Though it remains to be seen, New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan may have received a gift from his predecessor, Peter Laviolette. And with that, comes a problem to solve.
In what turned out to be his final season behind the Rangers bench in 2024-25, Laviolette – more out of desperation than pure creativity – decided to move struggling former No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad to right wing on a line centered by midseason acquisition J.T. Miller . After managing only 29 points in 50 games before Miller's Jan. 31 arrival, Zibanejad recorded 33 points in 32 games the rest of the way, with the two players also posting considerably stronger underlying metrics as a pair than apart.
You'd expect that Sullivan will give that alignment a long look in training camp and into the regular season. That look would significantly strengthen New York's top-six forward group. However, the Rangers face significant uncertainty to balance out the rest of their lineup in 2025-26 should Zibanejad and Miller remain linemates,
That's because keeping Zibanejad out of the middle creates a potentially gaping hole at third-line center. And it's a scary prospect that Juuso Parssinen likely is the top candidate to fill that role, despite his utter lack of a track record that suggests he can.
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The 24-year-old was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in a March 3 trade that sent Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey out west. There was little fanfare with Parssinen's arrival on Broadway, with more focus on the Rangers also obtaining veteran defenseman Calvin de Haan , and conditional second- and fourth-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Rangers were Parssinen's third team last season. He started out with the Nashville Predators , who traded the young forward to the Avalanche on Dec. 28. Less than three months later, he was with the Rangers.
Parssinen totaled 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in a career-high 48 games overall last season. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in 11 games with the Rangers, though a closer look is required.
Laviolette scratched Parssinen 12 times, that's more games out of the lineup than in it. And he was scoreless his first eight games with the Rangers until breaking out with a goal and two assists in a rout against the Islanders at UBS Arena on April 10. Four days later he had a goal and an assist against the Florida Panthers .
So, yes, Parssinen finished strong and flashed his scoring potential.
But though the Rangers actually outscored opponents 5-4 with Parssinen on the ice at 5 on 5, his metrics in those 11 games were abysmal. The Rangers were terribly out-chanced (77-21) and Parssinen posted an embarrassing 29.1 expected goal share, per Natural Stat Trick .
The fact that he won only 40.9 percent of his face-offs (27 of 66) wasn't great either.
Yet general manager Chris Drury almost seemed to be in a hurry to extend Parssinen, inking the pending restricted free agent to a two-year, $2.5 million contract May 2. The club then used up almost all of its remaining cap space in the offseason on big-ticket free-agent defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov , free-agent forward Taylor Raddysh and new contracts for young RFAs Will Cuylle , Adam Edstrom and Matt Rempe .
A salary-cap casualty of those offseason moves was the ability to acquire a bonafide third-line center who can effectively anchor that unit. Parssinen, as a result, appears to be the leading candidate to handle the role.
Drury and the front office's belief in that concept is based on nothing more than faith and potential. Parssinen is big (6-foot-3, 212 pounds) and strong, and excels at controlling the puck below the circles. He's scored some fancy goals in the NHL which lit up social media, and clearly has some offensive skills. He's also played for three teams in as many NHL seasons, and there are questions about his ability to play with pace and consistently maintain his compete level.
Parssinen had a strong 2022-23 rookie season for the Predators, who drafted him in the seventh round in 2019, recording 25 points in 45 games. He managed only 12 and 16 points in the next two seasons playing similar numbers of games, however.
Laviolette, after teaming Zibanejad with Miller, also searched for solutions in the middle of the third line. After Parssinen couldn't hold the job, he tried Sam Carrick there for a spell, but the veteran is much better suited to centering the Rangers' physical fourth line. Laviolette eventually went to old friend Jonny Brodzinski , who handled the responsibility fine, but is an extra forward on a good team.
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So, if not Parssinen at 3C, then who?
Laviolette bumped Sam Carrick up from the fourth line at points last season, and also used Jonny Brodzinski extensively in that 3C role. Simply, Carrick is best suited to center a modern day Crash Line with Rempe and Brodzinski on his wings, and Brodzinski serves a playoff-caliber team best as a jack-of-all-trades 13th forward.
Each remains on the Rangers roster as an option for Sullivan. Veteran Justin Dowling could get a look on the fourth line if Carrick is moved up to the third. Rookie Noah Laba could get a look in training camp, though he's a less likely candidate at present since he's yet to play a full professional season.
So, after signing Parssinen, the organization seems to have cast its lot on him growing into a significant role at an affordable cap hit. That is unless Sullivan moves Zibanejad back to center to lengthen the lineup. In that scenario, the Rangers would have one of the deeper center groups in the League with Miller, Zibanejad, Vincent Trocheck and Carrick.
The Rangers are probably a better team overall with Zibanejad playing alongside Miller, forging a much more dangerous top six. That deeper top of the lineup, however, comes with a price.
For all the talk about the Rangers' lack of physicality, size and jam hurting them in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, an ineffective third line and depth issues in the bottom six were major issues, too. If Parssinen doesn't prove up to the task, that might mean having to once again piece it together until the trade deadline, then use assets to find a legitimate 3C – just as the club did in 2024, when Alex Wennberg was acquired from the Seattle Kraken to stabilize the spot with Filip Chytil injured.
Perhaps Parssinen is ready to be the answer to a crucial question for the 2025-26 Rangers. If he's not, the third line is likely to remain a question mark – one that could again cast the team's forward depth into doubt.
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