New York Rangers: Time for Brady Skjei to become elite

Choosing the right partner

It has become evident, especially this season, that Skjei truly thrives when he is paired with a stay-at-home defenseman.

After enduring a rocky start to 2018-19 the 25-year-old regained his composure and settled back down alongside Adam McQuaid.

Although the hardcore stats don’t support this argument, there is no denying that Skjei played with more of a swagger when he had an older head next to him.

One of Skjei’s biggest strengths is his flawless skating ability and having someone like McQuaid as a security blanket allowed him to freely jump up into the play on a more consistent basis.

McQuaid acted as a real calming influence for Skjei, talking his young colleague through the trials and tribulations and hustle and bustle of a typical NHL game.

Compare that to when Skjei was paired with Tony DeAngelo in the early throes of the season and the differences were noteworthy.

It almost looked like the pressure of having extra defensive responsibility crippled Skjei, who made rash decisions in his own zone and was sloppy when handling the puck.

Following McQuaid’s trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the deadline, Skjei has predominately been paired alongside Kevin Shattenkirk. That mix has worked well despite Shattenkirk being more offensive-minded, but going on the larger sample size would suggest that Skjei is better suited to playing with a defensemen who excels in his own zone.

It is sometimes easy to forget just how young Skjei is given that he’s been on the scene since 2015-16, but the blueliner is still very much in the infancy of his career and having a veteran alongside him could maybe help him bridge the gap between being a top-four defenseman and a true superstar in the NHL.

With around $20 million in cap space with which to play with this offseason, would it be wise to spend a chunk of that on a stay-at-home defenseman in order to help Skjei truly elevate his game?