Juuso Parssinen was one of the first restricted free agents the Rangers took care of this summer, with the 24-year-old signing a two-year contract extension just over two weeks after their 2024-25 season ended.
Coming off a campaign spent with three teams due to two trades, Parssinen came into Rangers training camp with a prime opportunity to snatch the third-line center role.
The emergence of rookie Noah Laba, however, relegated Parssinen to street clothes through the first two games of the season.
In the wake of Vincent Trocheck’s upper-body injury, which is projected to sideline him on a week-to-week basis, head coach Mike Sullivan at first inserted Parssinen into the lineup Saturday in Pittsburgh.
On Sunday against the Capitals, however, Sullivan opted to go with Jonny Brodzinski instead.
Brodzinski lined up in his place on the left wing of the third line next to Laba and Taylor Raddysh for his season debut.
“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 at the Garden. “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.”
While skating in that spot Saturday, Parssinen earned the secondary assist on Raddysh’s 6-1 score in the third period.
He also posted one blocked shot and two hits in 9:24 of ice time.
The only player on the ice to log less time was Carson Soucy, who was knocked out in the second period with an upper-body injury and subsequently placed on injured reserve Sunday morning.
Parssinen’s stint was ultimately short lived.
“Yeah, that’s how it is sometimes,” he said of getting scratched. “Just tried to stay positive, work on myself, do whatever I can to help the other guys who are playing.”
Parssinen, who combined for six goals and 10 assists in 48 games last season, said he can play either wing or center.
Sullivan still stayed with Mika Zibanejad at center Sunday to replace Trocheck instead of utilizing Brodzinski in the middle.
After spending the first two games on the wing, Zibanejad looked right at home at the center position Saturday and Sunday night.
“We tried Pars throughout the course of the training camp and the exhibition games in the middle,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, if we were going to play Mika with J.T. [Miller], there was an opportunity there for that third-line center role that we thought Pars could potentially fill. We tried to provide that opportunity for him, and he spent a lot of time at the center position throughout the exhibition games. I think the emergence of Noah Laba has added just another player in the mix that potentially we could go to to fulfill that role, and we know Pars is comfortable playing the wing also.
“We have some versatility there with guys that can play center and play the wing. And we’ll continue to watch and see what we have, and if we have to make adjustments along the way, we will.”
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