The New York Rangers have had a personnel problem all season long, and defenseman Adam Clendening is at the heart of it.
The New York Rangers have one game remaining in the regular season. A first-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens is next on the slate. As Rangers coach Alain Vigneault tinkers with his lineups and rests his veterans going down the stretch run, one glaring issue remains.
The Rangers currently have nine defensemen on their roster. At this point, it’s almost a guarantee that their top-six for Game 1 of the playoffs will include captain Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Brady Skjei, Brendan Smith, and Nick Holden or Kevin Klein.
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But that’s seven defensemen, five of whom are left-handed shots. With a top six that doesn’t include Klein, two of Holden, Smith, and Skjei will be skating on their off-sides.
The final two defensemen, however, are righties: midseason acquisition Steven Kampfer and Adam Clendening. It’s a virtual certainty that, despite the Rangers’ lack of RH defensemen, they’ll be watching the playoffs from the press box.
The Clendening Conundrum
Adam Clendening has played in a career-high 30 games this season. His boxcar stats are decent for a third-pairing defenseman: 2 goals, 9 assists, 2 power play points.
But perhaps more telling are his advanced stats. According to Corsica Hockey, Clendening is fourth in Corsi For% among all defensemen with at least 400 minutes played this season.
When Clendening is on the rink, the Rangers are getting 59.1% of the scoring chances and 54.5% of goals scored. Yet, somehow, he languishes in the press box while players like Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Nick Holden, and Kevin Klein get hammered in shots, attempts, and scoring chances.
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Vigneault has been fitting square pegs in round holes on the right side of his defensive unit all season, with the round peg sitting as a healthy scratch more often than not. Even Vigneault’s early season promise to rest the aging Girardi more, especially in back-to-back situations, never came to pass.
A Future in New York?
Clendening’s contract with the Rangers expires this summer, leaving him as a restricted free agent. Should the Rangers desire, they’ll be in firm control of his rights.
The assumption last summer was that New York will extend a qualifying offer and keep Clendening. After the way Vigneault used Clendening this season (or rather, not used), that’s now a glaring question mark.
On top of that, unless multiple Rangers defensemen suffer major injuries in the playoffs, it seems Clendening won’t even get a chance to prove his worth this spring.
Vigneault’s insists on playing his veteran defensemen through injuries and poor play. This means that the puck-moving Clendening, who fits best the Rangers’ quick-striking, transition style, is on the outside looking in.
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For a 24-year-old defenseman playing for his fifth team, that lack of trust and disregard for clearly effective results means that his career could be over in the NHL. If that’s the case, the Rangers will be squandering a young defenseman with lots of upside.