Brady Skjei and Neal Pionk are becoming quite the defensemen for the New York Rangers. Both are offensive defensemen, strong skaters, and are both steady in their own ends. Just how comparable are their rookie seasons?
The New York Rangers have finally been able to revamp their defense. 2012 draft pick Brady Skjei and college free agent signing Neal Pionk have been crucial pieces in bringing the defense back to life.
Pionk came onto the scene out of nowhere in 2017-18, providing a glimer of hope for the Rangers’ lackluster defense. In fact, he had the best rookie season of a Ranger since Skjei debuted.
Skjei had an incredible rookie year following quite the season with the Hartford Wolf Pack. In his rookie season, Skjei posted five goals and 34 assists for 39 points in 80 games. During the playoffs, he added an additional four goals and an assist for five points in 12 games.
During Skjei’s rookie season, the Rangers were in a strange place.They were better than the team of 2015-2016 in that they made it further in the playoffs, but weren’t the team of 2014-2015.
In this time, Skjei’s most consistent defense partner was Kevin Klein. This season was one of Klein’s worst as a Ranger and his last in the NHL. In spite of this, Skjei was able to consistently put up points and contribute defensively. Together, Skjei and Klein held a 48.17 Corsi.
Here’s where comparing the two gets a little tricky. In his rookie year, Skjei missed only two games and played in the NHL the entire year. Pionk, however, played just 28 NHL games after having played the majority of the season in the AHL.
Even in this sample size, Pionk was able to impress. He recorded he recorded one goal and 13 assists for 14 points in those 28 games. During this time frame, he went on a seven game point streak. During this point streak, he recorded the majority of his points, with 10.
Pionk’s most consistent defense partner was Marc Staal. Much like Skjei with Klein, Staal has not been playing consistently well for quite a while now. Together, the two posted an extremely poor 41.44 Corsi
Funnily enough, the only other consistent partner Pionk had was Skjei. With Skjei, the two recorded a slightly better 45.05 Corsi. Skjei struggled significantly in his sophomore season, presumably why the CF% rating was only slightly better than that with Staal.
With such a gap between the amount of games Skjei played in his rookie year and what Pionk played, we have to have to turn to their AHL totals. In both of their rookie professional seasons, the gap is much smaller, making it easier to compare the two.
In Skjei’s first season, he recorded four goals and 24 assists for 28 points in 68 games. Pionk played 20 less games with 48, and recorded one goal and 16 assists.
Overall, it’s a little difficult to compare the two players’ totals. However, just by watching them play you can tell that they are quite similar as players. Are they going to both become top-pairing defensemen? Who knows. But either way, both players will be on the blue line for years to come.