I was thinking this too, and especially at the deadline I questioned what his impact would be away from Crosby. 25 points in 17 games for the Canes has probably disspelled any notion he was just riding coattails. Unfortunately he has fit the Canes like a glove and gotta respect what he’s done for them.
The Guentzel-Aho line is excellent, and I think the Rangers should be hoping to get the KZ line out there for them as much as possible. They are really good at playing even or a little better, and canceling out the Canes’ top line should be a top priority. KZ line is also plenty talented enough to make them pay if they are overaggressive and make a mistake. I think the Panarin or Goodrow lines would be a death sentence matchup wise, probably resulting in the puck being in their own end for full shifts. Cuylle-Wennberg-Kakko would probably find a way to hang on. That’d be a major win if that line could play a contain/shutdown role against their top line. The Canes will probably counter with the Staal line against Panarin. That’s probably going to roughly cancel out. Home ice / last change is a nice advantage to have. The Panarin line will need to get some favorable matchups.