New York Rangers: Five duos the Rangers cannot put together

With a new season about to begin, the New York Rangers have plenty of options to form the best lineup possible.

It was a busy off-season for the New York Rangers. The Vegas expansion draft, a buyout, a massive trade, the NHL Entry draft, and big splash in free agency. It has reshaped the landscape of the team. With so many moving pieces and new faces, it’s hard to determine how to form the most optimal lineup.

It’s important to remember that the regular season often starts with experimentation. It’s about finding chemistry between players. Finding out who has improved over the offseason and who has not gotten off to a good start. There will be lots of line juggling as the season moves along. Of course, the inevitable injuries will also factor in to who fits where.

When it comes to personnel decisions and player deployment, head coach Alain Vigneault has been giving headaches to Rangers fans for years now. While some decisions seem obvious to those of us who are watching the games, AV has proven time and time again he likes to think outside the box, or something like that. These are some duos that should not play together for the 2017-2018 season.

Marc Staal and Nick Holden

Since being hired by the New York Rangers, Alain Vigneault has leaned on Marc Staal as one of his go-to defenseman to play tough defensive minutes in a shutdown role. Staal averaged 19:11 of ice time per game last season, and an average of 1:58 per game on the penalty kill.

Nick Holden was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche at the 2016 NHL draft. He was immediately placed in a defensive-minded role, similar to Staal. He did find a way to register career high’s in goals (11), assists (23) and points (34). Overall, Holden averaged 20:37 minutes of ice time per game, 1:42 on the penalty kill and an additional 37 seconds of powerplay time per game.

Despite being labeled ‘defensive defenseman’ by their coach and some fans, Staal and Holden were truthfully anything but that. Throughout the season, there were many blunders from these two: turnovers, missed coverage’s, and all-together sloppy play. Despite all that, they somehow stuck together for the majority of the regular season and playoffs.

This duo was exposed in the postseason. The team was constantly hemmed in the defensive zone with them on the ice. Both were on the ice and partially responsible for late, game tying goals in game 2 of the series vs. Montreal and game 2 vs. Ottawa.

There’s a strong argument to be made that neither Staal nor Holden, let alone both, should even make the Rangers, but that’s a whole other debate. It seems unlikely Staal would be jettisoned, but it certainly seems like Holden’s roster spot is in jeopardy. Regardless, these two cannot play together. It’s proven to be a recipe for disaster, and would undoubtedly be the Achilles heal for the 2017-2018 Rangers.

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.

Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes

This will likely be surprising and controversial, but Michael Grabner and Kevin Hayes also need to be separated. Grabner shocked the hockey world last season, scoring a whopping 27 goals and 13 assists in 76 games. His speed amazed New York Rangers fans. He seemingly had at least one or two breakaways per game. Because of that, he was a threat whenever he stepped on the ice.

Despite all that, Grabner can no longer be a winger on a line with the big center Kevin Hayes. Though he found a way to bury 27 goals last season, Grabner scored just 9 goals in 80 games in the 2015-2016 season, albeit with a last place Toronto Maple Leafs team. The speedy Austrian is much better than what he showed in Toronto. However, he’s also not quite as good as what last season in New York would tell us.

It’s extremely improbable that Grabner will come close to 27 goals again. As a matter of fact, 20 goals might not even be possible for Grabner. Before last season, he hadn’t reached the 20 goal plateau since the 2011-2012 season. That was when he was playing for the other New York hockey team.

Grabner is a good role player, there is no doubt about that. However, his 27 goals was likely somewhat flukey, and we should probably expect around 15 goals this upcoming season. Hayes will take on a much larger role this upcoming season after Derek Stepan was traded to Arizona, so it’s ideal to give him a few more offensively gifted wingers. Not to mention, both Grabner and Hayes somewhat struggle in the defensive zone.

Jesper Fast and Mika Zibanejad

Let me just start by saying Jesper Fast and Mika Zibanejad didn’t play together much last season. In the past, Vigneault has shown the tendency to insert Fast into the top six to shake things up. Countless times in prior seasons, we’ve seen Jesper on the first line alongside Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider.

Jesper is an important piece to this puzzle. He’s excellent defensively and on the penalty kill, where he averaged 1:35 minutes a game last season. He’s a Swiss army knife, showcasing a well-rounded game in all areas. No disrespect to Fast, but he’s simply not top six caliber.

The man nicknamed Quickie scored 6 goals to go along with 15 assists last season. Injuries limited him to just 68 games. It’s worth mentioning that he stood out in the postseason, like most role players often do, registering 3 goals and 3 assists in 12 playoff games. Still, it’s hard to justify that a player with just 22 goals and 65 points in 216 NHL regular season games deserves big minutes and a spot on a team’s first or second line.

Jesper is what he is: a depth winger who excels on the penalty kill, in a defensive role, and occasionally chips in offensively. Sometimes the team has forced him into something he is not. Fast cannot be a top six forward, his offensive production just doesn’t warrant that.