The Rangers’ center shuffle appears to be shifting again, and this time Will Cuylle is the one moving out of the middle.
After Joe Veleno went down with an injury on Oct. 4 in New York’s fourth game of the 2026-27 season, the Rangers have been scrambling for answers at center. The position was already a concern, and losing the player who was brought in to handle fourth-line center duties only made the problem more obvious. Since then, the team has cycled through options, with top prospect Cole Beaudoin getting a look before getting hurt, Justin Dowling filling in for a few minutes, and Luke Glendening arriving in free agency to help patch things up.
Then came the Cuylle experiment. Head coach Mike Sullivan asked the winger, who has spent his entire NHL career on the wing, to move to center. It was a bold swing, and one the Rangers were willing to try because they didn’t have a clean solution.
But that look may be over quickly. According to Vince Z.
Mercogliano of The Athletic on X, Glendening is set to return to the lineup for the Rangers’ game against the Edmonton Oilers. Mercogliano noted that the veteran center skated with the regulars during morning skate, while forward Matt Rempe and defenseman Marc Del Gazio took late bag skates, a sign they’re likely to be healthy scratches.
The timing is notable because New York has gone 3-0-0 since Cuylle moved to center, beating the St. Louis Blues, Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken. Even so, Glendening is expected back tonight and would likely slide into his usual fourth-line role, which would push Noah Laba back up to the No. 3 center spot.
That leaves Sullivan with more lineup choices to sort through on the wing. Cuylle, Eeli Tolvanen, Gabe Perreault and Jaroslav Chmelar are the likely bottom-six options in the mix. The expectation is that Perreault and Cuylle stay together on the third line, with Chmelar and Tolvanen forming the fourth.
Against an Edmonton team that can light it up offensively, the move to bring in a more seasoned center makes sense. Cuylle showed he could handle the assignment in a pinch, and the Rangers now know he can survive in the middle if they need him there again.
In Other News...
Rangers Face One Big Test In Surprising Early Playoff Push
The Rangers have spent the early part of the season proving they can survive a difficult stretch better than most expected. At 10-8-1 and sitting third in the Metropolitan Division, they have kept themselves in the mix despite a wave of injuries, including the season-ending loss of Igor Shesterkin. Dylan Garand has helped steady the crease, and Joonas Korpisalos return has given the staff another option as the team tries to keep pace.
What makes the next stretch so interesting is how much it could shape the rest of the year. New York has already shown enough resilience to stay relevant in the standings, but the margin for error is still thin in a division that rarely gives much away. The Rangers are in position to push for a playoff spot, yet the question now is whether this early survival act can turn into something more sustainable once the schedule and the competition tighten up. [Read more 🡒]
Mike Sullivan Finally Saw The Rangers Team He Wants
The Rangers looked far more like the team Mike Sullivan has been pushing for in their second meeting with Edmonton, even if the final result still came back as a 3-1 loss. New York generated more shots and more high-danger chances than it had in the first matchup, and captain J.T. Miller said the group was better in a number of areas against one of the leagues toughest opponents. Jaroslav Chmelar provided the lone Rangers goal, giving the night at least one sign of progress.
Sullivan also had to deal with the familiar headache of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, two stars who can tilt a game even when the Rangers are doing a lot right. Edmonton goalie Devon Levi helped keep New York from turning that territorial edge into a bigger payoff with several key saves, leaving the Rangers with a performance they could point to and still a result they could not fully cash in on. The encouraging part is obvious. The frustrating part is just as clear. [Read more 🡒]
Mika Zibanejad Is Giving Rangers A Scoring Problem They Cant Ignore
Mika Zibanejads season has taken on a strange shape for the Rangers: the playmaking is still there, and in some ways it has been better than ever, but the shot volume has dipped to a level that stands out for all the wrong reasons. Through 19 games, he has been setting up teammates at a career-high rate while producing only three goals, a reminder that even when he is driving offense, he is not doing it in the same direct way the Rangers have come to expect.
The concern is not that Zibanejad has lost his touch. His shot velocity is still among the leagues best, which makes the drop in attempts even more notable, because the threat of his release has long been part of what makes New Yorks attack harder to defend. When he is firing less often, the Rangers lose some of that unpredictability, and for a team that leans on him to tilt the ice, that is a scoring issue they cannot simply overlook. [Read more 🡒]