Which New York Rangers Defenseman is Better: Staal Vs. Girardi

As the NHL offseason is well underway, now’s the time when you can look back at the long season that was just played, and take an in depth view into your team. For the past few years, the New York Rangers have had a reliable defensive group in front of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. But, if you had to choose, would it be Marc Staal or Dan Girardi?

My opinion- Dan Girardi for sure. I’ll tell you why in a little bit, but for now let’s focus on Staal.

The only defenseman out of a four brother NHL family, Marc Staal has proven to be a very valuable defender for the Blueshirts. The 6’4″ stay-at-home defenseman plays a hard game, and plays a very good one at that. Playing with an average of 21:08 time on ice a game, Staal can compete for a good amount of time and still play at his strongest.

Look at this hit Staal dished out on San Jose Sharks’ forward Kyle Wellwood.

Not only can Staal hit, but he’s very defensively sound in his zone. There are times where it looks like Staal is skating slowly, or has gotten beat, but the reach that Staal has makes him a deadly weapon. If Staal ends up playing with a defensive minded partner, it’ll be fine if his partner joins the rush or pinches in deep, Staal can maintain a calm composure heading back out numbered.

Good defense leads to better offense, this could never be further from the truth. As Staal plays a great defensive game, the offensive can have good chances as well from, perhaps a clear or a lead pass. Staal himself can also score, adding five goals last year with 20 points as well.

Staal is a defensive minded defenseman that has the ability to score, but there’s one thing that I’m worried about; his health. Staal suffered a concussion in a game between the New York Rangers and the Carolina Hurricanes in 2011. Staal’s brother, Eric, hit Marc Staal down low just above the faceoff circle. Staal played the rest of the season and the playoffs, but was diagnosed with Post Concussion Syndrome. Then in 2013, Staal was hit in the eye off of a Kimmo Timonen slapshot.

Other than his health, Marc Staal is a solid defenseman. But, then there is also Dan Girardi, which is my choice.

There is something about the top two Rangers’ defenseman, Dan Girardi and Ryan McDonagh. The two feed off of each other so well. But Girardi is something from a totally different planet. First off, during nine seasons in the NHL, Girardi has missed 3 games, excluding his rookie year and including the lock out shortened 2012-13 season. And during that time Girardi proved to be one of the best defenseman the Rangers have, a hard nosed, gritty, kill you with my defense, kind of player.