New York Rangers: Ranking the team’s active defensemen
Dissecting a defense is often a job that can get coaches fired. Some defenses can be understaffed, some improperly deployed. The New York Rangers fall into both of those categories.
The group that the New York Rangers have on defense is not only incredibly young, but also inexperienced. The elder statesman on the back end is Marc Staal with over 750 games played.
Brady Skjei has played the second most games and is only in his sophomore season with 170 games in his career. The rest of the players on the defense all have less than 41 games played in their NHL careers.
With the loss of players of Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Kevin Klein and others over the last few seasons, their blue line has been bereft of experience. .
We decided to take a look at six active defensemen on the team and rank them. Keep in mind that Kevin Shattenkirk, Tony DeAngelo and Steven Kampfer have all been excluded from the list.
Rob O’Gara
Rob O’Gara is one of the Rangers newest acquisitions. Acquired near the deadline in exchange for Nick Holden from the Boston Bruins, O’Gara is a young player who has shown some physical abilities. O’Gara stands at 6-foot-4 and weighs in at 215 pounds.
The biggest components of his game include his physicality of his game. At all previous levels of hockey, he’s been known as a stay at home defender. O’Gara has never been an overt offensive producer, however, his play in high school and college was somewhat productive.
O’Gara, however often has some trouble with the possession side of the game, sporting a career 43.9 corsi for percentage.
The New York born defensemen is the sixth ranked defensemen on the Rangers roster active currently because, quite frankly, he’s really struggled in the defensive end. However, with time O’Gara may evolve his game.
Ryan Sproul
When the Rangers sent Matt Puempel to the Red Wings earlier in the season for Ryan Sproul, it seemed inconsequential. However, Sproul has made an impact on the Rangers this season helping on the back end. Sproul has been brought on to help the Rangers with a lack of serious defensive depth.
The Rangers lack of depth has put them in a precarious situation when they moved defensive players like Ryan McDonagh and Nick Holden in trades. Sproul, with a corsi at 49 percent, has been adequate for the Rangers, even putting up four assists in 12 games at the time of writing.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that Sproul is somewhat behind what the Rangers would likely want to have in their top 4, as he has played on the second pair with Brady Skjei lately.
Sproul really doesn’t do anything that stands out. He is one of those players who you don’t often notice when he’s on the ice. For a bottom pair defender (the role that probably best suits his game) that’s sometimes what you want.
John Gilmour
The speedy skating, offensively talented John Gilmour has demonstrated some great skill for the Rangers in his freshman year. Despite his offensive skills, Gilmour has made some questionable defensive moves. He will need to polish his defensive game to guarantee a spot on next year’s roster. At age 24, he may be a bit of a late bloomer. Still, he has a few years to develop into a more well-rounded player.
Gilmour’s skillset is definitely based around his skating. Because of this an a lethal shot, Gilmour was pretty effective moving the puck up the ice and generating chances in the offensive zone. He demonstrated this in a game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Gilmour’s offensive traits absolutely can be developed into something more powerful, with the excellent skating leading the charge for him.
He has occasional defensive lapses in his positioning which have hurt the team. With this said, Gilmour has potential to be a solid bottom pair defenseman if he continues to develop.
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Neal Pionk
Young Neal Pionk is one of the Rangers’ most promising players on defense. Rangers analyst Dave Maloney has gone as far as to call Pionk “fearless.” Pionk demonstrates very strong edgework and control of the puck. Despite not being as fast as a player like Gilmour or as physical as Rob O’Gara, Pionk is fantastically well-rounded.
One of the clearest examples of this fearlessness is Pionk’s OT winner against the New York Islanders in the preseason. It really showcased his offensive potential early on.
Pionk demonstrated his ability to read the ice and force Islanders Brock Nelson to bite on a lane that he would suddenly slip out of. Pionk has put up 14 points in 24 games thus far into his career, scoring his first goal only in the month of March. The Minnesota-Duluth alum can make a huge difference in New York by being a solid two-way defender.
Pionk sits at three based on his lack of experience and small sample size in the NHL. However, Pionk has been playing top pair minutes and hasn’t looked out of place.
Marc Staal
Regardless of what issues Marc Staal has, he is the longest tenured player on the roster besides Henrik Lundqvist. Staal is a leader that the other defensemen on the roster can look up to.
Staal tends to have the populace against him, as his offense has been nearly invisible over the past number of years to go along with his declining defensive skills. He tends to be caught out of position as he’s lost a step or two.
Staal can still contribute in some areas, with occasional glimpses of offense and attempts to play a more physical style that brings back memories of his earlier career. Despite the issues that surround the Rangers’ veteran defenseman, Staal will likely be with the Rangers come next October.
Brady Skjei
Brady Skjei has found a way into the hearts of analysts and the eyes of scouts. Skjei has become a very important part of the New York Rangers’ defense this season based on the facts that he is the most responsible in all three zones and usually seems to be positionally sound. And even when he’s not, he can use his speed and reach to break up a play.
His offensive numbers were so good in his rookie season that he had more points than former teammate Rick Nash last year.
Skjei and his two way abilities were very clearly demonstrated in the series against the Ottawa Senators where he and defensive partner Brendan Smith were dominant.
A great block on one end to a quick toe-dragged shot on the other end created a great goal for the young second pair defenseman. Skjei has a career corsi of 48.8 percent with last season’s output topping at 50 percent.
Despite the adversities he has faced being the tasked with the toughest minutes at age 24, Skjei has asserted his dominance as the top defenseman currently on the roster.