Rangers raise eyebrows with 2 players missing from lineup.

The New York Rangers have raised more than a few eyebrows with their lineup decisions this evening, leaving many to wonder if another seismic shift may be on the horizon for the struggling franchise.

The first bit of news wasn't all that curious on its own with the Rangers officially announcing that star forward Artemi Panarin would be out of the lineup this evening due to injury. The Rangers stated that Panarin is currently dealing with an upper body injury and is listed as day to day, which does mean he could potentially miss more than just tonight's game.

That however was followed by a very curious decision from Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette, the decision that he made to make Finnish forward Kaapo Kakko a healthy scratch. Although the Rangers players have drawn a great deal of criticism this season, I don't recall many pointing the finger of blame in the direction of Kakko, a former first round pick, which makes this choice from Laviolette an eyebrow raiser to be sure.

Rangers reporter Vince Mercogliano called the decision "peculiar" with Mercogliano believing that there are at least a dozen players you could bench before Kakko for their performance this season. He did however add the caveat that it may be easier for Laviolette to bench a younger player.

The Rangers have shown this season that they are not afraid to make major moves in order to see improvements from their players on the ice, and I do wonder if this may not be the precursor to another significant change coming to the Rangers organization.