Rangers Practice New Lines, Urho Vaakanainen Poised to Debut

This afternoon in Nashville, the Rangers debuted their current line-up, revealing a few things. First, Artemiy Panarin and K'Andre Miller are still sidelined and will more than likely not play tonight against the Predators. Next, Kaapo Kakko is back in the lineup, playing alongside Zibanejad and Smith, meaning Brodzinski is the odd man out tonight. The most intriguing reveal for me is Adam Fox paired with Zac Jones. At this point, I'd take any defensive partner next to Fox other than Lindgren. Much of the team's success is tied to Fox playing good hockey, and being tied down to Lindgren, especially this season, has presented some serious challenges. Last, Vaakanainen was cleared for contact and began taking reps on the bottom pair with Ruhwedel.

Tonight's game could feature Vaakanainen's New York Ranger debut. It'd be the first game the defender would see in over a month, as he had been scratched and listed on IR by Anaheim before being sent over as part of the Jacob Trouba return. There is a slight chance Laviolette goes with the other pair of Mackey and Mancini over Ruhwedel and Vaakanainen. Still, it'd be intriguing to see what the newest Ranger can do. The energy around tonight's game is confusing and depressing. Two vastly underperforming teams are meeting for the first time this year. Typically, it'd be a battle for two points, but with almost half the season gone, both teams are closer to a best-draft pick scenario instead of competing for a playoff spot. As games pass us by, it's getting harder and harder to envision any path to success for the Rangers, but all it takes is one win at a time, and beating up on an equally bad team right now could help immensely with the team's confidence.