NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 19: Vinni Lettieri #95 of the New York Rangers skates against the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden on September 19, 2018 in New York City. The Flyers defeated the Rangers 6-4. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

New York Rangers: Is the team playing it too safe style wise? by Nicholas Zararis

The New York Rangers have not had a quality fourth line in several seasons. In fact, once upon a time, they had the league’s best unit.

Building a quality hockey team from top to bottom requires the right combination of intuition, luck and timing. Typically, the fourth line is composed of spare parts or overachieving AHLers. If a team has the luxury of a defensive specialist, they will typically get stuck here to serve as part of a checking line.

The fourth line is tasked with eating defensive zone starts, winning key faceoffs at certain points of the game and occasionally adding onto the score sheet. The best teams in the NHL feature a fourth line that can play well against other team’s top six.

Way back in 2014, the Rangers had the league’s best fourth line that was the right mix of size, skill and grit. The combination of Brian Boyle at center, Dominic Moore on the wing as well as a combination of Derek Dorsett and Dan Carcillo was part of the team’s Stanley Cup Final run. If the team did not get such strong contributions from this group, there was no way the team could have made the cup final.

Coming into the 2018-2019 season, the Rangers’ coaching staff has designed a fourth line that hits similar notes. While not overwhelmingly good at any one thing, the combination of Vladislav Namestnikov, Brett Howden and Vinni Lettieri presents an interesting opportunity.

Two days before the opener, #NYR at an early practice: Kreider-Zibanejad-Buchnevich, Vesey-Hayes-Zuccarello, Namestnikov-Howden-Letterri, Spooner-Chytil-Fast. (McLeod extra).

Skjei-McQuaid, Smith-Shattenkirk, Staal-Pionk (extra: Claesson-DeAngelo). — Brett Cyrgalis (@BrettCyrgalis) October 2, 2018

Earlier this week, G.M. Jeff Gorton went on SiriusXM NHL and explained the team’s mindset in regards to Filip Chytil.

Chytil is a bit different, more flashy, real good skater, top-end skater. For now it was easier to put him in our top-three lines and find the ice time.

If they plan on giving the Czech center top-9 minutes that would make Ryan Spooner, Chytil and Jesper Fast the defacto third line. There was some thought that the team might go with Chytil as the team’s fourth line center but as Gorton explained, his skill set is suited for a different role.

As for the forwards pegged for fourth line minutes, they all present different things.

Namesnitkov

Last year Namestnikov potted 22 goals and 48 points between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York. Although Tampa is one of the more well-rounded teams in the NHL, putting up nearly 50 points shows he has a nose for the back of the net and buries the opportunities he creates for himself.

Of the three, the Russian has the highest offensive upside and could serve as a premium bottom six player. In fact, given his skillset, Namestnikov could catch other team’s fourth lines by surprise.

Howden

Howden, involved in the same trade that brought over Namestnikov, proved in both training camp and the preseason that he can play intelligent, two-way hockey while also producing for his team.

HOWDY HOWDY HOWDY HEY HEY HEY pic.twitter.com/OwJbAYXyFD — New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 28, 2018

Gorton admired his hockey-smarts in training camp and hinted that it could lead to other opportunities for the 20-year-old.

As the camp evolved and the coaches started handing out more ice time and different situations he handled killing penalties and doing different things better.

Howden, scouted for his playmaking abilities, should match well with Namestnikov and be able to take advantage of other team’s fourth lines that are more of a stopgap than a reliable trio.

Lettieri

Last but not least, the Ryan Callahan-esque grinder that goes to the dirty areas and scores goals. Lettieri had a brief moment in the NHL last year, the forward put up a respectable five points in 19 games. He wasn’t put in a position to succeed then and seemed in over his head. Now that he has both a playmaker and sharpshooter on his line, the Minnesota native should be able to put up more conventional counting stats.

Lettieri and Howden both impressed in the exhibition season and rightfully earned their roster spot. Also like Howden, Lettier’s play could earn him additional minutes on special teams, as he was used on the power-play unit quite a bit during the preseason.

Additional minutes will prove to be beneficial for his development, as it will only increase his confidence and give him more ice time than the mere 6-10 minutes a fourth liner normally sees.

In conclusion: Be excited

This is a fun time for the Rangers. The team is essentially playing with house money because there are no expectations going into this season. This leaves room to experiment with the new players they’ve acquired through trades and the draft.

While this fourth line does not have the proven track record that the 2014 group did, they could just as easily be a nuisance for opposing teams to play against. Any fourth line that has legitimate scoring threats like the Rangers should be considered in the upper echelon.

Expect the team’s lineup to get tinkered with over the course of the season. If things get stagnant higher up the lineup, any of these three could be moved up to try and jump start things.

New York will be able to run out a fourth line that can impose its will on the other team, attack the puck carrier and even get some goals.