New York Rangers: Does Marc Staal’s inability to adapt signify an end?

As the New York Rangers roster has grown and developed over the past few seasons, defenseman Marc Staal has seemed to fit less and less.

We have seen it occur with other Rangers defensemen — most evidently with Dan Girardi and Kevin Klein — and now it is important for the Rangers to determine how to handle playing Staal on a roster that he seems to struggle on.

However, it is also important to understand where his issues are coming from.

The shift in what the league values in defensemen is a contributing factor. The qualities that are considered best are areas in which Staal has struggled with in the last few seasons.

In addition to this, the Rangers have made changes to their game that Staal has simply not been able to adapt to.

Here, we break down how these factors led to the demise of Marc Staal and how he could be used effectively — preferably elsewhere.