Alain Vigneault has a history of trusting veteran players instead of rookies in the playoffs. Has this trend continued this postseason even with the tremendous rookie season that Brady Skjei had?
Brady Skjei had an incredible regular season that surpassed all expectations that fans and New York Rangers’ management had for him. He posted 5 goals, 34 assists, and 39 points in 80 games while also having the second-best CF (Corsi – For) % on the Rangers blueline with 50.5%.
In other words, Brady Skjei was an absolute beast in his first regular season. In the playoffs, Skjei’s play has elevated to a higher level. He posted two goals in the first round and had an astounding 60.9 CF%.
It makes sense to say that a lot of the Ranger’s success this postseason has been partly due to Skjei playing amazing hockey.The issue is that in close games Alain Vigneault has repeatedly given him a short leash and/or benched him instead of trusting the rookie defenseman.
Let’s take a look at some examples of this and how AV can fix this going forward.
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Game Two
In the closing minute of Game Two, with a 3-2 lead, Alain Vigneault was faced with a decision on which defensive pairing he was going to send out after his top pairing completed their shift.
Instead of relying on Brady Skjei and Brendan Smith, who were the best pairing in game two and for most of the series, AV decided to send out Marc Staal and Nick Holden.
The result was not pretty. Holden broke his stick delivering a slash and then deflected the game-tying goal past Henrik Lundqvist with seventeen seconds to go (as seen below).
Nick Holden broke his stick at the worst possible time. And the Rangers lost. https://t.co/Hvy9snSABu pic.twitter.com/HBU8gAAbAN
— SB Nation NHL (@SBNation_NHL) April 15, 2017
Given the play of the two pairings, it is likely that the Rangers would have entered Game Three with a 2-0 series lead had AV played Skjei instead. If the Rangers hadn’t managed to eventually put it all together and win the series, the Holden gaffe would have been looked back on as a major reason why the Rangers fell short.
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Games Three-Six
After Game Two, AV started to lean on the Skjei – Smith pairing heavily, sometimes more than his top pairing of Ryan McDonagh and Dan Girardi, and the Rangers reaped the benefits. Skjei put up two goals between Games Three and Five while playing responsibly in his own zone. It can be said that Brady Skjei’s Game Five performance was a big reason why the Rangers were able to bring the series back to MSG with a series lead (and eventually win the series).
However, in Game Six, Brady Skjei played the least amount of 5v5 time of any Rangers’ defenseman with just 12:56 TOI. As brought out in Larry Brook’s latest article, Brady Skjei “found himself on the bench for the final 9:07 of the third period in Game 6. Skjei played just 2:23 in the third after getting 3:31 in the second period, accumulating 12:33 of total ice time…”
It’s not as if Skjei struggled in Game Six for he faired much better than Staal and Holden did in this game. Skjei posted a 52 CF% while Staal and Holden posted a miserable 21.6% and a 25% respectively. With all the shots that Staal and Holden let up, it’s a miracle they weren’t on the ice for a goal against.
In a pivotal Game Six, a head coach must play his best defensemen, even if they don’t have “playoff experience”. Skjei is a solid defenseman who brings more to the table offensively and defensively than Staal and Holden do. Game Six was another Holden gaffe like this from going back to Montreal for a Game Seven:
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In The Future
If the Rangers are to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, AV is going to need to trust Brady Skjei with top four minutes. Skjei has come through with big time plays in both ends during this postseason.
Regardless of whether the Rangers are winning a close game, losing a close game, or if it is an elimination game, Brady Skjei needs to be playing and can’t just be benched during a game in favor of experienced players.
The Ranger’s upcoming opponent, the Ottawa Senators, have a world class defenseman in Erik Karlsson. Karlsson is good enough to put up six assists in six games while playing with two hairline fractures in his ankle.
Given that McDonagh and Girardi will see most of their ice time against Karlsson, the Rangers will need to get production from their other defenseman to beat the Senators.
Giving Brady Skjei top 4 minutes will allow just that. Skjei is great at getting the puck out of the Ranger’s zone and keeping it in the opponent’s zone. This allows the Rangers to wear down their opponent, create offensive chances, and get more favorable matchups if the opponents ice the puck.
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Next time the Rangers are in the same situation as Game two, the coaching staff would be wise to remember how dependable Brady Skjei has been for the Rangers all season. It just might be the very thing that wins the Rangers a series.