VANCOUVER — Zac Jones is no stranger to coming in and out of the Rangers’ lineup. He spent all of 2023-24 on New York’s NHL roster but appeared in only 31 games, sitting more than half the regular season and all of the playoffs.
With Erik Gustafsson’s departure in free agency this past summer, Jones entered this season looking to seize a regular lineup spot. Early in the year, though, he once again looked far from a lock to be in the game group. He sat five of the Rangers’ first 10 games.
“It was tough,” he said. “Obviously I wasn’t happy about it. I want to play. I want to be a guy that’s in the lineup every night. But I didn’t really take it as negatively as I would have in the past.”
The 24-year-old said it’s natural for doubts to creep into a player’s mind when they get scratched, but he tried to look at this most recent stretch as a reset. He wanted to be ready to take advantage of the next opportunity.
He has. Jones, who scored his first goal of the season Sunday in Seattle, has played in each of the Rangers’ past six games. During that span he has a goal, three assists and a plus-six rating. Though more of an offensive-minded defenseman, he said the defensive side of play has been his main focus this year. He wants to be someone coach Peter Laviolette can count on regularly.
“That’s the biggest thing about being a pro: trying to find the consistency level,” he said. “Obviously you’re not going to be feeling your best every night, but trying to be around a B, B-plus player every night. And then when you have an A game it’s great.”
Jones has primarily been paired with Braden Schneider. Both players mentioned their communication within the game has improved. Results have followed. In 92:23 of five-on-five ice time with the Jones-Schneider pair on the ice, the Rangers have outscored opponents 8-1 and have 61.26 percent of the expected goal share, per Natural Stat Trick.
“The one thing I feel gets better each game is the communication,” Schneider said. “I think we’ve done a good job just keeping things tight in the middle and playing hard defensively, and then anytime we get a chance or see something clean out of our zone, the other guy is going up the ice and joining to try to create some offense.”
Those two lead off this week’s observations column, which covers the Jets, Sharks and Kraken games. I have 15 this week in honor of recent call-up Jake Leschyshyn’s jersey number.
1. Laviolette didn’t have an update Monday on injured center Filip Chytil. The coach said he’s still in New York getting evaluated and has not skated since leaving Thursday’s game against San Jose.
With Chytil out, the Rangers called up Leschyshyn, a center, but he will likely remain an extra unless another player goes down. Jonny Brodzinski, a healthy scratch before Chytil’s injury, is getting a shot in the Czech’s third-line center spot.
2. Laviolette mentioned last week that Jones and Schneider have likely warranted more ice time, but the two still haven’t played a ton recently. Over the past nine games, during which Schneider has four assists and a plus-seven rating, he’s averaged only 15:21 of ice time per game. That’s lower than not only his season average this year (17:00) but also the lowest average ice time of any season in his career (after 15:29 in 2021-22, his rookie year). Jones, meanwhile, is averaging 15:55 a game, the lowest of any Rangers defenseman who has played more than 10 games this year.
The pair is unquestionably playing well, but despite what the coach said, he still doesn’t seem to trust them with more minutes, particularly against harder competition. According to The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn’s model, Jones has had the easiest workload of regular Rangers defensemen in terms of quality of offensive competition and Schneider has had the second-easiest. Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller have had the hardest workload, per the model.
Laviolette can keep the Jones-Schneider pair going against easier competition — he knows that works — but it might be time to see how they handle a harder degree of difficulty.
3. Jets star Kyle Connor had a fair assessment of what Winnipeg was able to exploit against New York.
“I think they were, for lack of better words, cheating for offense in certain areas,” he said. “They were going past our defensemen at times, and we were able to keep pucks in and make them pay.”
4. Barclay Goodrow was the most notable returnee when the Sharks came to New York, but Alex Wennberg also made his first trip back after coming over at the 2024 trade deadline.
“Obviously not the ending we wanted, but looking back at it, what a great experience that was,” Wennberg said. “It was a dream come true playing for the Rangers, so looking back, saying I had that opportunity and had some great memories as well, I’m really positive about it.”
New York also became a place with personal significance that will never go away: His daughter was born there.
