rangers forwards in both overall ice time and power-play ice time.“I’d like to see him play more but I also want guys to take it, you know what I mean? When you get the opportunities, make me play you more, and I’m not trying to jab [Tarasenko] because he’s been good, but I want guys who go out there and say, ‘Make me play 18 minutes, make me play 20 minutes.’ ”
There is an indication that Tarasenko will be awarded a greater role for Game 6. Gallant has shuffled his top three lines, moving him up the right side with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider to reconstitute the unit that was in place for nine games in the weeks after the trade was made. Kane has been shifted to the second unit centered by Vincent Trocheck that will have — surprise, surprise — Alexis Lafreniere on left wing, while Artemi Panarin will skate with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko.
But the Rangers shouldn’t stop there. Blasphemy alert, but the Blueshirts need to replace Adam Fox with either Jacob Trouba or K’Andre Miller to provide a shooting threat from the top. Fox is a marvelous player whose creativity and vision are properly renowned, but the shot is the one tool missing from his arsenal. Strength as a weakness.
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