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.