New York Rangers: Is it worth it to bring back Rob O’Gara?
By Sean Raggio
The New York Rangers suffered from very lackluster defensive play this past season. Should they re-sign one of their young defensemen despite a draft chock-full of defensive talent?
This year’s NHL Entry Draft was loaded with defensive talent, including five defensive prospects projected to go in the top 10 by some members of the BLS team. The New York Rangers had the ninth and 28th picks, as well as trading up for the 22nd. The team used two of those picks on defensemen.
Rob O’Gara was acquired by the Rangers alongside a third round pick in the 2018 draft in a trade that sent defenseman Nick Holden to the Boston Bruins. He dressed for 22 games with the Blueshirts last season and recorded the first three points of his NHL career (all assists).
O’Gara spent most of the last two seasons with the Bruins’ AHL affiliate in Providence. While there, he tallied six goals and 21 points in 102 games. He was also a +16. He’s a big body at 6-foot-4 and is known to be a defensive defenseman.
The Rangers have several other defensemen up for new contracts this offseason, most notably Brady Skjei. The Rangers have qualified offers to all of their RFA defenseman including O’Gara, keeping them in team control going forward.
With all of the defenseman who have been brought into the system over the last few months, is it worth bringing back O’Gara?
A deeper look
The most consistent playing time O’Gara received at the NHL level was on a team that reeked of inconsistency; your the 2017-18 New York Rangers. He has played well at the AHL level, but really hasn’t had a shot to prove himself in the NHL.
Despite the argument that O’Gara isn’t NHL ready, his only three career NHL points did come during his time with the Rangers. In addition, he isn’t an offensive defenseman, so the lack of production isn’t something that should raise many eyebrows.
O’Gara is coming off an entry level deal that was two years at $925,000. Re-signing him to another two year, two-way deal should be both cheap and beneficial to the Rangers. Turning 25, he is still young enough and has some room to grow. Given a regular role, maybe he could improve into a bottom pairing NHL regular.
Plus it can’t hurt the Rangers to have the defensmen to spare. The injury bug always likes to hit at the most inopportune times. And besides, if a player isn’t performing up to par it’s always good to have a player with NHL experience ready player to plug the gap.
The best bet
A two-year bridge contract is a pretty safe deal. It benefits the team if he improves, but won’t be back-breaking if he regresses at all. With the experience he has, it may be cheaper in the end to have him around as that emergency seventh defenseman rather than going out and grabbing one in free agency or via another trade.
Defenseman such as K’Andre Miller and Nils Lundkvist that the Rangers drafted won’t be ready for the NHL right off the bat. Just like prospects such as Ryan Lindgren and Sean Day may not be ready to crack the 23-man roster out of training camp. Bringing O’Gara back would be the smart and safe play for the Rangers.
Next: A quick analysis of every player the Rangers drafted on Saturday
Either way, it’s safe to say that the Rangers are not a playoff team next season. Keeping O’Gara at a cheap, low-risk deal is something that will help the Rangers move through this rebuild. Whether or not they keep him after this next season, or re-sign him in two years time, that’s a discussion for another day.