New York Rangers Report Card: Fredrik Claesson

When the New York Rangers signed Fredrik Claesson last summer, no one knew what to expect. What they got was a a solid defenseman who spent more time watching games than playing.

Fredrik Claesson – Grade C

Every day we will be bringing you a report card on a different New York Rangers player, from A to Z (Andersson to Zibanejad) with a little bonus thrown in at the end (traded players). Today’s report card is for Fredrik Claesson, a curious  off-season acquisition.

His season

Fredrik Claesson had a strange season in a year when the team had a glut of defensemen.  He had two stints on injured reserve and when healthy, was often scratched.  in fact, by the end of the season, he was only in the lineup when forced to play due to injuries.

When he was signed a one-year contract for $700k on the first day of free agency, it took everyone by surprise. It was seen as strictly a depth move, though some pointed to his time as Erik Karlsson‘s partner in Ottawa as a positive.

He made the team out of training camp and played in four of the first seven games.  He was playing well, averaging over 17 minutes a game when an upper body injury forced him out of the lineup.  He was sidelined for about three weeks and when he came back on November 10, he played 22 out of the next 28 games as a regular on defense. He spent the most time paired with Kevin Shattenkirk as the defensive defenseman, allowing Shattenkirk to focus on offense.

On January 12, he was the victim of a tough hit by Matt Martin of the Islanders, a hit that landed him on injured reserve for the second time with an injured shoulder.  He missed a month with that injury and once he returned, he was pretty far down on the depth chart and was a healthy scratch in 15 of the Rangers’ final 25 games.

Claesson ended up playing 37 games with two goals and four assists. He took only nine minutes in penalties and was a plus three on the season.  Claesson, Adam McQuaid and Tony DeAngelo were the only plus defensemen on the team who played at least ten games.

Why the grade

If Claesson had stayed healthy and played the way he did at the start of the season, he would have been a valuable member of the blueline corp.  While never expected to be an offensive force, he was a capable defenseman who allowed his more offensively-minded partners to take advantage.

Clearly, by the end of the season, he was the seventh defenseman and supplanted by Brendan Smith in the starting lineup.  If Libor Hajek hadn’t been injured, he might have ended up in Hartford.  While he never seemed to make any glaring mistakes, Coach David Quinn definitely made him a healthy scratch for a reason.

Claesson gets a C because he was an average defenseman on a team that was challenged defensively.  Some would argue that he didn’t get a fair chance, but the injuries really waylaid his season.

The numbers

Games: 37
Goals: 2
Assists:   4
Points:  6
PPG:  0.16
CF%:  47.8
+/-:  + 3
PIM:  9
ATOI:   17:15
Blocked Shots: 33

Next report card: Tony DeAngelo