The first line has been sort of a never-ending puzzle for the past few Rangers coaches.

With so many players who have skill sets worthy of top minutes, the multitude of options are tantalizing.

Perhaps that’s why the trigger has been so easy to pull and then reload new alignments in years past, with the one constant being No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad.

It’s also a testament to the fact that no trio has stood out enough to permanently seize the role.

The Rangers deployed 11 different first-line units last season, and a combo that received one of the shortest opportunities took the ice Wednesday night in the club’s 5-2 loss to the Devils at Prudential Center.

Kaapo Kakko skated on the right wing of Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad as part of a unit that head coach Peter Laviolette is no doubt considering for his opening night lineup on Oct. 12 in Buffalo.

“They had moments where they were, I thought, good in the offensive zone and moments where they were checked pretty tightly,” Laviolette said of his top line, which held a 2-1 edge in scoring chances in the loss. “I think you need a little bit more time to see things and see how they developed, but I thought it was a step tonight.”

The argument against putting Panarin and Zibanejad on the same unit has been the same since former head coach David Quinn was first given the opportunity to unite them.

With such a front-loaded lineup already, those two on one line is not conducive to a balanced formation.

It is, however, an enticing option that poses a massive offensive upside. Though that didn’t come through nearly enough in Wednesday’s loss as they struggled to generate much offense against a rolling Devils team.

“That’s our role, we’re supposed to score,” Zibanejad said. “And when we don’t, it doesn’t matter if I thought we did a pretty good job defensively and tried to pressure. I thought the forecheck was there, but it wasn’t really synced in terms of being able to turn pucks over in their zone and then kind of create.”

Panarin, Zibanejad and Kakko played on a line together in just one game last season, a 4-3 loss to the Islanders on Nov. 8.

They finished minus-two on the night and both wings were replaced the following contest.

In 2019, Panarin played his first seven games as a Ranger next to Zibanejad. He only saw two more games alongside the Swedish center for the rest of the season, but Kakko was on the other side for those.

The trio didn’t skate together again until the one contest last season.

At the start of camp, Zibanejad joked about how no matter how many different players he skates next to during training camp he always ends up right next to Chris Kreider once the season begins.

The two have been a no-brainer combo due to their lengthy history. Laviolette agreed that slotting Kreider next to Zibanejad is something he can always fall back on.

So far, only Alexis Lafreniere has gotten a shot with those two while skating on his off-side on the right wing in the Rangers’ first preseason matchup with the Devils last week.

It wasn’t the most encouraging performance, but Zibanejad was also coming off a minor upper-body injury.

Even though Kakko hadn’t spent time next to Kreider and Zibanejad in any of the previous preseason games, that’s a combination that was probably already on Laviolette’s radar coming into camp.

Kakko skated with Kreider and Zibanejad the first 13 games of last season before Panarin replaced Kreider in the 14th. They were reunited later in the season, as well, but Kakko was eventually trumped by trade-deadline pickups Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane.

In the past three seasons, Kreider, Zibanejad and Kakko have outscored opponents 19-14 in 497:43 of five-on-five ice time, according to Natural Stat Trick.

That trio probably has the most familiarity with one another, so it should definitely be a top line for Laviolette to consider.

Laviolette is still evaluating and there’s a good chance the Rangers will roll out another top-line combination in their preseason finale on Thursday against the Bruins at Madison Square Garden.