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New York Rangers: Keith Yandle Poised For a Breakout Year

By Brandon Fitzpatrick

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Some people foolishly wrote off the Keith Yandle trade as a bust last year, but Yandle played well for the New York Rangers in the playoffs.

Despite fighting through a sprained AC joint that plagued Yandle through the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals series, Yandle put up decent numbers in the playoffs.

He is a rare talent on defense, due to his offensive skill, and he is poised to have a breakout year with the Rangers.

Yandle is on the last year of a contract that pays him $5.5 million annually. The Rangers, however, are only on the hook for $2.65 million this season because the Arizona Coyotes retained half of Yandle’s salary. That means the Rangers are getting an absolute steal, paying a bonafide top-four defenseman third-pairing money.

He will most likely start the season with Dan Boyle or Kevin Klein on the Rangers’ third-pair, but could see himself move up if someone is injured or he excels while someone else struggles.

Yandle doesn’t get enough credit for being a good defenseman. He obviously has breakdowns, but his vision and puck moving ability make him so good. Just look at this video of what he does against the best player in the world.

His excellent vision combined with his quick decisions with the puck make him lethal on the point with the man advantage as well. Although he is sometimes hesitant to shoot, he has an excellent release and gets the puck on net often.

The Rangers have Marc Staal and Ryan McDonagh as their top-two left-handed defenseman, but Dan Girardi continues to get slower with each passing year and Kevin Klein is due for a regression following a career year.

If one, or possibly both of these things happen, it might force Alain Vigneault to move Yandle up, which would be great news.

This would also give the Rangers the ability to move a defenseman, thus inserting heralded prospect Brady Skjei into the lineup. Although many people like their defense pairings to be righty-lefty, I believe the six best defenseman should play, not matter which side they shoot.

It was clear that Yandle got more comfortable with the Rangers as his tenure with the team progressed. He grew comfortable with the team, even garnering praise from assistant captain Derek Stepan in a interview with the New York Post’s Steve Serby.

Q: Who’s the team comedian?

A: [Keith] Yandle’s worked his way in to be one of the funnier guys on the team.

Q: Funny as far as wisecracks?
A: No, he’s just dry (smile).

After getting 11 points in his first 21 regular season games, Yandle turned it on in the playoffs, scoring 11 points in 19 games.

When Yandle was at 100% in the Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, he played his best hockey, registering two goals and seven points.

His skill and vision was much more evident in the fast-paced series against the Lightning, whereas he struggled in the first two rounds of last season’s playoffs versus the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins.

With so many teams moving away from the physical style, it was a good sign that Yandle played well in a series that featured so much skill and speed.

Yandle is defintely more comfortable in New York, and that can only bode well for him and his teammates. He will be a key cog on a power play that is starting to click and get better. The team had a power play percentage of 21% this postseason, which was a significant rise from the 12.6% the year prior. This rise can be credited to Yandle, as he is clearly a difference maker.

Obviously, all this comes with a grain of salt. Yes, Yandle will have the occasional bonehead turnover. But, guess what? Players who have the puck on their stick a lot are bound to turn it over every now and again.

Yandle had a SAT% of 49.92%, which isn’t that bad when you consider he spent three-quarters of the season on a terrible Arizona Coyotes team. His horrible plus/minues, which sat at -26, can also be contributed to being on an awful team with awful goaltending. Furthermore, Yandle had over 50 points in what was widely considered a “down” year for him.

Yandle is heading into a contract year, and is sure to do everything in his power to secure a long, lucrative deal next summer.

If he gets the opportunites, there is no reason to think that he can’t score 50-to-60 points, contribute top-four minutes, and anchor the Rangers power play. If that is the case, Yandle might force the Rangers to trade away a contract, in order to sign him to an extension.

Because make no mistake about it, Yandle’s going to get paid next summer.

Next: New York Rangers: Why Kevin Hayes Will Have a Big Year

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