New York Rangers: A Blueprint for a Revamped Blueline

Jan 19, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) carries he puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. New York defeated Toronto 5-3. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

We all know the New York Rangers biggest crutch; their defense. It’s the only thing keeping them from being uber dangerous. Here is a blueprint for how they should go about re-making their blueline.

While the Rangers defense has been better of late, it is still a bottom-tier NHL defense. While the team has only given up 4 goals in their last 3 games, there are the occasional goals like the one below that make you shake your head in disbelief.

With all of that being said, the Rangers are not too far off from being the most dangerous team in the Eastern Conference. It all depends on what they do with their defense. Their forward group is set for years to come, with only one player–Rick Nash–above age 30.

Their forward group is set for years to come, with only one player–Rick Nash–above age 30 Since they won’t have to worry about that, their defense is their number one priority.

In the following slides, we will take a step by step approach to figure out how the Rangers can solve their defensive woes.

Step 1: Evaluate the Situation

Dec 20, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Brady Skjei (76) moves the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at the PPG PAINTS Arena. The Penguins won 7-2.Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The first thing that GM Jeff Gorton needs to do is sit down and look at the numbers and the game tape. If you have watched the Rangers for any period of time, you would know that their captain Ryan McDonagh is a stud. He is the guy you want to be the building block on the blueline for years to come.

The next guy that you want to evaluate is Brady Skjei. The youngster is starting to look very comfortable in the defensive end. In 16:36 of ice time per game, the 22-year-old Skjei has notched two goals and 18 assists with a plus 7 rating. With another year left on his rookie deal after this one, Skjei is a guy that the Rangers need to lock up and keep around long-term.

Those are the Rangers’ two locks on defense that they need to hold onto no matter what.

And then there are the other middle of the pack guys.

Nick Holden has had a phenomenal first season on Broadway. After getting off to a rough start, the 29-year-old has tallied 8 goals to go along with 16 assists and a plus 18 rating which is good for second highest on the team behind Michael Grabner.

The Rangers can do many different things with Holden, but we will get into that later.

Kevin Klein is a guy who has seemingly overstayed his welcome in Manhatten according to many Rangers writers, bloggers and fans, now including myself.

The pair of longtime Rangers defenseman Marc Staal and Dan Girardi have been overstaying their welcome for a long while now, although Staal has been better this year than in years past. Girardi, not so much.

Then, of course, there is Adam Clendening, the poster child of Rangers bloggers who has never found consistent playing time anywhere in the NHL with several different teams in the 23-year-old’s career.

To add to the defense picture, the Rangers have a kid by the name of Ryan Graves down at Hartford and he has been killing it lately. They also have two other offensive minded defenseman down there in John Gilmour and Matt Bodie, both of which will be hard pressed to make to the NHL and receive consistent minutes due to a plethora of different reasons.

Step 2: Feel out the Trade Market to Bring in a 2nd Pair Defenseman.

Mar 28, 2016; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Anaheim Ducks defensemen Cam Fowler (4) carries the puck out the defensive zone against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period at Rexall Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports

While the Rangers probably could outright trade for a number one defenseman with the amount of young forward depth they have, it wouldn’t make much sense. The Rangers shouldn’t destroy a great forward unit to bring in one player.

While a second unit defenseman will cost some assets to acquire too, the asking price won’t be nearly as high.

Take a guy like Cam Fowler, for instance. Fowler is having a career year offensively. He has tallied 10 goals and 16 points so far this season for the Anaheim Ducks. Right now, it looks as if Cam Fowler is not going to be protected in the expansion draft since the Ducks will obviously protect Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen over Fowler and they will be forced to protect Kevin Bieksa due to his no-movement-clause.

With that said, the Ducks will have some incentive to move him since they are most likely going to lose him for nothing anyway. If the Rangers send the Ducks a second-round pick (one of the two they own in 2018) along with a forward prospect or two like Adam Tambellini and a guy like Marek Hrivik who played well at the NHL level this year, it might be enough to get the deal done.

Regardless of who they try to acquire, the Rangers will need to be creative with a move here. If they do acquire a guy like Fowler, that means one of their current rostered defensemen will need to be shipped out.

Step 3: Addition by Subtraction

Mar 4, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Kevin Klein (8) skates with the puck as Washington Capitals right wing Daniel Winnik (26) defends in the third period at Verizon Center. The Rangers won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

After the Rangers get their 2nd pair defenseman they will need to ship out one of their current top six. The two guys the Rangers should push hard to trade are Kevin Klein and Marc Staal. I would put Dan Girardi in this mix as well but it is very unlikely that another NHL team would want to bring on a guy like Girardi–unless maybe a team like Colorado wants to bring in a guy who’s been around the block a few times, but like I said, very unlikely.

Moving Marc Staal does a few things for the Rangers. The first thing it does is open up another spot to protect a defenseman in the upcoming expansion draft. Staal has a no-movement clause which will force the Rangers to protect him along with two other defensemen come the draft at the end of the season–McDonagh and Girardi being the other two.

Trading Staal also opens up some cap room or the Rangers to make a move in the offseason.

The incentive to trade Staal simply would be to dump his salary. It is unlikely that the Rangers would get much for the often injured Staal. If they were to get a mid-round pick or two for him, that would be a respectable coup at this point.