What a year for Noah Laba. Not necessarily an after thought before the season started, but definitely not on the radar as the 3C by many, Laba forced his way onto the NHL roster and broke camp with the Rangers. He made it easy for the Rangers to shift Jonny Brodzinski to the bench and waive Juuso Parssinen entirely. Laba spent the entire season with the Rangers, playing 74 games while missing eight games with an injury. Laba also played the entire season as a center, never shifting to wing, a fantastic sign for the Blueshirts.
Noah Laba’s line of 9-15-24 seems underwhelming, however it’s easy to forget Laba had very little powerplay time and averaged just 13:28 TOI for the season. He played primarily with Conor Sheary, who couldn’t buy a goal until February, and Taylor Raddysh, who was awful for all but two games. Eventually the Rangers claimed Tye Kartye to replace Raddysh, and this new trio was just a delight to watch.
There’s still some work to be done with Noah Laba’s game. He was solid on the penalty kill, but his 5v5 defense still needs a bit of fine tuning. That probably comes with better team quality and better matchups for Laba as he continues to grow. The trick will be getting his offense going, as Laba definitely lags behind in driving offense right now. The good news is defense is always the toughest part to learn. The bad news is Laba didn’t really have a high offensive ceiling to begin with, so the odds of turning him into a bonafide top six center seem low.
That doens’t mean Noah Laba is useless on offense. It just means we should perhaps temper our expectations this offseason, with many penciling him in as the 2C right now. The relative absurdity of that aside (this team has both Mika Zibanejad and JT Miller), Laba just hasn’t shown enough offense to justify that role yet.
His line with Sheary and Kartye was an absolute pain to play against, with a seemingly endless cycle and tilting the ice. Unfortunately that trio didn’t get much time together before Noah Laba’s injury, but it set the floor for next season, perhaps with Adam Sykora replacing Sheary to provide a bit more offensive jump without losing the forechecking tenacity that made this line a joy to watch.
Despite some clear room to grow, Laba has played himself into a regular spot as the Rangers 3C and a focal point of the Rangers’ strong bottom six.
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