2024 Report Card: Will Cuylle
Following a four game cup of coffee at the NHL level last season, Will Cuylle broke through as a full time NHLer in his D+4 season.
Drafted with the 60th overall pick in 2020, (a pick acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Lias Andersson) Cuylle became the first non-first round forward drafted by the Rangers to skate in more than 20 games with the team since Pavel Buchnevich emerged out of the third round of the 2013 draft.
Spending the majority of the season in a bottom six role, Cuylle served as a useful depth forward who brought a physical edge to the ice while also chipping in enough offense to appreciate the other, non-physical aspects of his game.
Boxcar Stats: 81 GP, 13 G, 8 A, 119 SOG, 11:07 TOI/GP, 56 PIM, +1 Penalty Differential, -3 Even Strength Goal Differential
5-on-5 Analytical Metrics: 1.23 Points/60, -1.44 Relative CF%, -0.31 Relative SF%, -3.40 Relative GF%, -0.36 Relative Expected GF%, -2.63 Relative SCF%, 99.2 On-Ice PDO, 3.0 Goals Above Replacement
Playoff Stats: 2 Points, 11:17 TOI/GP, 0.04 Relative CF%, 3.36 Relative xGF%, +4 5-on-5 Goal Differential
Cuylle was far from a sure thing to make the roster at the onset of training camp. In addition to beating out the likes of Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard as prospects looking to crack New York's lineup, Cuylle also had to compete with veteran winger acquisitions Blake Wheeler and Tyler Pitlick for consistent playing time, something he succeeded in by missing only a single game over the course of the season.
It didn't take the rookie long to find the scoresheet, as Cuylle's first NHL goal came in New York's second game of the season, and sixth of his NHL career, against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nobody would mistake Cuylle for a Rocket Richard candidate, but the young forward did what was asked of him as linemates around him came and went.
Cuylle was more effective through the first two thirds of the regular season before slowing down during the stretch run into the playoff. Even with a full length pro season under his belt from last season, Cuylle was still victimized by the "rookie wall" in the latter portion of the season.
After tallying a goal and an assist on February 15th against Montreal for the first multi-point effort of his NHL career, Cuylle's offensive production took a dip. The rookie recorded 18 points in his first 54 games, but only tallied five points over the remaining 43 games, 27 regular season contests plus the entirety of New York's playoff run.
Even with a 14-9 stat line more reminiscent of a capable MLB starter rather than a contributing NHL forward, Cuylle's numbers under the hood were encouraging. The Rangers were not a demonstrably better team with Cuylle on the ice as opposed to off in a vacuum, but the team was better relative to some of the other frequent depth options such as Jimmy Vesey and Jonny Brodzinski.
By the time the playoffs began, Cuylle found himself primarily on the third line, flanked by Kaapo Kakko and trade deadline acquisition Alex Wennberg. In spite of each member of the trio finishing the playoffs with only one goal and one assist individually, the Rangers won that trio's minutes at a rate among the best of any forward line that saw 50+ minutes together.
MoneyPuck had the Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko trio at a 68.9% Expected Goals share, trailing only the Zach Hyman-Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl trio in Edmonton and the Matthew Tkachuk-Evan Rodrigues-Sam Bennett trio in Florida in that department.
That's not to say Cuylle was the driving force behind that success, or that the line was outright "better" than the Panarin-Trocheck-Lafreniere line that generated and capitalized on seemingly all of New York's even strength offense as the playoffs progressed, but Cuylle managed to be a useful piece even if he wasn't lighting the lamp on his own.
The Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko trio outscored its opponents 2-1 throughout the playoffs, but success followed Cuylle whoever his linemates were. Cuylle's +4 on-ice 5-on-5 goal differential (five goals for, one goal against) was the best margin of any Ranger in the playoffs.
Driving on-ice goal differential is the name of the game, and although that's something Cuylle excelled at in the playoffs, there's an element of small sample size to be aware of for a player who did not generate a lot of individual offense. Cuylle will need to up the scoring pace he showed in the early portion of his rookie season while avoiding a second year of late-season stumbles in order to see an increased role in 2024-25.
New York's offseason moves have left one void for a top nine winger when training camp begins in September, and Cuylle will need to win another camp battle to retain the lineup spot he held down throughout the postseason.
Final Thoughts:
As much of a train wreck as the Lias Andersson situation was, it's nice that the Rangers still managed to procure a capable NHL skater out of that mess. Will Cuylle was a bit piece for the Blueshirts as a rookie, but he was effective in the limited minutes he was given. Whether Cuylle develops into more than a bit piece remains to be seen, but the young forward gave the Rangers all that could be asked for in his first full NHL season.
Author Grade: B
Masthead Average: B (1 B+, 4 B's)
All Data via Evolving Hockey, Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, and MoneyPuck
