Matt Rempe is set to slide back into the lineup tonight against Tampa, but that only sharpens the awkward reality on the Rangers’ blue line: Scott Morrow still hasn’t played a game, and there’s no obvious path to get him in.
That leaves the Rangers in a strange spot with Morrow, the lone skater on the roster who has yet to appear this season, Spencer Martin aside. So the question hangs there: When will Scott Morrow play?
Will Scott Morrow play at all without an injury? And if he does get in, what changes enough to push out Sean Durzi or Braden Schneider?
Right now, Morrow is sitting in what might as well be the Libor Hajek spot - a player too valuable to waive because he’d get claimed, but also not seeing the ice for a variety of reasons. It’s an uncomfortable holding pattern for the team and for Morrow himself.
The bigger picture around the Rangers has shifted fast. A 5-2-0 start has changed the mood around the team completely, and the early read is that this group is for real. Not a finished Cup contender, but close enough to matter, with some holes that can still be fixed.
Defense, though, is not one of those holes. In fact, it’s been a strength.
Outside of trouble at the high slot and right circle, the Rangers have been roughly above league average on defense, according to HockeyViz. That comes with the usual small-sample warning, and there isn’t a full xG breakdown by shot type here, but the early signs are clear enough: this team isn’t giving up much.
The Rangers also aren’t allowing many shots on goal, which makes life easier on the goalies and only reinforces the idea that this is an area of strength.
The offensive side is where the uncertainty still lives.
That doesn’t mean the Rangers have been bad going forward. It means the results haven’t been steady enough.
The games against Boston, Detroit, and Washington all stood out as rough offensive nights, which is a little more than a third of their schedule so far. They beat Detroit, but that wasn’t exactly a banner night for the attack.
The Boston game was a dud. The Washington game gets a pass for obvious reasons.
It’s still early enough that nobody should be drawing hard conclusions, but the broad shape of the team is starting to show: defense looks strong, offense still needs polish. If that’s the case, it makes sense to look for ways to boost the attack without tearing down what’s already working.
That’s where Morrow comes back into the conversation.
He’s not being sold as some kind of cure-all. What he does offer is more specific: puck movement out of the defensive zone and offensive instincts that can help tilt the ice the other way.
His defensive game is where the concerns live, and those concerns are fair. Even so, he looked fine in his own end during the preseason, and that alone should have earned him a longer look.
The problem is the roster math. Sean Durzi is in the mix now, and the Rangers also never moved Braden Schneider, which leaves Morrow blocked.
Durzi has had a rough start, even with 30% offensive zone starts, while Schneider has been fine so far. And because it’s still early, there’s no real basis yet to make sweeping judgments about the team or any of the individual players, especially with what looks like full buy-in to what Mike Sullivan is selling.
So if Morrow is going to play without an injury on the blue line, something else has to give. That means either a trade or a scratch, and the options narrow quickly to Durzi or Schneider. Neither one looks like a realistic scratch candidate anytime soon.
There’s another catch, though: if the Rangers want to trade one of them, scratching him undercuts that idea. A player has to be on the ice to be showcased. But if they’re playing fine, there’s no obvious reason to sit them.
That leaves the most likely avenue for Morrow as the same one nobody wants to see - an injury. And after the injuries the Rangers have already dealt with to start the season, that’s not a route anyone should be hoping for.
In Other News...
Rangers Bring Early Heat Back To MSG Against Tampa Bay
The Rangers are back at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the building should again have the feel of a team that has started fast and fed off its home ice. New York is unbeaten in its four games at MSG so far, and the early numbers around the club have matched the eye test, with the Rangers sitting near the top of the league in a handful of key categories.
Alexis Lafrenire has been a big part of that surge, earning the NHLs Third Star of the Week after scoring in three straight games and giving New York another top-line threat to lean on. Tuesday also brings Hispanic Heritage Night to the Garden, with a pregame community program and a check presentation tied to the celebration, adding another layer to a matchup that already carries plenty of energy. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Are Backing Up Contender Talk With A Start Fans Will Love
The early chatter around the Rangers as a contender is getting louder for a reason. They have opened the season undefeated in their first five home games, a start the franchise has matched only twice before, and they are pairing that kind of home-ice surge with production and structure across the board. New York sits atop the league with six wins and has also shown up near the top in goals against, goals scored and penalty kill percentage, which is the sort of across-the-board profile teams usually need if they want to look the part in the spring.
There has also been no shortage of individual momentum helping fuel it. Alexis Lafrenire, Dylan Garand, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, Will Cuylle, J.T. Miller and Tye Kartye have all had notable stretches or milestones already, giving the roster a steady stream of contributors instead of leaning on one hot line or one standout night. Lafrenire, in particular, has become one of the most interesting pieces of that mix, and the way his scoring pace is building has added another layer to a team that is starting to feel like it may be backed by more than just a good first impression. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Goalie Depth Suddenly Feels Far More Important Than Expected
Callum Tungs night in Hartford offered a promising snapshot of the Rangers organizational depth at a position that can change a season in an instant. The Wolf Pack goaltender turned aside 28 shots in a 2-0 win over Providence on Oct. 9, a performance that stood out on its own before New Yorks bigger-picture goalie concerns quickly made every crease performance feel a little more relevant.
The timing around the Rangers only sharpened the focus on what comes next. With Igor Shesterkin dealing with a right knee injury and Joonas Korpisalo also unavailable, New York has already recalled Spencer Martin and is expecting Dylan Garand to be the next man up, turning what once looked like routine depth into a far more urgent part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]