Rangers suddenly at nearly full health
Head coaches declining to disclose their lineup or what players are available has become customary gamesmanship in the NHL playoffs, because health, depth and inspiration are perhaps the most important attributes a team can have this time of year.
The Rangers appear to have no shortage of any of the aforementioned traits as they begin preparing to face the Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final, which commences with Game 1 on Wednesday at Madison Square Garden.
In fact, one could say they have a surplus of those qualities.
With several players — who have either been serving as healthy scratches or working their way back from significant injuries — champing at the bit to get in the lineup, the Blueshirts have the rare luxury of personnel options to sort through in the next few days.
“We’re working toward that,” Rangers bench boss Peter Laviolette said when asked if everybody on the roster is available. “Everybody’s out on the ice. Everybody to this point has been out on the ice. As of recently, there’s not been any restrictions on players.”
Well, if you ask Filip Chytil, who was out for six-plus months with a suspected concussion and returned for Game 3 of the previous series against Carolina before illness/ soreness sidelined him again, the Czech forward will say the adrenaline of a game is what he wants.
If you ask Matt Rempe, who played all four games of the Capitals series before appearing in three of the six games against the Hurricanes as Laviolette navigated his usage, the 6-foot-8 ½ forward will say he’s ready to do his thing.
If you ask Jonny Brodzinski, who enjoyed his first full season as an NHL regular before skating in the second and third NHL playoff games of his career in Games 4 and 6 of Round 2, the veteran center will say waiting for the call has been his job for years.
If you ask Blake Wheeler, who returned to practice as a full participant just last week after missing a majority of the season with a lower-body injury, the big-bodied winger will tell you what’s been motivating him to get back:
“This team,” Wheeler said in his first interview since suffering a gruesome leg injury on Feb. 15. “Sitting on the couch, watching these guys play. I just want to be back with the guys, with the group on the ice with them in any capacity I can. … That’s kind of been my goal the whole time since I got hurt, was to be an option and be available again. That’s where we’re at. My goal is to be available and be an option.
“It’s going to be in the coach’s hands from there. Our group has done such a great job, I’m ready in any capacity I can help out.”
After his leg bent in a way it shouldn’t in a collision behind the net with Montreal’s Jayden Struble, Wheeler said the initial recovery timeline didn’t look good. So he and the Rangers training staff got right to work, which now has the 6-foot-5 forward looking like an option for Round 3.
Wheeler has still been able to enjoy the run, which was evident in his celebration next to the glass after the Rangers’ overtime victory in Game 3 against Carolina, but it doesn’t take away from how badly he wants to be out there.
“I think right away, you just have to, right?” Wheeler said of when it occurred to him that he could recover in time to play again this season. “I knew that the team was going to have to do some winning. I knew that there was going to have to be things to go in my favor to have a chance to come back, but if you have any other mindset, you got no chance. We just sort of attacked it right away with the mindset that we’re going to hopefully contribute to something special here down the road.”