Rangers coach Alain Vigneault will make a decision this weekend that, at the very least, will be the beginning of a late-season experiment.
Jesper Fast, the do-it-all forward for whom Vigneault has an unabashed affinity, will return to practice when the team finally gets back on the ice Thursday following a Sunday-Monday back-to-back and a two-day break. Fast had been out since he suffered a shoulder injury when plastered into the boards by Alex Ovechkin on Feb. 28, and he has been skating by himself or in a non-contact jersey for a few days.
As long as he can get through practice without any issues and feels ready, there is little question Vigneault will put him back in the lineup as soon as possible, either for Friday’s Garden match against the Panthers or Saturday’s game against the Wild in Minnesota.
Vigneault then will decide who will come out of the lineup, and though one game will not determine how he wants to play it going forward, it will represent a demarcation between what a fast and skilled lineup looks like and what a heavier, more physical one does.
Because there is no shying away from the fact that the addition of veteran grinder Tanner Glass over the past five games, since his March 5 call-up, has changed the makeup of these previously high-flying Blueshirts. As the postseason has gotten closer and the games have gotten tighter and more physical, the Rangers have had to adapt. Glass has been a catalyst.
Glass was called up the day after the Rangers were pushed around by the Canadiens, their most likely first-round playoff opponent, which spent the trade deadline getting bigger, stronger and nastier. More than anything, the Habs got tougher to play against.
They also reminded the Rangers that although the crossover into the weaker Atlantic Division side of the postseason bracket might be preferable to the gauntlet through the powerhouse Metropolitan Division — which would be the case without a significant swing in the standings over the final 14 games — the Rangers would not go into the second round without a plethora of bruises.
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Yet Glass remains the easiest player for Vigneault to scratch, at least for the time being. If it’s not him, it could be 21-year-old rookie winger Pavel Buchnevich, who sat a few games in February. Or it could be another rookie, Jimmy Vesey, whose game has been good lately, but who has been getting marginal minutes on the fourth line for the past 10 days. Oscar Lindberg could come out, but that would leave a gap at fourth-line center.
Scratching any of those players while leaving Glass in would send a message about the style the Rangers need to play, at least for that particular game. Vigneault wants his team playing its best once the postseason starts, and that means winning games with the lineup he deems appropriate for each matchup.
That also could include his decisions on defense, with Steven Kampfer coming in and playing an admirably hard game in each of the past five. Vigneault will have to determine if he’s a better fit on the right side of the third pair with rookie Brady Skjei than Dan Girardi, who inches closer to a return from the open wound on the inside of his right ankle. (Not to mention when — or if — Kevin Klein is able to return from a persistent back problem.)
But in the immediate future, Fast’s imminent return is forcing Vigneault into deciding whether he wants the most skilled lineup he can dress or one with a little bit of bite. It could be a game-by-game decision, but a line is quickly being drawn in the sand for which is which.