New York Rangers need to set Ryan McDonagh up to succeed

The New York Rangers are off to an awful, inconsistent start. While they have plenty of issues, finding a defense partner for Ryan McDonagh should not be one. Alain Vigneault can’t seem to stop tinkering with his top pairing, though.

When Kevin Shattenkirk signed in New York, he specifically mentioned his desire to play with the Rangers’ captain.

"“Term and money are big but the opportunity to play with a World Class defenseman like Ryan McDonagh and the opportunity to play at MSG, live in NYC, and obviously play for a team that I think is very close to winning a Stanley Cup. Those are factors that ultimately won out in the end.”"

Yet after an encouraging first game together, the two have spent most games on separate pairings. It’s a head-scratching choice from Vigneault and it’s making unnecessary problems.

No shutdown duo

Since opening the year beside Shattenkirk, McDonagh has formed pairings with Marc Staal, Nick Holden, and, most recently, Tony DeAngelo.

DeAngelo could benefit from playing with McDonagh, but that’s a one-way street. It’s fun to watch them skate together, but DeAngelo’s still a very risky player. He can’t play on a match-up pairing to lock down opposing stars.

The Rangers can always put a better defender next to McDonagh in key spots, but that means constantly scrambling the pairings mid-game. All that juggling makes it very hard for players to develop chemistry.

Furthermore, Vigneault doesn’t seem to know who to switch onto McDonagh’s right in big situations. Marc Staal has played more five on five minutes with McDonagh than any other Ranger defenseman this season. The two clearly don’t work together.

Despite Staal’s obvious decline over the last several seasons, Vigneault continues to give him heavy minutes. Setting him up with McDonagh not only gives the captain a poor partner, but also forces him to his off side.

It’s anyone’s guess whether any of these combinations will stick, but the coach seems willing to try anything but the most obvious solution. Reunite McDonagh with Shattenkirk and let them go to work.

Side effects

Vigneault’s odd McDonagh experiments make problems all over the lineup. Brendan Smith struggled early and wound up in the press box for a few games. Even now that he’s back with partner Brady Skjei, they’re playing reduced minutes.

The defense sets up perfectly when McDonagh, Shattenkirk, Skjei, and Smith form the top four. New York has two pairings worth of defensemen capable of playing 20 or more minutes per night.

But things go sideways with McDonagh and Shattenkirk separated. The captain and his seemingly random partner make the first pair. Shattenkirk and his also random partner form the second pair.

Meanwhile, Skjei and Smith wind up as the third pairing. It’s a brand new season and Skjei is back to playing fewer minutes than Staal.

Skjei, Shattenkirk, and Smith should allow Vigneault to avoid overworking McDonagh. Instead of balancing the load between them, the coach has decided to only trust McDonagh.

Next: New York Rangers: How long a leash does Alain Vigneault deserve?

With the team skidding, maybe Vigneault feels like he has to use McDonagh to cover for weaker defensemen like Holden and DeAngelo. The end result, however, is a lineup running away from what should be its strength. It’s clearly not working.

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