The New York Rangers are still searching for the right answer on their fourth line, and the latest attempt comes with Glenn Gawdin stepping into the middle after a run of injuries has forced the team to keep shuffling pieces.
Joe Veleno was supposed to fill that job when the Rangers signed him in free agency. The plan was straightforward: use his speed, lean on him defensively, and count on him for penalty-kill work.
He wasn’t brought in for big offensive numbers, but he did have a clear purpose, and he handled it well before getting hurt. In the first three games of the season, Veleno logged 44:16 of ice time, averaged 14:45 per game and skated at least 19 shifts in each contest.
Since then, the Rangers have tried to patch the hole with Cole Beaudoin, Justin Dowling and Luke Glendening, but none of those looks has really settled in. Now Gawdin gets the next shot, and Mike Sullivan is hoping the move helps restore some balance to a lineup that has leaned hard on its top three lines.
Against the Calgary Flames, Gawdin made his season debut and played 6:27. That number is going to have to climb if Sullivan wants the fourth line to do its part the way he envisions.
“Our team is at its best when we have the ability to use four lines more than we have most recently,” Sullivan said, via Vincent Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic (subscription required).
“It allows us to play with a higher level of energy. That’s a big part of how we’re trying to play.”
Gawdin, 29, last appeared in an NHL game on March 6, 2024. He doesn’t have much NHL mileage, but he has been productive in the AHL, putting up at least 50 points in three of the last four seasons. The Rangers are now giving him a chance to show that some of that production can translate into a more useful role at the top level.
There was also a brief look at Will Cuylle down the middle, but that experiment has been shelved for now. Cuylle has spent his career as a winger, and Sullivan made it clear where he thinks the best version of him lives.
“It’s more about how do we get the best version of Will Cuylle?” Sullivan said, and he believes the answer to that is left wing.
Cuylle was back on the left side in the last two games, while Noah Laba returned to his spot as the No. 3 center. Even so, the Rangers know Cuylle remains an option at center if they need him in a pinch.
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