New York Rangers: What do they have in Ryan Lindgren?

The New York Rangers acquired an impressive bundle assets when they flipped Rick Nash to Boston. While Ryan Lindgren didn’t headline the return package, he’s the only piece from the Bruins’ farm system. He brings an intriguing collection of talents to New York’s prospect pool.

Boston chose Lindgren, a left-handed defenseman, in the second round of the 2016 draft. Lindgren hails from Minneapolis and is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota. He also played for Team USA at the last two World Junior Championship tournaments.

At first glance, Lindgren profiles as a stereotypical Bruin. He’s a 6’0″, 198 lb stay-at-home defender and plays a heavy, physical game. With nine points in 35 games, this season after seven in 32 last year, his numbers don’t jump off the page either.

All of these factors raise warning signs of a potentially poor fit for the modern NHL. Fortunately, there’s a little more to Lindgren’s story.

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While Lindgren doesn’t stand out as a scorer, he’s no traffic cone. Last Word on Sports painted an encouraging picture of his skating ability as a pre-draft prospect.

"He has a long and powerful stride that generates good speed in both directions, and solid acceleration. This stride and his strong lower body also gives him excellent balance on his skates. He uses this to protect the puck when it’s on his stick, as well as to get leverage in battling for loose pucks in the corners and in clearing the front of the net."

Lindgren doesn’t have major upside, but his speed could make him a quality fourth, fifth, or sixth defender. There’s big value in a player who can fill that kind of role, as his coach Don Lucia told the Star Tribune.

"“He’s not one of the guys who gets the limelight and he’s not one of the guys who leads the charge offensively, but he is the guy we need to play 24 minutes – the heavy minutes,’’ Lucia said."

Lindgren’s left-handed shot could hold him back in the Rangers’ system, however. Aside from Neal Pionk, none of New York’s top defensive prospects shoot from the right side. This leaves Lindgren with a lot of competition, including fellow deadline pickups Libor Hajek and Yegor Rykov.

An Olympic-sized question mark

There’s a chance Lindgren has more offense than we think. The University of Minnesota is one of less than 20 NCAA programs which plays on an Olympic rink. That means Lindgren plays his games on a sheet of ice 15 feet wider than the NHL standard.

Bigger ice surfaces can help hold down point totals. Brady Skjei posted only 27 points in his three seasons at the University of Minnesota, never topping 14 in one year. Then he came to New York and posted a 39 point rookie campaign.

Next: New York Rangers: The rebuild won’t be completed overnight

Obviously, Lindgren’s no guarantee to follow in Skjei’s footsteps. But transitioning to the pro level, where coaches push defenders to join the rush, could help Lindgren expand his game.

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