Rangers need to make playing reunited Kid Line a priority

Now that Gerard Gallant has taken what seems to have been the inevitable step of reuniting the Kid Line, it is on the Rangers’ head coach to ensure that Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere do not get traditional third-line minutes.

That would defeat the purpose.

Chris Kreider will reunite with Mika Zibanejad while Jimmy Vesey — who has been among the Rangers’ best players since his healthy scratch against Columbus on Oct. 23 — takes the spot on the right that had been filled since Day 1 by Kakko.

Artemi Panarin will reunite with Vincent Trocheck and Vitali Kravtsov — who completed Job One by getting through the Garden match Tuesday against the Islanders unscathed — to form the unit that opened both the season and training camp.

But the news is that the Kids, together for much of camp, will officially reunite for the first time since Game 5 of the conference finals series against Tampa Bay this past June.

“It is not up to me, but it is always good when we play together,” Chytil told The Post. “Every time we play together, we have fun.

“We play hard, we play our game, we compete. That’s our mindset. I’m happy we are back together.”

The combination should inject some youthful energy into a group that appears tight heading into a two-game trip, which starts in Detroit on Thursday and concludes in Nashville on Saturday. The Rangers have lost three straight (0-2-1), have three wins in their last 10 games (3-4-3) and are below the playoff cutline at 6-5-3 overall.

Chytil was wheeling against the Islanders, playing between Kreider and Kravtsov on a temporary unit and scored on a first-period one-timer that tied the score at 1-1.

But Chytil played just 10:27 of even-strength time while Zibanejad was on for 15:42 and Trocheck for 14:43. Discounting the Oct. 23 match against Columbus, in which Chytil was forced out with a suspected concussion after just 11 seconds on the ice, he is averaging 13:07 per game at even-strength, while Trocheck is at 15:29 and Zibanejad 14:45.

More mystifying than the total ice time Tuesday is that Chytil played just 3:36 of even-strength ice in the third period as the Rangers were blowing a 3-1 lead while Zibanejad was on for 7:10 and Trocheck for 6:47. Chytil was not on the ice after the Blueshirts pulled Igor Shesterkin for the attacker with 2:06 remaining.

Zibanejad and Trocheck are both on the first power-play unit and both on the top two penalty-killing units. Chytil, Kakko and Lafreniere are on the second power-play unit, which generally gets scraps. Payroll structure should not — and I am confident, does not — enter into this.

Chytil, who has four points (three goals and one assist, all at even strength) in eight games, leads the team with 2.0 goals per 60:00 at five-on-five, with Panarin next at 1.12. Chtyil also leads the club with 2.67 points per 60:00 at five-on-five, with Panarin next at 2.25.

“I’ve said this before, but the confidence in my game is what allows me to play the way I am,” the 23-year-old Chytil said. “I saw in the playoffs that I can win the battles, that I am strong enough to win the 50-50s. “I have the puck a lot more and can create more chances.”

While chemistry among Chytil, Kakko and Lafreniere is apparent, that remains a work in progress between Panarin and Trocheck. For his first three seasons in New York, Panarin was on for 164 goals for and 99 goals against (at five-on-five), a percentage of 62.4. This year, Panarin has been on for nine for and 14 against, equating to 39.1 percent.

The first batch of numbers was compiled with Ryan Strome as Panarin’s sidekick. There is work to be done between Panarin and the new No. 16, Trocheck, whose game does not seem to naturally include a defer component.

Meanwhile, Zibanejad and Kreider must elevate their five-on-five work. It has been mentioned more than once how Zibanejad does not yet have a five-on-five goal. Even more startling is that Zibanejad somehow has just two points in 187:15 of five-on-five play. That almost seems impossible.

It is not as if the units piloted by Zibanejad and Trocheck have been dominant. To the contrary. Thus, Gallant must smooth the ice time among his top three centers and top-nine units. Chytil has to get out there on a more regular rotation. It is in everyone’s best interest.