Have the Rangers finally found something sustainable after a season of lineup experiments?
NY Post
Which came first: stability within the lineup or stability on the ice?
A year ago, Peter Laviolette’s first season behind the Rangers bench produced remarkable consistency with line combinations and defense pairings even when Filip Chytil went down for the regular-season count in the 10th game of the year.
Through the first 43 matches of 2023-24, Mika Zibanejad skated between four sets of wingers and Vincent Trocheck centered two different combinations while the Blueshirts utilized 22 different triumvirates that included nine distinct sets of wingers for Nick Bonino.
At the same time, the Rangers sent out six distinct defense tandems through Game 43, K’Andre Miller paired exclusively with Jacob Trouba, while the team also went with seven on the blue line once.
In a different time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In a different time, in a season to come, the Nets will be seeking to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.
The NBA has an All-Star Game problem. Despite Adam Silver’s efforts to inject juice into the February showcase — including a format alteration to the 2025 game that is too confusing to attempt to understand before it’s inevitably changed again — there’s little interest in watching teams eschew defense for a series of layup line highlights. That also means the most entertaining part of the NBA All-Star Game is just like the Pro Bowl — debating over who should get a spot.