Rangers make multiple SHOCKING moves... This changes EVERYTHING

The Rangers just entirely blew up their lines, and one of the guys paying for it is one of the kids that has actually been scoring. At practice today, head coach Mike Sullivan moved Pavel Dorofeev, the $11 million man, onto the top line with Mika Zabanijad and Alexei Lafreniere. And Gabe Perrault, where does that leave him? The man with four goals so far this season, has been demoted. Now, I don't love this move, but there is a part of it that does actually make some sense heading into a big game on Sunday. And part of that is because Dorofeev's current numbers are hiding something that nobody is really talking about. And, again, a big matchup against Conor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Here's a full look at what happened at practice this morning. Dorofeev with Zibanejad and Lafreniere up top. And then you have Cartier, Miller, and Bjorkstrand on the second line. Cooley, Laba, and Perrault on the third line. And Matt Rempe is coming back into the lineup against the Oilers with Radish and Glenn Denning. On the power play, Dorofeev is staying on the first unit. Perrault is going to be on the second. According to a lot of advanced analytics, that second line is one that's actually quietly been pretty good. JT Miller does have 10 points this season, and Sullivan says that the line has been strong analytically. You might be thinking, where is Eli Tolvanen? Well, he missed practice again for personal reasons today, and the defense pairing, Sullivan did hint earlier in the week that he was going to change them up, and there's quite a bit going on with that part of the lineup too. really quick before we go any further into the numbers the changes to the lineup and of course the goaltending situation a quick reminder to hit that subscribe button we're currently sitting at 12 345 subscribers at the time of recording and i am giving away a jersey here for whatever comes first either 15 000 subscribers or the rangers make the playoffs so if you want a shot at a free jersey With the jersey giveaway to one lucky subscriber, make sure you are subscribed to the channel, and I am giving you guys updates on everything that's happening with the Rangers every single day. So, if you're just doing basic math and just looking at it with points, why is the guy with three goals going up to the top line and the guy with four goals is being moved down? Well, it starts with an $11 million contract. This summer, the Rangers gave Pavel Dorofeev a seven-year, $77 million contract that equals to $11 million a year. You're the biggest cap hit. on the team outside of, of course, Igor Shesterkin. He came over from Vegas after a 37-goal season, and while there were some question marks with what he would do on this team, that wasn't a fluke season. He did it the year before, where he scored 35. And then in the playoffs, with a Stanley Cup final berth, last spring he had 12 goals and 22 points. This year, through 14 games with the Rangers, he has three goals, and he is a minus 13. So the easy take that I see a lot of people talking about is that he's overpaid and he can't handle New York, but that is the wrong take if you look at the numbers. And he's actually a really good defensive winger as well. And you're probably like, what are you talking about? If you look at all the JFresh charts, he's actually pretty good defensively, at least coming over to the Rangers. And let's start with the minus 13. Let's talk about that. The Rangers have given up 18 goals in their last three games. I don't think that that's one winger's fault. Now let's look at his shot production. He's putting three shots on net a game this season. Last season in Vegas, where he scored 37 goals, he was putting 2.8 shots per game on net. So far this season, he is shooting more, not less, and the difference is obviously what goes in and the results and producing. But last season, 16% of his shots were goals, and this season it is 7%. And according to the advanced numbers and Moneypuck, he leads the entire Rangers team in expected goals this season. And through his first 11 games, when he was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Rangers got 61% of the expected goals per. Flash score. Even Sullivan was talking about his old line on October 12th, where he was on the second line. He said that they just aren't scoring goals, but they were gathering and generating offense. And you can put it simply like you see here. His metrics are awesome. The puck simply has just not gone in yet. So that's not a bust. I think a lot of people look at numbers now. That is a guy who is just snakebitten. I've said it time and time again on the channel. And when you're snakebitten, you need a little bit of confidence back in your game. Lafreniere has started great. He has nine goals on 32 shots. He's on fire to start this season. And