Rangers' Jonny Brodzinski feeling 'comfortable' with extended stint in NHL
Rangers center Jonny Brodzinski skates against the Kings in the third period of an NHL game at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 10, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
LAS VEGAS – About four games ago, Jonny Brodzinski said, someone pointed out to him that this has been his longest extended run of NHL games.
“I feel comfortable,’’ he said Thursday after the Rangers’ morning skate before they played the Golden Knights. “It's good to get that extra look and know I belong here. So I just want to keep going.’’
Brodzinski had one goal and eight assists in 24 games entering Thursday. He was averaging 10:54 of ice time and had a minus-2 rating.
It's his second-most NHL games played in a season. He skated in 35 games as a rookie with the Los Angeles Kings in the 2017-18 season.
Brodzinski was called up from AHL Hartford Nov. 28 after forward Kaapo Kakko suffered a left leg injury in a game against Buffalo the night before. Kakko returned to the lineup three games ago, but Brodzinski has held his place in the lineup, shifting from right wing to center on a third line between wingers Will Cuylle and Blake Wheeler.
That line produced what ended up being the game-winning goal in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over Seattle when Brodzinski fired a shot that Wheeler tipped in late in the second period. And for a team that has been largely carried by its power play and the line of Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, getting a goal from one of its bottom two lines was a welcome development.
“It was nice to see them chip in and get some offense,’’ Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think it builds confidence to the line. At the end of the day, whether it's the top lines chipping in or those [bottom two] lines, or the power play or a shorthanded goal, or your goaltender carries the burden that night, we're here to win hockey games. And so we need everybody contributing, everybody producing in their own way.’’
After being put together near the end of Sunday’s 2-1 win over Washington, the Cuylle-Brodzinski-Wheeler line has the look of a unit that will be able to contribute.
“It's obviously a very small sample size, but … we created a lot in the … around 10 minutes [of ice time],’’ Brodzinski said. “We did a good job. I don't think we spent a lot of time in our defensive zone. We spent a good majority of our time in the offensive zone. So if we keep that up, we'll be all right.’’
Brodzinski had played exclusively at center for Hartford and was leading the AHL in scoring when he was called up. But he played mostly wing for the Rangers until Mika Zibanejad was a last-minute scratch from a game in St. Louis last week due to illness. With only 11 forwards in the lineup that night, Laviolette shifted Brodzinski to center on the top line between Chris Kreider and Cuylle.
At center, Brodzinski said he is better able to take advantage of his speed and said he can do more defensively, too.
“I feel like I'm first back [on defense] a lot of the time, so playing that center role is a little more comfortable,’’ he said.
Another part of why he is so comfortable, he said, is that when he was called up to replace an injured Kakko, he knew he would be on the team for an extended period. That made it easier for him to relax and feel part of the group, he said.
“Sometimes you get called up and you're fighting for the win, but you really want to feel part of the culture, part of the team. And it doesn't feel like that a lot of the time,’’ he said. “In the back of your mind, you're like 'OK, how long until somebody's healthy?' or 'How long until somebody's back in the lineup?' And then I'm easiest guy to take out of the lineup.’’
But if his new line plays the way it did Tuesday, Brodzinski just might force the Rangers to keep him in the lineup this time.
Notes & quotes: D Ryan Lindgren was set to play in his 300th NHL game Thursday . . . F Tyler Pitlick, who missed six games with a lower-body injury, was a healthy scratch as Laviolette stayed with the same lineup that beat Seattle on Tuesday. D Zac Jones was the other scratch.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
