Adjustments coming after Rangers moves

In case you hadn’t heard, the Rangers are tough now.

On paper, the additions of former Golden Knights bruiser Ryan Reaves, nasty defenseman Patrik Nemeth, bottom-six grinder Sammy Blais and hard-nosed Barclay Goodrow injected a substantial amount of grit and snarl into the Blueshirts’ lineup. New general manager Chris Drury referred to it as a “trend” of the offseason, but it is seemingly a response to the team’s weak showing against the mighty Islanders and Capitals at the end of last season.

While tweaking the Rangers’ makeup was a necessity, the lineup is still a work in progress. Most of Drury’s moves so far this offseason have applied to the bottom six, aside from surrendering topline winger Pavel Buchnevich in a trade with the Blues.

There are still areas that could be addressed at the top of the Rangers’ lineup, however, such as a new 1B center with Ryan Strome garnering so much interest around the league. There is also the matter of surrounding Goodrow with players who are going to bring the best out of him. And yes, the Jack Eichel rumors continue to swirl.

At the moment, however, the Rangers’ top six and top four defensemen look relatively the same. It’s the rest of the lineup that has undergone some remodeling — and sandpaper was certainly used in the construction.

Considering how deep the Rangers are at left wing, it’s likely that someone will have to flip to the right side. In one scenario, Chris Kreider could remain on the top line to the left of center Mika Zibanejad, with Alexis Lafreniere playing on his off-side on the right. There’s also the possibility of Lafreniere on the left of Zibanejad with Kaapo Kakko making the jump to the first line.

If Kakko doesn’t move up, the Finn will likely sit on the right wing of the second line, with Strome and Artemi Panarin. Former head coach David Quinn gave that trio a try last season, and Kakko seemingly began to grow into his role on that line toward the end. In 136:18 of ice time together, Kakko, Strome and Panarin combined for nine goals and 24 high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

Vitali Kravtsov is also expected to compete for the right-wing spot on the second line after getting a couple of looks there last season as well.

The third line is where things begin to get tricky. Goodrow said he is comfortable at wing or center, while Chytil is used to playing in the middle, but may be better suited to the wing. Assuming Goodrow remains on the wing, where he played in Tampa Bay, Chytil would center the third line.