New York Rangers: Marc Staal should be the next to be benched

For the past few years, Marc Staal has been one of the weakest parts of the New York Rangers. Because of this, he should be the next player impacted by new coach David Quinn recently implemented “accountability” policies and press box visits.

One of the most exciting parts of this year’s New York Rangers season has been adjusting to a new head coach.

Public enemy number one of Rangers fans, Alain Vigneault, was the former coach who was fired in April of this past year. Quinn, former coach at Boston University, definitely runs the team differently.

One of the things that he has become known for among Rangers’ fans so far this season has been scratching players that may have been in the lineup every single night under Vigneault. For example, he has benched Pavel Buchnevich, Anthony DeAngelo, Neal Pionk and Kevin Shattenkirk.

The reason why these players have sat is that Quinn emphasizes on work ethic and accountability for the teams he coaches. He benched Buchnevich because he believes that the 23-year-old should be working harder on each of his shifts as he grows and develops as a player.

As for Shattenkirk, he played for Quinn back when he was in college. It seemed as if Shattenkirk knew that he had some room to improve, and he didn’t seem bitter when making comments about being scratched. Afterward, Quinn seemed to feel better about what kind of work Shattenkirk would be putting in towards the future.

But, while on the topic of potential benching one name always seems to come up; Marc Staal.

Marc Staal has not been a valuable part of the New York Rangers in years. His “promising future” that fans loved to imagine earlier on in his career began to fade after multiple serious injuries, including one that required eye surgery, kept sidelining him.

2009-2011 were the best years of Staal’s career, putting up point totals in the late 20s. Unfortunately, after being beaten and bruised for year after year, the injuries and “wear and tear” caught up with Staal. He hasn’t put up a point total in double digits in two years (last year his point total was eight).

Benching a younger or more valuable player can definitely have positive impacts, like instilling good habits in them and making sure they take themselves and the way they play seriously. However, if Quinn wants his theme of accountability to stick, he will have to hold all of his players equally accountable.

Marc Staal has been held pointless through all 10 games that he has appeared in so far this year. He hasn’t scored more than 20 points since 2011. If anyone on the New York Rangers needs a wake-up call, it’s him, and it has been him for a while now. David Quinn’s accountability policies and a trip to the press box could do just that for Staal.