A lot of the early chatter around the Rangers’ third line has centered on what it hasn’t done offensively. That misses the bigger picture. Will Cuylle, Noah Laba, and Eeli Tolvanen have combined for seven points - Tolvanen with 3 goals, Cuylle with 3 assists, and Laba with one assist - and that’s before getting to the part that matters just as much: this line is being used as a shutdown unit.
That role has been clear from the jump. In the home opener against Tampa, the Rangers sent that trio out to handle Tampa’s top line.
It wasn’t clean, and it wasn’t pretty, but they got the job done. Against Utah, they kept getting the Logan Cooley and Dylan Guenther line, Utah’s second line and arguably its most dangerous offensive group.
Same story. Then came the Islanders, and while it wasn’t every shift, the Rangers third line saw plenty of the Islanders’ second line and again held firm.
The matchup data from Natural Stat Trick backs up what the eye test has suggested: Sully is leaning on this line against the opposition’s top six, while the JT Miller line appears to be taking on the other top-six assignment. It’s still early, so that trend can’t be stamped in ink just yet, but it’s definitely there.
The bigger point is that the third line is doing a job that doesn’t always show up cleanly in the box score. Yes, the possession numbers are rough at first glance.
Through five games, the line has a 34.88% shot share, a 30.5% expected goals share, and a 36.84% high danger chance share. But they’ve also allowed just one goal at 5v5, and they’ve done it while starting only 36% of their shifts in the offensive zone.
That deployment matters. It’s a very different assignment from the JT Miller, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Tye Kartye line, which starts 55% of its shifts in the offensive zone and has crushed the Rangers third line in CF%, xGF%, and HDCF.
When Oliver Bjorkstrand was on that unit, it still posted a 42% offensive zone start rate with nearly the same numbers. The Miller line has been ridiculous, and Kartye looks like a cleaner stylistic fit there.
That leaves the Rangers third line in a tougher spot, and there’s still room for improvement. No one should expect this group to become a runaway offensive engine in this role, and it doesn’t have the personnel to match what the Miller line is doing.
But the line has also given up 31 high danger chances through five games, most of any Rangers line, with the fourth line not far behind. That’s the part that needs cleaning up.
Still, there’s no reason to panic. The Rangers are still sorting out their lineup, and this is very much an evaluation period, much like the defense pairs.
If the team can keep getting the top six into better offensive-zone situations while the bottom six holds its own, that’s a real win. It also raises the question of whether Cole Beaudoin could eventually push Noah Laba out of that third-line spot if he brings more offense.
For now, the Rangers have made a subtle but meaningful shift in how they’re deploying their depth. The top six is getting more favorable minutes, the third line is taking on the hard stuff, and that balance is already helping bring more stability to the roster.
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Callum Tung was the biggest reason it held together, turning aside all 28 shots he faced for his first AHL shutout. In a development system, those are the kinds of nights that matter because they hint at more than a clean sheet in October, especially when the results keep stacking up and the crease picture in the organization starts to look a little more interesting. [Read more 🡒]