putting Pavel Dorofeev with him on the same line might start a fire under Pavel Dorofeev. And Vince Mercogliano and many others thought that this is the lineup that the Rangers were going to start the season with, at least this first line. I didn't at the time. I thought it would be better to put them on the second line to spread the offense and keep that first line the way it was last year, but it does make some sense. What I don't really love, again, when talking about the top line, is who he moved off to put Pavel Dorofeev there. But before we get into all of that and some other moves that they've made, one of the strangest things about getting older is that your recovery, your stamina, your focus is just not what it used to be. And it's a gradual decline that is so subtle that you don't notice until it is far too late. And that is exactly where Mars Men comes into play. Mars Men uses clinically dosed ingredients like vitamin D, zinc, and a few others to naturally support testosterone, energy, and stamina. One thing that I personally love about Mars Men is... How it helps support recovery. I love to stay active. I love to play in a bunch of men's league sports, riding a bike, whatever it is, just working out, going for walks. And recovery is not exactly what it used to be as you continue to get older. You're starting to feel it the day after, maybe even two days after sometimes. And Mars Men, what I love about it is it's not just a temporary boost like caffeine or anything like that. It is a pretty steady boost in different areas, especially recovery. And hey, if you don't absolutely love it, They do have a 90-day money-back guarantee. So, guys, right now, for a limited time, listeners and viewers of Rangers Digest get 50% off for life, three free gifts, and free shipping when you go to mengotomars.com. That is mengotomars.com right now. Link is in the description. And again, you get 50% off for life, three free gifts, and free shipping. And at checkout, they're going to ask you how you found their product. Let them know that Darius at Rangers Digest sent you. So Gabe Perreault has seven points in 14 games this season, four goals and three assists on 28 shots. And he's playing some really big minutes this season, 16 minutes a night, which, you know, there's guys that play 20 minutes, but last season he had 27 points in 49 games. The kid is ready. He's ready to take the next step. And he's actually shooting at a 14.3% shooting percentage which is double Pavel Dorofeev's. And like we've seen in the past, when he's played with Zibanejad and Lafreniere, it has worked. In the 5-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks a couple weeks ago, that line combined for four goals and had about 55% of the expected goals in that game. Now he's also off the top of power play and Snark Messier said Perrault was demoted to the third line and called it enough hockey for one day because of one other move that they made, which is Matt Rempe being back in the lineup. So fans are a little shaken by some of the moves that have been made today. And I kind of agree here with Johnny Lazarus and what he said. Shouldn't have to demote Gabe Perrault and what he's been able to do so far this year to get an $11 million player going. Now I can see both sides here, that is for sure. I love Gaypro and I think keeping that top line together is a good idea. I do because they had so much chemistry last year and I do believe that Pavel Dorofeev, his numbers do look good. He's an 11 million dollar player. He should be able to motivate and get himself going, but sometimes you just need to generate a spark and it's a big game Sunday. Try it for a little bit, see if you can get a couple points on the board from Dorofeev. Get that fire lit under him and then you can go back to different line combinations and he can drive a line. And I feel like that's kind of what Mike Sullivan is explaining here as well. He said that he's trying to help Pav capture his best game and that Mika's line hasn't been as effective most recently as it was earlier in the year. But it's pretty interesting to think about. Zibanejad has three goals in 14 games. Lafreniere has nine, the best start of his career. So if that line slowed down, are we blaming Gaypro? And it's unfortunate. I don't think he's necessarily played bad. This is a scenario where you're just moving Dorofeev to get his confidence up, and hopefully it doesn't, you know, do anything to Gabe Perrault's confidence. This is also not the first time that Mike Sullivan has shuffled Pavel Dorofeev, by the way. On October 11th, against the Vancouver Canucks, he played with Zibanejad and Perrault. Then days later, because he didn't change when he was supposed to, Sullivan moved him to the second power play unit and gave Perrault his spot on the tap power play unit. And October 26th, against LA just a couple days ago, Perrault