New York Rangers: Frederick Claesson is worth a lineup spot

The New York Rangers only signed one unrestricted free agent this summer, veteran defenseman Frederik Claesson. The former Ottawa Senator played well in his debut against the San Jose Sharks.

Typically, a depth defenseman signed during the unrestricted free agency window doesn’t move the needle. This was true in the case of Frederik Claesson, a 25-year-old who had only played more than 50 games once in his NHL career. Although the veteran had only played three seasons with the Ottawa Senators, the team decided to move on from Claesson.

Initially, the perception of the Swedish defenseman was that of a depth signing. Someone who likely would only play around 30 games the entire season and play in an injury related pinch. This was before the Rangers went out and traded for Adam McQuaid and added another veteran to the mix.

In fact, having both McQuaid and Claesson on the roster forced the team to carry eight defensemen. Most teams carry only seven and opt to carry two extra forwards instead. The logic being that since a lineup needs 12 forwards, it would make sense to have two in an emergency situation.

Through four games this season, the team’s only unrestricted free agent signing dressed for just one. That game, of course, coming on Thursday night in the team’s first win of the season. It is no coincidence that the team won in a game that featured nearly 19 minutes of Claesson while on the ice.

Having the puck is good

The Swedish defenseman is not the only reason the team won against San Jose, but he did play a noticeable role. As a whole, San Jose outshot New York 43-26, an absurdly bad shot differential. In the game, just one defensive pair Claesson and Smith were a net positive on the ice in terms of shot differential.

The metric Corsi For Percentage (CF%) quantifies what percentage of shots a player is on the ice for and against. An average player has a CF% of 50 percent meaning that the player’s team has 50 percent of the shots in the game while they’re on the ice.

The pair of Claesson and Smith had a CF% of 60.71. This was an absurd outlier in a game that as a whole New York had a CF% of 41.35. Being that the pair played a significant chunk of minutes and were not sheltered, the fact they played so well together should be taken seriously in an evaluation.

The basic logic being, if New York has control of the puck, the other team does not and can’t shoot. In addition to being strong at controlling the flow of the game, Claesson simply moves better on the ice than some of the alternatives.

Who comes out?

To point out the obvious, defenseman Marc Staal simply doesn’t have it anymore. While the veteran gives it his all on the ice, if he cannot keep up with the game, there cannot be a place for him. Head Coach David Quinn has held true to his word and scratched players that did not give their maximum effort, now it’s time to put someone who’s effort is better than someone else’s in.

Even if Quinn feels that Staal is playing well enough to stay in the lineup, there are alternatives because of Claesson’s flexibility. The defenseman has the ability to play on his offside, so even though he’s left-handed, he can play the right side effectively well.

So, there are several different spots in the lineup that Claesson can occupy. But, based on his performance on Thursday, it’d be crazy to not give him another look and soon. A defenseman that can actually skate and keep up with the flow of the game would be a refreshing change of pace.

Given the early season struggles, there will likely be no one consistent lineup. Just based on the type of season that is expected, there is going to be experimentation until things start to catch. Once the team gets into a groove and chemistry is developed, then real lineup whining can begin.