The New York Rangers’ “Kid Line” arrived like a jolt during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and for a stretch it looked like the franchise had found something real. Alexis Lafrenière, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil were young, fast and suddenly effective in a way that turned heads around the league. Less than four years later, only one of them is still wearing a Rangers sweater.
That playoff run was the moment everything seemed to click. New York had slotted the trio in as its third line behind stars like Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad, hoping they could tilt matchups against weaker competition.
Instead, they became one of the club’s most reliable groups. When the Rangers were staring at a 3-1 series deficit against the Pittsburgh Penguins and then fell behind 2-0 at home in Game 5, it was Chytil who pulled them back with the game-winning goal.
From there, the line kept delivering all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, even without the headline-grabbing offensive totals Zibanejad was producing.
Chytil, in particular, had the kind of postseason that can change the way people talk about a player. He finished those 20 games with seven goals and nine points, then carried that scoring touch into the next season, when he set a career high with 22 goals.
Lafrenière and Kakko didn’t match that production, but they were part of why the line worked. The three of them gave the Rangers a glimpse of what they might become if placed in the right roles.
That promise never fully turned into permanence. The line was reunited at different points over the next few seasons, but it never found the same spark it had in 2022.
After the Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy and returned to the Eastern Conference Final in 2024, losing in six games, they kept the roster intact going into 2024-25. A 12-4-1 start suggested stability, but things unraveled in late November and early December, and the changes started to come.
Kakko was the first to go, dealt to the Seattle Kraken for Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick and a 2025 sixth-round pick. That trade came days after Kakko was a healthy scratch by then-head coach Peter Laviolette and made his frustration known to the media.
Chytil’s exit came later, and injuries had already taken a heavy toll. After his strong 2022-23 season, he missed most of the next year because of a concussion, not the first one in his career.
He did appear in some playoff games during the Rangers’ 2024 run to the Eastern Conference Final, but he was no longer the same player. In January 2025, he was included in the package that brought J.T.
Miller back to New York from the Vancouver Canucks. His time in Vancouver has been disrupted by injuries, especially concussions, and he played only 12 games with the Canucks last season.
That leaves Lafrenière as the last man standing from the line that once felt like the Rangers’ future. His best season came in 2023-24, when he scored 28 goals and finished with 57 points.
The next season, he signed a seven-year extension, but his numbers dipped along with the team’s performance, and he dropped to 17 goals and 45 points in 2024-25. He opened last season slowly, too, before Panarin was traded and he moved into consistent top-line and top power-play usage.
From there, he became the Rangers’ best player down the stretch and closed with 24 goals and 57 points, matching his career high.
Lafrenière found real chemistry with Zibanejad and Gabe Perreault, and if that combination carries over, the Rangers may have a new top line on their hands. He has taken time to settle in as an NHL player, and while he may never fully meet the weight of being a first-overall pick, he remains a meaningful piece for a Rangers team trying to get back into playoff contention.
For a while, “The Kid Line” gave the Rangers exactly what fans wanted: energy, hope and a glimpse of what the next era might look like. It was a fun, electric run. It just wasn’t built to last.
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The part that still lingers, though, is how quickly it all unraveled once the playoffs began. New Yorks stay ended in a seven-game first-round series against the Devils, and the disappointment carried straight into the offseason, when Gerard Gallant was let go and all four deadline additions moved on as well. For a team that paid to be judged by results, the ending made the gamble feel even harsher in hindsight. [Read more 🡒]
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The Rangers have already done some reshaping of their lineup, but the sense remains that they may not be done yet as the calendar turns toward the opener. Edmonton and Chicago are also in that same conversation, though the Blackhawks will have to begin the season without Connor Bedard after shoulder surgery, a blow that only sharpens the pressure on their scoring depth. For New York, the question is less about headline moves than whether one more addition can make the roster feel truly settled. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Still Need One Superstar Move From Chris Drury
The Rangers have spent the summer acting like a team with a big swing still in mind, even as the market has not exactly handed them one. Michael Rupp has suggested New York has long had its eyes on a true difference-maker, the kind of player who can tilt the balance in the Eastern Conference, and the front office is still viewed as planning for a significant addition rather than simply standing pat.
The problem is that the path to that kind of move keeps getting narrower. The free-agent class that was supposed to offer more impact never really showed up, and while speculation can quickly turn to trade targets when that happens, one of the names floating around the broader rumor mill does not appear to be a realistic fit right now. For Chris Drury, the pressure remains the same: find the one superstar move that changes the conversation, even if the options are thinning out. [Read more 🡒]