New York Rangers: Five duos the Rangers cannot put together
By Matt Hanson
Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal
It’s no secret that Ryan McDonagh is easily the New York Rangers best defenseman and arguably best player. Dan Girardi was connected to his hip through almost the entirety of McDonagh’s career, but that won’t be the case this season. Girardi was bought out in June, then signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
When Girardi missed 19 games last season due to injuries, there were several defenseman bumped up to the top pair to play alongside the captain, Marc Staal being one of them. It’s not fair to harp on one individual player when talking about the Rangers shortcomings last year, but Staal once again has to be mentioned.
It’s crucial for this team’s success this season that Staal is not McDonagh’s new defense partner. To put it simply: Staal is not a top pairing defenseman and probably never has been. If Alain Vigneault were to bump Staal up to the top pair, forcing him to play more minutes, against tougher competition, and switch to the right side, it would be an unmitigated disaster.
Common sense would tell us that free agent signing Kevin Shattenkirk is the only feasible option to ride shotgun with McDonagh on the top pair. However, Vigneault has shown over the years that he is lacking some common sense.
From interviews with General Manager Jeff Gorton and the players, it seems like Shattenkirk will take that spot. But with Alain Vigneault behind the bench, we’ll never know if and when he reverts back to his old ways and separates McDonagh and Shattenkirk.