He’s playing straight away. Approximately 32 hours, give or take, after his official trade from the only NHL team he’s ever known, Vladimir Tarasenko – along with defender Niko Mikkola – is expected to suit up for the Rangers against the visiting Kraken on Friday night. Exciting stuff.
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A spot on a top New York line alongside Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad appears in immediate order for the 11-year vet, while a position on the club’s No. 1 power play – supplanting Vincent Trocheck, perhaps – could also be in the mix. The fresh duo of a playing-making Panarin and goal-sniping Tarasenko is going to make some beautiful scoring music together and, along with Zibanejad, presents as one of the league’s elite trios, production-wise. Congrats to every manager who’s already rostering one or more of the three, considering they’re already overwhelmingly spoken for in ESPN.com fantasy leagues.
But Filip Chytil is not. Largely available, the 23-year-old is scoring relentlessly of late. Competing on the ‘Kid Line’ with Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, Chytil has seven goals in five games (plus one assist). He hasn’t failed to find the back of the net since Jan. 19.