Desperate times call for desperate measures. While panic hasn’t fully set in just yet in The Big Apple, the New York Rangers may have no better option than to embrace a bold strategy for the remainder of the 2024-25 NHL season. Following the announcement of star Adam Fox’s injury, which places him on IR, head coach Peter Laviolette wasted no time getting to work on a potential solution.
Fox suffered an upper-body injury during the Rangers‘ win over rivals, the New York Islanders, and will miss the team’s next three games, at least. His absence is critical for the Broadway Blueshirts, in more ways than one.
The most obvious aspect is the lack of their top-pairing defender in the blueline. However, that’s far from the only issue that has arose from Fox’s medical leave. The 27-year-old defender is the point passer for the Rangers when in the power play, and with him on IR, the team is now missing a lynchpin to their man-advantage.
Thus, Laviolette tried a very aggressive option, discarding the defenseman slot in the point passer role, and instead putting an all-forward power play unit on the ice. During the team’s practice, the PP1 unit was formed by five forwards: Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, and Alexis Lafrenière.
This would be a risky move, as removing a defenseman from the ice leaves the team vulnerable to odd-man shorthanded opportunities from the opponents. They say not to put all your eggs in one basket, but the adversity may force the Rangers to do so anyway.
“Peter Laviolette wouldn’t commit to the 5-forward power-play alignment we saw in practice, but did say they wanted to get a look at it today. It sounded like Laviolette would be comfortable deploying it in a game,” The New York Post’s reporter Mollie Walker said.
Fox’s impact on the power play
The Rangers power play has not been as effective as in previous years, ranking in the mid-table section of the NHL. With an efficiency rate of 21.1%, the Blueshirts rank 19th in the league when on the man-advantage.
Fox leads the team in assists with a grand total of 43 apples through the campaign, 15 of which have come during power play opportunities. However, and almost shockingly, Fox has only scored one goal himself in odd-man situations.
All in approach to PP
If Laviolette goes through with his five-forwards power play unit, then goalie Igor Shesterkin will have to keep his head on a swivel, as breakouts for the opponents will be more probable.
As of today, the Rangers have allowed just three shorthanded goals, ranking 21st in the NHL. Fun fact: the top four teams for most shorthanded goals allowed are all in the Atlantic Division—the Bruins, Panthers, and Lightning, each with 8, and the Canadiens with 6.