The Rangers may have thought they were simply trimming the roster when they put Taylor Raddysh on waivers on September 27. Instead, they may have uncovered a useful piece they can actually lean on.
Raddysh cleared waivers, went to the Hartford Wolf Pack, and did exactly what a veteran forward is supposed to do in the AHL: produce. He led Hartford with five points, scoring three goals and adding two assists in his first five games. That run forced the issue, especially with the Rangers getting little from other bottom-six options.
New York gave 23-year-old Jaroslav Chmelař seven games to hold down the fourth-line job, but he finished with no points while averaging just over eight minutes per night. With Joe Veleno already out because of injury, the Rangers made the move on October 16 and brought Raddysh back up.
Since the recall, Raddysh has not been asked to be a scorer. He has been asked to be reliable, and he has answered. Mike Sullivan used him last season for defensive-zone starts and penalty killing, and in his five games back with the club, Raddysh has been efficient in a very limited role.
He is averaging just 7:34 of ice time per night, with a little under 38 minutes at 5-on-5. Even with that small workload, the numbers are loud.
Per Evolving-Hockey, he owns a 76.08 GF%, a 56.95 CF%, and a 66.73 xGF%. At five-on-five, the Rangers are scoring 4.76 goals per 60 minutes and allowing only 1.50 goals against when he is on the ice, while the expected-goals split sits at 5.34 xGF/60 to 2.66 xGA/60.
That kind of impact stands out even more because this is by far the lightest usage of Raddysh’s NHL career. Last season with New York, he played 68 games, averaged 11:51 a night, and finished with nine goals, 10 assists, and 19 points. He is doing more with less now, and that matters for a team looking for any edge it can find.
The timing also works in his favor. The Rangers are coming out of a six-day layoff after a three-game skid, and Sullivan has reason to look hard at the bottom six.
The third line has been a problem area. Noah Laba has stumbled through a rough sophomore season down the middle, and his 35.86 xGF% is a major concern.
Eeli Tolvanen, meanwhile, has cooled off after a hot start.
That leaves Sullivan with a decision, and Raddysh gives him a clean one. He brings a sturdier forechecking presence, can help win puck battles, and can take some pressure off the defensive zone. Pairing him with Will Cuylle is a straightforward internal adjustment that would not require reshuffling the top two lines.
The Rangers have treated several middle-six spots as temporary holding places this season, with Tolvanen, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and even Matt Rempe fitting that description to some degree. There is also a group of forward prospects developing in Hartford under Jay Leach, including Liam Greentree and Cole Beaudoin, but those players are not all ready yet. For now, the team needs its current veterans to at least be positive players.
Some of the in-season stopgaps, including Luke Glendening and James Reimer, have not worked out as hoped. Raddysh, though, has given the Rangers honest minutes and then some. In a season where Igor Shesterkin’s season-ending injury has narrowed the margin for error, New York cannot afford to ignore the players who are actually tilting the ice.
Raddysh was available for free a month ago. Now he is back in the lineup, earning his place. And if the Rangers use him properly, they might even turn him into something useful again later.
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Garand has become the name the Rangers have had to trust while the rest of the depth chart sorts itself out, and the contrast with Shesterkin has been hard to miss. Managements decision to lock up Shesterkin long-term already looked important when the deal was signed, and it feels even more significant now with the team trying to survive without the kind of netminding it was built to expect. [Read more 🡒]