Among the switches is Will Cuylle moving to the top power-play unit, where he\u2019ll replace Alexis Lafreni\u00e8re.<\/p>\n
Cuylle also skated on a line with Lafreni\u00e8re and Noah Laba during Thursday\u2019s practice in Tarrytown as the Rangers prepared for Friday\u2019s game in Detroit, while the struggling Artemi Panarin was with Mika Zibanejad and Taylor Raddysh.<\/p>\n
And they remain with Vincent Trocheck (upper body), who practiced again Thursday with a noncontact jersey and is eligible to come off long-term injured reserve, but won\u2019t play Friday.<\/p>\n
Asked about the most recent alterations, Sullivan \u2014 who hinted there would likely be tweaks to the power play following the dud against the Hurricanes \u2014 acknowledged his team isn\u2019t getting enough done offensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we haven\u2019t had a comfort level with our production,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cIsn\u2019t that obvious? It\u2019s not that we haven\u2019t created offense or generated opportunities. We have. We have to find ways to score goals, so we\u2019re trying to do everything we can, as far as being proactive, to try to help these guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Rangers](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/new-york-rangers-left-wing-113882686.jpg\")
Rangers left wing Will Cuylle passes the puck as Minnesota Wild center Vinnie Hinostroza tries to steal it in the first period at Madison Square Garden in New York, October 20, 2025. JASON SZENES\/ NY POST<\/p>\n
The moves are the result of what\u2019s been an inconsistent start for the Rangers, who are 6-1-1 on the road, but dropped their first six games at home for the first time in franchise history (0-5-1 at Madison Square Garden).<\/p>\n
They head to Detroit having won three straight on the road and have scored better away from home as well.<\/p>\n
But they look at their issues at home as more of a coincidence than a real problem and are instead focused on their style of play, something Sullivan noted again Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think we\u2019ve got to fight harder for the net front,\u2019\u2019 the coach said. \u201cIt\u2019s not that we\u2019re not there. We are. But I think we can be there more. And I think when we get there, we can have different intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/new-york-rangers-head-coach-113030867.jpg\")
Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan looks on in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in New York, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST<\/p>\n
He\u2019s looking for more physicality and \u201cembracing contact to own the real estate\u201d in order to make opposing goaltenders\u2019 jobs harder.<\/p>\n
And the plan is also based on analytics, according to Sullivan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s looking for more activity by the net in order to create more broken plays in traffic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conversion rate on those types of goals the past few seasons is very high,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said of being able to jump on loose pucks when there\u2019s chaos in front of the net. \u201cI think we can do a better job in that aspect of manufacturing offense and going to the net more consistently,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Cuylle comes in.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead the expert take on the Blueshirts\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\u201cPlaying the net front in five-on-five or the power play, there might be an assumption it\u2019s a non-skill position, when in reality it\u2019s a very skilled position, with a lot of subtleties and \u2026 usually there\u2019s a cost going there and you pay a price physically,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said. \u201cI think Will has all the attributes to be that guy. He\u2019s talented, got a good stick, he\u2019s big, strong [and] hard to handle.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concept, Sullivan hopes, leads to more scoring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not highlight goals,\u2019\u2019 Sullivan said of the hard-fought goals in front of the net. \u201cBut they all count the same.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"No team has scored fewer goals through the first month of the season than the Rangers and no…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":361157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[66396,1302,293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-361156","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-mike-sullivan-nhl","9":"tag-new-york-rangers","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115506005408273908","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}