Kid Line and young defensemen showing Rangers' present and future are bright
Filip Chytil of the New York Rangers celebrates his first goal of the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes during Game Six of the Second Round with teammates Kaapo Kakko #24, Adam Fox #23 and Alexis Lafreniere #13 at Madison Square Garden on May 28, 2022. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Kid Line has been all the rage for the Rangers in these playoffs, especially in the last two games of their second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes and in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kid Line center Filip Chytil scored five goals in those three games, and he and his wingers, Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, are turning into something of an X factor for Gerard Gallant’s team.
But the line of Chytil, 22, Kakko, 21, and Lafreniere, 20, aren’t the only young players contributing to the Rangers’ run. Defensemen K’Andre Miller, 22, and Braden Schneider, 20, also have been standouts. And as the Rangers prepared for Game 2 against the Lightning on Friday night at the Garden, the performance of the Rangers’ kids has made some minds wonder about just how much better the Rangers might be in another year or two.
Gallant isn’t one of those minds.
“The future looks real bright for our club, but I’m not looking at the future,’’ he said Thursday. “I’m looking at the near future. So keep playing well and give yourself a chance to win every night. And those guys are a big part of it, definitely.’’
All five youngsters are first-round draft picks. Chytil, the oldest, was the 21st overall selection in the 2017 draft. Miller was the second of three first-round picks (No. 22 overall) the Rangers had in 2018. Kakko was No. 2 overall in 2019. Lafreniere and Schneider were picked in 2020, Lafreniere at No. 1 overall and Schneider at No. 19 with the pick the Rangers acquired from Carolina in the Brady Skjei trade.
According to Schneider, who played the first half of the season in the minor leagues before getting called up in January, the Baby Blueshirts have a great relationship with each other. But none of them is thinking about the future right now.
“I think we all get along super-well,’’ he said. “We can all laugh and joke and be around each other. We enjoy coming to the rink and seeing everyone. And we haven’t talked about [the future] too much. I think we’re really focused on making sure that this is the time, and the moment we’re in, and we want to do well right now. So I haven’t had too many conversations about what’s to come, but it’s exciting, no doubt.’’
Chytil’s hot streak, which included two goals in Game 1 against the Lightning, had him at seven goals and one assist going into Game 2. Lafreniere had two goals and seven assists. Kakko, who was dropped to the fourth line for two games during the Carolina series, had one goal and three assists.
Miller, an all-rookie team performer last season, has blossomed into a force on defense as one of the top four blueliners. He was second on the team in ice time in the playoffs behind Adam Fox with an average of 25 minutes, 19 seconds. He had one goal and five assists, and his 18 takeaways were second to Fox’s 19.
Schneider has played the least among the fivesome in the playoffs. His 11:42 average time on ice is second-lowest on the team, above only enforcer Ryan Reaves (9:33), but he has not looked awed by the moment.
“He’s looked great in playoffs,’’ Schneider’s third-pair defense partner, Justin Braun, said Thursday. “You have your ups and downs, you have tough shifts, but with him, he doesn’t seem to let that bother him. If something doesn’t go right, he’s right out there playing great the next shift, working hard, winning battles. And like you say, he’s 20. It’s tough to be a part of this, but all these young guys have handled it so well. It’s amazing how mature these guys are now.’’
Schneider was mature enough to jump right in the mix when the Rangers and Lightning got into a little bad-tempered shoving match at the end of Game 1. He admitted during the season that he isn’t a fighter, but he was more than willing to jump to the aid of his teammates when trouble arose.
“I’m not trying to make a brand for myself as a guy who’s tough, or whatever,’’ he said. “But I don’t want to be a person who backs away from a scrum or a battle, or back away from an opportunity to help my teammates.”
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
