New York Rangers: Five players Kevin Shattenkirk’s arrival benefits the most
By Josh Lipman
Ryan McDonagh
Ranger fans, meet Ryan McDonagh. After seven seasons in New York, including three as captain, it’s finally time to see what he can do.
Replacing Dan Girardi with Kevin Shattenkirk approximates to replacing a cinder block with a rocket ship.
McDonagh spent almost his entire career up to this point covering for an extremely limited partner. Not only does McDonagh not have to do that anymore, he now has a partner roughly his equal in talent.
Corsi, a statistic which tracks shot attempts, suggests the upgrade from Girardi to Shattenkirk means a lot more offensive zone time for both McDonagh and the Rangers in general. McDonagh managed only a 46.5 even strength Corsi for percentage in 16-17, but away from Girardi, that number jumped to 50.5 percent. Shattenkirk posted a 53.0 even strength Corsi for percentage last season.
McDonagh and Shattenkirk even already have some experience together. The two partnered with each other on the 2014 US Olympic Team.