Rangers’ Parssinen Faces Lineup Uncertainty After Brief Return

New York Rangers forward Juuso Parssinen is experiencing fluctuating ice time as the team navigates injuries and evaluates its bottom-six forward combinations, a situation that could impact the team’s offensive depth.

Parssinen, 24, initially entered the lineup Saturday in Pittsburgh following an upper-body injury to Vincent Trocheck, earning a secondary assist on a goal by Taylor Raddysh. He played 9:24, logging one blocked shot and two hits. However, head coach Mike Sullivan opted to dress Jonny Brodzinski in his place yesterday against the Capitals, with Brodzinski skating on the left wing alongside rookie Noah Laba and Raddysh.

“We’re trying to make decisions based on what we see, to put combinations together to see if we can have some success,” Sullivan said after the 1-0 loss. “Jonny’s had a pretty solid camp, so we’re trying to move people in and out to give guys an opportunity to see what we have and see if we can find a combination in that bottom six that’s going to work for us.” Sullivan also noted the emergence of Laba as a potential option at center, a role Parssinen was initially considered for. The Rangers have faced challenges with center depth in recent seasons, as detailed by NHL.com.

Parssinen, who can play both center and wing, expressed a positive attitude despite being scratched. “Yeah, that’s how it is sometimes,” he said. “Just tried to stay positive, work on myself, do whatever I can to help the other guys who are playing.” The team placed Carson Soucy on injured reserve Sunday morning after he was injured Saturday. Sullivan indicated the team will continue to assess player combinations and make adjustments as needed, and will continue to evaluate Parssinen’s role within the lineup. See the full Rangers roster on ESPN.

Sullivan stated the team will continue to monitor player performance and make adjustments as necessary to find the optimal lineup configuration.