5. Wennberg had 5 points in 19 regular-season games with the Rangers, then a goal and an assist in 16 playoff games. It was an underwhelming total, but one came at a huge moment. He scored the overtime winner against the Panthers in Game 3 of the conference finals.
“You dream about scoring OT winners,” he said. “A moment like that, conference final, it’s really special. Obviously something I’ll take with me. From my perspective, it’s just a lot of great things, even though I wish it could have been better — personally and with the team as well.”
The game Wennberg won in overtime was the last one the Rangers won all season. Florida beat them three times in a row to win the series and leave the Rangers two wins shy of their first Stanley Cup Final berth since 2014.
“I’m always going to be like ‘it was that close’ and it’s going to haunt me forever, but I also learned that instead of seeing that and being p—ed off about it, I’m just going to see the good times here,” Wennberg said. “Otherwise you get too depressed.”
6. Sharks rookie Will Smith is close friends with top Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault, his former Boston College teammate. They talk close to every other day, and Smith said Perreault has the best vision of anyone with whom he’s played.
“I think he’s ready (to go pro) whenever he wants,” Smith said. “He’s that good.”
7. Though he said he hasn’t given much time to the 4 Nations Face-Off, Kaapo Kakko chatted for a few minutes with Finland general manager Jere Lehtinen and coach Antti Pennanen after morning skate Thursday. He’s perhaps not a lock to make the roster but should have a solid chance. The Athletic’s Chris Johnston had him on his Finland projection earlier this month.
“It would be nice,” Kakko said. “You never know if you’re going to be on the team. They have a lot of good players. It’s not my choice, so I just try to play as good as I can over here.”
8. The Rangers had a complete setup for watching NFL games Sunday. The team had NFL RedZone hooked up to a big screen in Seattle’s visiting dressing room as players walked off the ice following morning skate.
9. Jimmy Vesey briefly left the Seattle morning skate after vomiting on the ice. He returned shortly after, a smile on his face, and played 10:14 that evening.
10. Schneider is missing a few of his bottom teeth. The absent chompers are a result of an injury sustained against Utah in the home opener. Kevin Stenlund hit Schneider’s mouth on the follow-through of a shot. To make matters worse for Schneider, the puck went in the net.
“Tough shift,” he said. “I’m already head down, goal, and then I look down in my glove and have a couple of teeth.”
11. With Chytil out, Will Cuylle is getting a shot on the second power-play unit. Laviolette said he sees him “as somebody who’s probably eventually going to be a regular on a power-play unit.”
The Rangers didn’t have a power play against the Kraken, but their second unit at morning skate consisted of Jones, Reilly Smith, Alexis Lafrenière, Kakko and Cuylle. Trouba rotated in, too. Laviolette said he’s comfortable not having a center on the second unit in part because he trusts Kakko taking draws.
12. Cuylle has 12 points and a plus-12 rating this year, and he’s been a consistent presence in front of the net. NHL Edge statistics reflect that: He has 20 shots right in front of the net — well above league average — which means he is putting himself in position to tip pucks and fight for rebounds.
That’s all by design.
“If you look at most of the goals that are scored, they’re all kind of in that house area,” he said. “If you look even more, the majority of them are right in the crease. … I feel like if you go to the net more obviously you’re going to have more chances to score. I kind of always have played that way. Just kind of get to the net and get the puck on your stick five feet in front of the net — it’s probably more likely to score than if you’re 15 feet away.”
13. There was only one penalty, a Ryan Lindgren hold, in the Rangers-Kraken game. That’s tied with two other games — Columbus-Islanders and Detroit–Los Angeles — for the fewest penalty minutes in a game this season, per NHL Stats.
14. Adam Edström’s first game at Madison Square Garden came long before he was an NHL player. The Swede, now 24, visited New York with his family in 2015 and saw the Rangers play the Penguins.
“Every time I step on the ice, sometimes I get that flashback,” he said. “It’s a surreal feeling. It’s been a fast ride.”
15. Star goalie Igor Shesterkin has loved seeing Jonathan Quick, his backup, have so much success. Quick has shutouts in his past two games.
“He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever seen,” Shesterkin said. “Always supports everybody. So happy to have him.”
(Top photo of Zac Jones: Joe Nicholson / Imagn Images)
