Not many people expect Neal Pionk to make the NHL this season, but he has shown promise thus far in preseason. Here’s why he could significantly improve the New York Rangers’ defense.
In the New York Rangers’ first preseason game, the overtime hero was an unlikely one. Neal Pionk, a defenseman signed out of the University of Minnesota Duluth this summer, scored the game-winning goal against the New York Islanders on September 18th. It was the only goal scored throughout the entire game, and it was scored in overtime.
Prior to this game, most fans didn’t see Pionk as a player who could make the NHL team. Fans automatically expected him to spend the season with the AHL’s Hartford Wolfpack, even before seeing him play.
The 22-year-old wasn’t seen as a huge signing over the offseason, overshadowed by moves like landing Kevin Shattenkirk and re-signing Brendan Smith. However, he could make an impact on this team in the area they have needed help in; defense.
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Before Being Signed
Before the New York Rangers signed him, Neal Pionk made a splash in lower tiers of hockey. Prior to playing at a college level, the young defenseman played in high school at Hermantown High School in Minnesota. There, he played 50 games over two seasons, notching 42 points (21 assists and 21 goals.)
After Hermantown, he went on to play with the Sioux City Musketeers of the USHL. During three seasons there, Pionk played a total of 119 games, recording 77 points (10 goals and 67 assists.)
Finally, he played at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Over two seasons, he played 82 games, the length of a full NHL season. He had a total of 51 points over these two seasons (11 goals and 40 assists.) While these are good offensive numbers, Pionk did not draw much attention from other teams.
Why wasn’t there more hype around the blue-liner? First, he’s a little smaller than many would like a defenseman to be. At 5’11” and 181 pounds, Pionk isn’t exactly a “big and bad” defenseman, though he has shown that he can hold his own in an occasional scrum.
Pionk is a perfect type of player for the Rangers. He is a talented skater who is great at moving the puck. Although he is lacking in size, he is still able to highlight the physical side of his game and can be a strong skater and fighter when he needs to be. Luckily for the Rangers, he is coming off of a great season in college, with 34 points in 42 games.
The Other Competition
A crucial detail about Neal Pionk as a player is that he is a right-handed shot. The only other right-handed defensemen currently on the New York Rangers are Anthony DeAngelo, Steven Kampfer, and Kevin Shattenkirk. The only real known quantity of those four is Shattenkirk, and he hasn’t even played a regular season game as a Ranger yet. When special teams are taken into account, the group gets even smaller.
Of those four players, Shattenkirk is the only one that is basically a shoo-in for the NHL roster. That makes exactly one right-handed defenseman that would be on the penalty kill unit. What do we know about the other two players, besides Pionk?
As far as DeAngelo goes, he really shouldn’t be playing on the penalty kill. He can’t. Anthony DeAngelo is a player who is great offensively, but a bit of a mess defensively, which is why he has been recently tossed around between different teams.
Coming to New York, the former first-round pick will be basically looking to score goals and not do much else, which won’t mesh well with Alain Vigneault. In addition, the league has suspended him for verbal abuse of officials twice, most recently in January 2017. So, all in all, DeAngelo doesn’t look like a great fit for the penalty kill, and it’s a huge possibility that he does not make the team.
As far as Steven Kampfer goes, it’s not likely that he makes the team. As well as DeAngelo, Pionk, and Shattenkirk, Nick Holden and Marc Staal also stand in his way while competing for a roster spot.
How Pionk Can Fit In
Here’s where Neal Pionk comes in. DeAngelo can be on a power play unit, but, so can Pionk. What Pionk has that DeAngelo doesn’t is the ability to play on a penalty kill unit. DeAngelo has minimal NHL experience, which is his only real advantage over Pionk.
DeAngelo has minimal NHL experience, which is his only real advantage over Pionk. In 39 career NHL games, he has 14 points (5 goals and 9 assists.) Additionally, he has a -13 +/- rating and 37 penalty minutes.
Of course, there are arguments for keeping Pionk out of the NHL for now. He would be making the jump straight from college to the main stage, which doesn’t always work out. But, the Rangers seem to have some luck with players making this leap.
Kevin Hayes played hockey for Boston College for four years and made a pretty smooth transition straight from school to the NHL, putting up 45 points (17 goals and 28 assists) in his rookie campaign.
Joining Hayes, Jimmy Vesey started playing in the NHL right after graduating from Harvard. In his first year in the NHL, he only missed two games, and he had 27 points (16 goals and 11 assists.)
If Pionk can follow in the footsteps of his teammates like Hayes and Vesey, with help from other members of the New York Rangers, he’ll be a solid defenseman with physical elements of his playing style who can also score when he needs to. That’s exactly what this team has been looking for for years.
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Although it may seem like a long shot, Pionk still has a chance of making the team. He has many of the missing pieces of the Rangers’ puzzle and could solve some major issues that have been building inside this team. Is he a lock for the NHL roster? Not by any means. He will have to fight for a spot, and it might not end the way he wants it to. But, for now, Neal Pionk is the preseason’s “Mr. Overtime,” and hopefully, he has some more goals like that left in him.