New York Rangers: Choosing the best defense pairs

Brady Skjei and Tony DeAngelo

This pairing is an unexpected success. At least in my opinion.

DeAngelo played less than half of last season in the NHL. His eight assists and minus-18 rating were nothing stellar.

Skjei’s sophomore season was a bit of a roller coaster. His play was not up to the expectations coming out of his breakout rookie season. However, he still led Rangers defensemen in points. He also led the team in average ice time (Neal Pionk was technically the leader but he did not play the whole season in the NHL).

So going into this season Skjei was still adjusting to a new, greater role on the defense. His big contract extension points to the fact that the organization considers him a large piece of the future of the defense core.

This season is a second chance for DeAngelo after a rocky start to his Rangers career. Quinn clearly believes in him, as he is averaging just under 20 minutes in ice time and spent all season so far with either Smith or Skjei.

I was going to make the first pair Smith and Skjei, but the statistics made a compelling case for Skjei-DeAngelo.

Smith and Skjei’s CF% as a pair is much higher than the team average at 49.47. However, their relative goals for percentage is -18.33.

Skjei and DeAngelo on the other hand are trending positively in possession metrics and goals for. Their CF% of 44.57 is not high by general standards, but it is one of the highest on the team. They also have a relative goals for percentage of 53.33%.

Essentially this means that they are solid offensively and defensively. On a team that struggles defensively and often struggles to score, both of these things are vital. Skjei has been scratched recently, but I think this pairing could continue to look promising when reunited.

Brendan Smith and Kevin Shattenkirk

It’s hard to create defense pairs with players that are constantly being scratched and benched, but yet again statistics point to Smith-Shattenkirk being a decent pair.

Their possession metrics as a pair are second best to Skjei-DeAngelo. Their combined CF% is less than 1% below the team average at 46.99. They also have a positive relative goals for percentage (2.54).

Again, this is a pairing that is often broken up with the rotation of scratches. However, their styles of play compliment each other and they could be successful together if they consistently play together.

Smith is another defenseman looking for redemption after his poor play last season led to a stint in Hartford. Shattenkirk hopes to play his first full season in New York after he was sidelined last year with a torn meniscus.

Both these defensemen have chips on their shoulders from last season. They can use that to motivate themselves and each other to play to the level they were capable of in the past.

Neal Pionk and Marc Staal

I think it’s safe to say that Marc Staal will not leave this Rangers lineup. He is the only defenseman to not be scratched this year and recently he has been contributing offensively as well as defensively.

Neal Pionk picked up where he left off at the end of last season. Once he was called up from Hartford, he played in 28 games and became the team leader in ice time and led all defensemen with .62 PPG. That performance earned him an off-season spot on the Team USA World Championships roster.

While some people don’t believe the two should remain paired together, I don’t mind it too much.  First teamed together last season, Staal has been Pionk’s most frequent partner.   They have the worst CF% of all the defense pairs the Rangers have used, but they are also matched most often with the opposition top lines.

Consistency is important for chemistry. Chemistry will help fix some of those mistakes that are often costly and affect those kind of possession statistics.

Other than that category, the Staal-Pionk pair has been strong for the Rangers. Once Quinn decided they would stay together pretty much permanently, neither have been scratched. There’s also the aforementioned highlight-reel goal from Pionk.

It seems to me that Pionk brings out the better parts of Staal’s game. He will never return to his old form, but he has definitely benefiting from having Pionk as a partner.

Staal’s veteran presence is also a benefit to Pionk. It’s important for young players to have a role model to follow, especially when they are getting so much responsibility so quickly.

Extras and conclusion

This leaves Claesson as an extra and McQuaid still on injured reserve.

It is difficult for me to list Claesson as an extra since he is playing well as of late. However, I doubt Quinn will end his rotation of defensemen anytime soon. In that case, the Swede will see action with Kevin Shattenkirk who has been his only partner so far this year.

When McQuaid comes back, these pairs will look different. He may be reunited with Skjei or maybe he will try a new partner. Either way the timetable for his return is unclear.

Consistency in the pairings themselves as well as the defense’s play needs to improve. If chemistry between partners can form, maybe they can put together full games of solid play.

Right now, especially in the last couple of games, the way they are playing is unacceptable.

These defense pairs aren’t a cure-all or the thing that magically fixes our defense. But I think they are the Rangers’ best shot at having a somewhat decent defense as opposed to a liability that costs the team games.

*Statistics taken from corsica.hockey