New York Rangers: John Tortorella Continues to Turn Heads with Line Combinations

When I first read that Erik Christensen was skating on the top line in place of Brad Richards tomorrow, I had to do a double take. I pinched myself, checked my breath and senses to make sure I wasn’t dreaming, drunk, or a combination of the two.

New York Rangers" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; width: 48px; height: 48px; float: left; cursor: pointer; padding: 0px;">@thenyrangersNew York Rangers  at #NYR practice: Christensen centering Gaborik & Wolski; Dubinsky-Richards-Callahan; Fedotenko-Boyle-Prust; Stepan-Anisimov-Newbury9 hours ago via TweetDeck  Favorite  Retweet  Reply

John Tortorella was at it again today in practice. There were a lot of good soundbites that were taken down by the numerous writers in attendance.

Here is one from Brad Richards.

@thenyrangersNew York Rangers  Richards: "If we win, that's all that matters...we have to have some fun tomorrow and play with passion"8 hours ago via TweetDeck  Favorite  Retweet  Reply

I totally understand what Richards is saying but in all seriousness, Erik Christensen is a borderline NHL player on this club, let alone a top center man.

Here’s another tweet but this time a quote from John Tortorella.

@thenyrangersNew York Rangers  Torts: "I don't enjoy changing everything up here..we need to get into a routine..we can't keep changing lines"

I'm not really buying this one from Tortorella. He doesn’t enjoy changing things up, yet he continues to make changes for the sake of changing things up. He needs to allow players to acclimatize to their other line mates.

Chemistry is not instant and unless he establishes a routine, the Rangers will never improve.

Taking a look at the other lines, I continue to scratch my head. Richards thrives with left handed shooting right wingers. See Martin St. Louis, Loui Eriksson and Marián Gáborik.

With that in mind, what sense does it make to put grinders, Ryan Callahan who has a right handed shot on his right wing and Brandon Dubinsky who shoots left on his left side? In this scenario, Richards is going to have to work harder to thread his passes through the seams. 

The third line stays the same, and it works. These guys have chemistry. They know what they are doing and it works great. 

The fourth line is a major head scratcher. Derek Stepan, the only player who showed signs of life on the top line, was severely demoted. What sense does this make? To play a skilled forward with a struggling Anisimov and grinder in Newbury makes absolutely no sense.

If I was coaching the Rangers, this is how the lines would look.

Wojtek Wolski | Brad Richards (A)| Marián Gáborik

Carl Hagelin | Derek Stepan | Ryan Callahan (C)       

Ruslan Fedotenko | Brian Boyle | Brandon Prust

Brandon Dubinsky | Artem Anisimov | Mats Zuccarello

Right now the Rangers are missing something in their lineup. They are missing speed and skill. Carl Hagelin and Mats Zuccarello would bring that to the lineup. The Rangers have enough grinders in Dubinsky, Callahan, Boyle and Prust to need Newbury as well.

Christensen doesn’t fit in anywhere now. I like these lines because they are more balanced. Wolski could be given time to find a spark with Richards, and Hagelin’s speed would allow him to keep up with Stepan.

All we know is, right now, Tortorella is trying almost everything. Hopefully his new found concoction of forwards mixes in a positive way. The Rangers will take on a Senators team that has been up and down.

What do you think about the lines? Whose work better, mine or Tortorella’s? Leave interesting comments questions in the section below.

Tom Urtz Jr is an NHL Featured Columnist. For more NHL free-agent news, updates and alerts about players: