New York Rangers: Where does Ryan Spooner fit with this lineup?

Ryan Spooner wasted no time making an impact on the New York Rangers after arriving in the Rick Nash trade. The 26-year-old forward has seven points in his first three games as a Ranger. Does his impressive debut signal the beginning of a long run on Broadway, though?

Despite playing parts of six seasons with the Bruins, Ryan Spooner failed to carve out a major role in Boston. Spooner has some intriguing numbers, however, including 32 points in 42 games this year. While playing sporadic minutes, he also managed 39 and 49 points respectively in his last two seasons.

Is Spooner a top-six talent who simply found himself blocked on a deep Boston roster? The Rangers have 17 games to figure out if Spooner’s production translates into a bigger role. Afterward, Spooner hits restricted free agency and Jeff Gorton will need to make a call.

Frequent offense

While irregular usage prevented Spooner from posting gaudier point totals, he boasts impressive rate statistics. Among forwards to play at least 300 5-on-5 minutes this season, he ranks 54th with 1.71 primary points (goals plus primary assists) per 60 minutes. That puts him squarely in solid second liner territory (numbers courtesy of Corsica and Natural Stat Trick).

Statisticians tend to ignore secondary assists since their totals bounce randomly from year to year. Still, there’s no denying Spooner’s knack for them this season. He ranks fourth among NHL forwards with 0.92 second assists per 60 minutes, which places him 11th in the same group with 2.77 points per 60.

Personally, I’m not a big believer in the value of secondary assists. Either way, Spooner clearly knows how to make the most of his ice time.

Shelter from the storm

While Spooner doesn’t play the biggest minutes, he does play the most valuable ones. He starts a whopping 52.15% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone. That’s more than any other forward on either the Rangers or the Bruins.

No other Rangers forward starts even 40% of his shifts in the offensive zone. Furthermore, Spooner begins only 17.01% of his shifts in the defensive zone. None of his new teammates start less than a quarter of shifts in their own zone.

Now, this doesn’t make Spooner useless. A struggling Rangers offense will happily take quality production regardless of circumstances. But Spooner’s limitations make it difficult to envision a major role for him on the next contending Ranger squad.

On the other hand, scoring forwards tend to play the juiciest minutes even on championship level teams. The Rangers need to use their remaining games to learn how Spooner fares under more balanced ice time.

Context matters

Compared to the rest of the Rangers, Spooner’s scoring rates look amazing. He ranks atop all Rangers forwards at even strength scoring in both points per 60 and primary points per 60.

Spooner spent most of the season in Boston, though. In terms of Bruins forwards, Spooner merely ranked sixth in 5-on-5 primary points per 60. His 1.71 primary points per 60 lags behind Brad Marchand’s 2.34 per 60 rate.

Using points rather than primary points pushes Spooner to second behind Marchand. None of his ex-teammates, however, start nearly as many shifts the offensive zone.

Unfortunately for Spooner, playing on a stacked team isn’t always a bad thing for players low on the depth chart. The Bruins could afford to tilt the ice in Spooner’s favor because the Bruins dominate the puck.

Using 5-on-5 Corsi for percentage, we can use shot attempts as a relative proxy for puck possession. The Bruins lead the NHL with a 54.00 5-on-5 CF%. Meanwhile, the Rangers sit at the bottom of the league at 5-on-5 with a 46.19 CF%.

The easiest contrast to Spooner is his new linemate, Kevin Hayes. Hayes ranks slightly behind Spooner at even strength with 1.63 primary points per 60. Yet Hayes scores at his rate while starting only 26.20% of shifts in the offensive zone.

Furthermore, Hayes opens 36.08% of his shifts in his own zone. In other words, Hayes produces nearly as much as Spooner while playing the toughest minutes available.

Making room for a specialist

Not every player has to play in all situations to provide value. The difference in zone starts between Spooner and Hayes says as much about New York mishandling Hayes as it does Spooner’s limits.

Spooner faces one other big obstacle if he wants to become a New York mainstay, though. He does not shine in special teams situations.

Unsurprisingly, Spooner does not kill penalties. His power play production, however, leaves much to be desired. Spooner’s primary points per 60 actually drops from 1.71 at even strength to 1.62 with the man advantage.

While the Rangers lag far behind Boston in CF%, they boast almost identical powerplay percentages. The Rangers convert 20.8% of their opportunities and the Bruins convert 20.6% of theirs. So it’s hard to explain why Spooner struggles so much in what should serve as a strength.

Even a post-trade deadline Ranger roster appears to have far more appealing power play options than Spooner. He ranks seventh among current Ranger forwards in both points (3.24) and primary points (1.62) per 60 minutes.

The future Rangers

Add all of Spooner’s shortcomings and it becomes apparent why Boston had no issue parting with him. There’s room on a contending roster for an offense-first player. But is there room on a contending roster for an even-strength offense only player?

Spooner plays both center and wing, but it’s tough to see him commanding either spot. The Rangers have a ton of center depth between Mika Zibanejad, Kevin Hayes, and Vladislav Namestnikov. Then there are prospects Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson, and Brett Howden waiting in the wings. All of those players shoot left like Spooner does, with the exception of Zibanejad.

The Rangers have more of a need on the wings. Only Pavel Buchnevich and Chris Kreider have top six spots locked down past next season. But some of the aforementioned centers will wind up on the wings and Spooner lacks a deadly shot to separate himself from the crowd.

Next: Roundtable: Grading Gorton’s work at the deadline

Ultimately, Spooner has a very thin window to prove himself in New York. While the Rangers shouldn’t say no to signing him at a bargain rate, there’s no reason to commit more heavily. The Ryan Spooner era could easily end with a trade in June despite the hot start.

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