It all looked different from above.
From high in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, Adam Edstrom was turned into a spectator last week, watching his teammates as a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
It had been more than a month since the fourth-line center had produced a point. It had been 15 games — and more than 160 minutes of ice time — since he’d recorded his only assists of the season.
“It looks a lot simpler from up there,” Edstrom said of the press box view. “One thing I took from it was the time with the puck. I’ve gotta slow it down a little bit. I was a little stressed with the puck in the beginning so that’s one part of my game I learned.
“I took that time off, I tried to work hard, get a bit of confidence back. Looking back on it, it might’ve been a good thing for me. I’m happy to be back and I feel good out there. … I feel like my confidence is a little higher now, so I’m playing a little freer.”
In the three games since Mike Sullivan’s shake-up — when Edstrom, 25, was benched in favor of a player (Juuso Parssinen) who was put on waivers on Tuesday — the 6-foot-7 Swede has scored his first two goals of the season, including Monday’s eventual game-winner against the Blues, which helped the Rangers (11-11-2) end a season-worst four-game losing streak.
Adam Edstrom of the New York Rangers shoots and scores in the third period against Joel Hofer of the St. Louis Blues. NHLI via Getty Images
“Getting scratched is a bit of a wake-up call,” Edstrom said after Tuesday’s practice. “I didn’t really feel like I was putting my best game out there. In my head, I was just like, ‘Come back, skate hard, do everything you can with the minutes you get,’ and I feel like so far I’ve done that.
“I’m just trying to see it as a mental reset. That was really big for me.”
Edstrom’s downturn coincided with the injury to linemate Matt Rempe — who has been out since Oct. 23 — but Sullivan said the forward’s recent impact extends far beyond the box score, playing alongside Sam Carrick and Taylor Raddysh, heading into Wednesday’s game at Eastern Conference-leading Carolina (14-6-2),
“[There is] just more urgency and a little more detail to his game,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to utilize those guys in some defensive situations. Maybe we can take guys like Mika [Zibanejad] and J.T. [Miller] and [Vincent Trocheck] out of some of those uneasy minutes. That’s a vital role that our bottom-six can help us. The size that’s on that line, their reach, makes them hard to play against.
“When [Edstrom] is locked in from a defensive standpoint with the details, I think he’s a very effective player. The other thing we’ve seen from him is he’s a disruptive player. He’s capable of that with his skating, his reach, his range, he has physicality to him, he can get in on the forecheck and he can disrupt breakouts. He can create loose pucks and within that lies opportunity. That can help us create momentum by wearing down our opponent and being disruptive in all three zones and I think that’s when [Edstrom’s] at his best.”
Read the expert take on the Blueshirts
Sign up for Inside the Rangers, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.
Thank you
The best may still be ahead. Motivation is easy to find.
“I think players respond to ice time, or lack thereof, in the event we don’t think they’re meeting expectations,” Sullivan said. “Ice time is one measure of accountability. You can communicate with players in different ways.
“Performance matters. We’re trying to put the best guys on the ice that gives us the best chance to win.”