What went wrong with the New York Rangers: Top pair Nick Holden
By Sam Prevot
One of the most egregious lineup decisions this season for the struggling New York Rangers defense was Nick Holden in the top pairing with Ryan McDonagh. He played top minutes despite having a horrible season defensively and statistically. This played a role in the Rangers’ horrible season.
The New York Rangers’ defense struggled throughout the 2017-18 season. This was partially due to the lineup decisions made by head coach Alain Vigneault. One of the most notably egregious decisions was to consistently play Nick Holden with Ryan McDonagh in the stop defensive pairing.
It was just plain to see that Holden did not belong in that top defensive role. There were too many instances where he failed to generally do his job, which is to defend. He missed his defensive assignments on a regular basis and gave up costly turnovers that usually led to goals for the opposing team.
Yet night in and night out, the lineup remained the same.
By the numbers
Until he was traded at the deadline, Holden was a nuisance to many Rangers fans. His poor defensive play reflects in all of his statistics from his 55 games in New York. However, he still averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game.
In 55 games, Holden tallied just three goals and nine assists for a total of 12 points. His plus/minus was just -3, which is not the worst of his career. But when you total goals for and against, he was on the ice for 46 goals for and 58 against.
Holden’s possession stats also tell a lot of the story. His Corsi was one of the lowest of his career at 45.5. This was one of the lowest on the Rangers defense at the midseason mark.
Other options for the top spot
By all accounts, it is unclear how Nick Holden as a top pairing defenseman is justifiable. There were other options at Alain Vigneault’s disposal when it came to lineup decisions.
Kevin Shattenkirk signed with the Rangers in the offseason. Reportedly he wanted, and perhaps expected, to be playing on the top pair with McDonagh.
This is not to say Shattenkirk did not have chemistry with Brady Skjei before he was sidelined with an injury. They played well together, but we never really got to see what a McDonagh/Shattenkirk pairing looks like.
The breakout performance by rookie Neal Pionk also begs the question of whether he should have been called up sooner. With the team’s defensive struggles, these lineup changes could have been worth a shot.
Looking to the future
The silver lining for Rangers fans is that Holden was traded at the deadline to the Boston Bruins. In addition to that, Alain Vigneault was fired after the last game of the season.
These two factors on top of the McDonagh trade means the Rangers defense looks very different from the start of this season. Not to mention that the team is now in the draft lottery for number one pick Rasmus Dahlin, also a defenseman.
Next: What went wrong with the Rangers: Buchnevich’s deployment
So despite the obstacles this season, there could still be a light at the end of the tunnel. The future for the Rangers’ defense is bright, especially with a new coach coming in for next season. Top pairing Nick Holden is now a thing of the past and Rangers fans can just call it one of the things that went wrong in a bad season.