ESPN Reports: New York Rangers have just brought back a dominant NHL player from overseas for their bench in a blockbuster deal worth……Read more

In Sunday’s 5-2 victory over the New York Islanders, the New York Rangers used a lineup shakeup up up front. After being dissatisfied with the Rangers’ performance in three of their last four games, coach Peter Laviolette decided to make some changes.

Longtime linemates Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider’s breakup was probably a major deal. Another option is to switch Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere with Vincent Trocheck. Kreider replaced Will Cuylle on the Rangers’ third line, which has been the team’s best line all season. Filip Chytil centers this line.

Substituting for Trocheck, Zibanejad recorded three assists, including a power-play goal and an even-strength goal. Two goals were scored by Panarin, and Trocheck scored his 200th goal.Overall, it was alright.

Reilly Smith is another option. The seasoned forward likely didn’t give much thought to the line change. He joined the Rangers this summer after being traded from the Penguins. He played in just 10 games this season, despite being paired exclusively with Zibanejad and Kreider on the right wing.

After a smooth takeaway in front of the Islanders net, the 33-year-old assisted on Trocheck’s goal on Sunday, playing in next to Cuylle.

Smith began his expert attack as an F1 forechecker; he then located Trocheck in a better scoring position after stealing the puck with an aggressive stick. With nine takeaways in ten games this season, Smith has scored twice off of turnovers.

As he has done thus far with the Rangers, Smith has subtly impressed with his two-way performance. In 11 games played, he has eight points (2 goals, 6 assists), tying him for sixth place on the Rangers. On the Blueshirts, he has tied for fourth place in assists.

That’s an improvement over Smith’s 40 points (13 goals, 27 assists) in 76 games last season, which was his sole season with the Penguins. If he keeps up his current scoring pace, he will set a new career high for points in the NHL with 65. In 2017–18, he was a member of the Vegas Golden Knights and scored 22 goals and added 38 assists for 60 points.

Smith had 17 points in the playoffs that year, including five goals and twelve assists, for the original Golden Knights team that made its Stanley Cup Final appearance.

Although they were defeated by the Washington Capitals in the 2018 Final, Vegas managed to win the Stanley Cup in 2023 because to Smith, who scored the game-winning goal against the Florida Panthers and had 14 points in 22 games (four goals, ten assists).

As a related topic, the Rangers’ strong start to the season hasn’t been enough to bury some concerning trends.

The Rangers got Smith so they could plug the troublesome 1RW hole on Zibanejad’s line. His solid performance on Sunday and in special teams (PK and power play) demonstrated that his expertise allows him to comfortably play anywhere in the lineup.

Neither the problem nor its answer are the Kreider and Zibanejad supplementary pieces. Because of that finding, Smith is more valuable to the club. Supporting the Rangers’ dry pivot 5v5 isn’t his only purpose here.

With limited success, general manager Chris Drury has tried fourteen skaters on the right side of Zibanejad and Kreider since the Pavel Buchnevich trade in 2021. The inability to move around the wage cap and the discord between certain forwards and Zibanejad and Kreider have both been obstacles for Drury.

Again, Zibanejad isn’t doing well in 5v5, as he has only managed two points in eleven games. Despite Smith’s addition, the onus is on the Rangers top-line center to break his even-strength slump. Maybe now that Panarin and Lafreniere are involved, it will happen.