was on the top line, and then Dorofeev was on the third line. And Mike Sullivan said that this is one of the combinations that they have not tried or gone to yet with Pavel Dorofeev in the top six. So give it a shot. See if it lights a fire under him and we'll take it from there, I guess. Except keep in mind, that's not necessarily a plan. That's a coach just going down the list of combinations and going, hey, let's try this one, I guess. But getting an $11 million goal score going is one of the Rangers' problems, but it's certainly not the only problem that the Rangers have. The Rangers have now lost three games in a row. They lost 5-4 to Toronto, 7-4 to Ottawa, and then 6-3 to the Kings right before the six-day break. They have allowed 18 goals in their last three games. They are now 0-5-1 when the other team scores first. And this is a team that started 6-0 at home at the Garden, And now they are 7-6. And fifth, and I know they've been off all week, but fifth in the Metropolitan Division. Igor Shosturkin is out for the season. James Reimer just got pulled against LA after giving up three goals on eight shots. There is a little bit of good news and an update though on the goaltending. Jonas Corpozalo and James Reimer, who've both been on the injury list, were both on the ice at practice today. And Mike Sullivan earlier this week was hinting at changing the defense pairings, and there's been a lot of talk about Albert Schmitz too, but Sullivan said that they aren't etched in stone, but he has not changed them for this game. It's still the same three pairs. So I actually think it's pretty interesting how they keep going down in games but you're rearranging your forward group when the puck keeps getting into the back of the net at an alarming rate. One other update is Matt Rempe is back in the lineup for this game and its first game back could be against the Oilers here on Sunday. The Oilers, who I talked about it this morning, according to Frank Cervalli and Mike Babcock, they want that player on their team. They could be expressing some interest via trade. He's played two games this season at roughly six minutes a night and Sunday could honestly be an audition for him. This could be a very interesting development. Now, the Oilers come into this game in the Garden on Sunday at 9-2-2, first place in the Pacific Division. Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisaitl are, of course, the players to watch in this game. 36 points in 13 games for Connor McDavid, and Dreisaitl has 12 goals already. Edmonton scores roughly four goals a game and the Rangers have been giving up roughly three goals a game. So something's got to give in this game. So here's what I'm watching going into Sunday. Can the defense, the same defense pairings and whoever is playing a net, which I imagine is Dylan Grand, close the gap a little bit more against one of the most potent offenses in the entire league? And can guys like Pavel Dorofeev get going in this game? Can they do it against other elite competition? And watch the power play as well. Dorofeev back on that top unit. He has one power play goal so far this season. So this is really a big test. They're not changing anything on the back end or really the goaltending. They're shuffling the forward group around to see if they can outscore their mistakes, I guess. And if it works, Sullivan is going to look smart. And Dorofeev is finally, hopefully, going to build some confidence and continue to bring it the rest of the season. And if it doesn't, you messed up some chemistry and you put Pavel Dorofeev on the first line, Gaypro on the third line, and it didn't work out. And now you have a real problem with Dorofeev. If you look at it, though, this might be the right move for just one game. You might just have to try. And I know it's Mike Sullivan throwing darts at a dartboard. But Perreault has definitely played pretty well this season. But Dorofeev, you've got to get him going. And the numbers suggest that he will get going and something has to give. And it's going to be interesting to see how the rest of this plays out. Because if Dorofeev does start to kick it into gear, he's scoring at a much better clip. He's back to his regular self. Where do you put him then? They did look really good on the second line. Would you do that again to spread out the scoring? I feel like Gabe Perreault at some point here soon would have to go back up to that top line. So what do you guys think? Who belongs on that top line? Is it Gabe Perreault? Is it Pavel Dorofeev? I mean, Gabe Perreault can offer a pretty interesting spark to that third line too, but who knows what's going to happen with Tolvan and maybe he's back in the lineup. He's been missing practices due to personal reasons. Guys, let me know how you feel in the comments below. My name is Darius Dominguez. Rangers Digest, and I will see you in the next video.