New York Rangers: Building a Stanley Cup quality defense
What can the New York Rangers learn from taking a close look at the two teams battling it out in the Stanley Cup Finals?
On thing that fans of the New York Rangers know is that the NHL is a copycat league. If one team finds some sort of formula for success, it inevitably leads to many other teams trying to follow that model. The New Jersey Devils and the god-forsaken neutral zone trap spawned enough of a cult following that it virtually ground the NHL to a halt for many years.
Fortunately for NHL fans, most scenarios surrounding the copy-cat nature of the league do not fall to that extreme, but it still exists. So what can the New York Rangers hope to emulate from watching the two teams that reached the highest level of success this year.
The weakest part of the Rangers game for the past few years has been on the defensive side of the ice. Whether it was the Alain Vigneault variation on the man to man or this year’s somewhat more structured approach, the real issue is the personnel the team puts on the ice. So which NHL finalist features a defensive unit that the Rangers could possibly emulate.
This year’s Stanley Cup final features two defensive corps that are almost the complete opposite of each other.
On one hand you have the Boston Bruins, anchored by the two very big and imposing giants, Zdeno Chara and Brandon Carlo. They are surrounded by quick offensive minded skilled players.
On the other hand you have the St. Louis Blues who just seemed to find the biggest men they could and put them on skates.
Bruins Height Weight
Zdeno Chara 6’9 250
Brandon Carlo 6’5 212
Charlie McEvoy 6’0 208
Connor Clifton 5’11 175
Tory Krug 5’9 186
Matt Grzelcyk 5’9 174
Blues Height Weight
Colton Parayko 6’6 230
Alex Pietrangelo 6’3 210
Robert Bortuzzo 6’4 216
Jay Bouwmeester 6’4 206
Joel Edmundson 6’4 215
Carl Gunnarsson 6’2 198
The Blues smallest D-man is Carl Gunnarsson at 6’2, the biggest is Colton Parayko at 6’6. None of the Blues D-men are as big as Chara but when you are rolling three defensive units that feature six men that are all essentially the same size….huge…it can wear the opposing team down. Not only that, but it can be extremely difficult to wear them down.
To emphasize the point even more, look at the teams the Blues had to play to get to the Cup Finals. Winnipeg, Dallas and San Jose are all big physical teams. Each of those series was big boy hockey each and every game. The Blue D came through all of those battles unscathed. They are a bunch of bruisers.
On the other hand, look at what happened to the smallest Bruins defender in game 2. Splat.
Oskar Sundqvist hits #Bruins' Matt Grzelcyk from behind late in the 1st and gets two minutes for boarding.
— Hockey Night in Canada (@hockeynight) May 30, 2019
Do you think 2 minutes was enough? 🤔 #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/byrlK1nv8n
Now, through four games of the Finals, it will be interesting to see which defensive unit holds up through a long series especially with Zdeno Chara apparently doubtful for game five with a possible broken jaw.
How about the Rangers?
So what can the Rangers build with what they have in the system. Here is a look at the current Rangers D and their top prospects.
Current Rangers Height Weight
Marc Staal 6’4 213
Brady Skjei 6’3 214
Brendan Smith 6’2 195
Kevin Shattenkirk 6’0 206
Neal Pionk 6’0 186
Fredrik Claesson 6’0 196
Anthony D’Angelo 5’11 180
Prospects Height Weight
Sean Day 6’3 240
Adam Fox 5’10 185
Libor Hajek 6’2 204
Ryan Lindgren 6’0 201
Nils Lundkvist 5’11 180
K’Andre Miller 6’4 207
Rob O’Gara 6’4 207
Yegor Rykov 6’2 205
While there is no giant in the ranks, there is certainly some size. As Marc Staal’s career winds down, K’Andre Miller should be gearing up and ready to take his place as the big guy on the defensive end. Hopefully Miller will bring just a tad more snarl to the role.
While it would be nice to have another big guy come along with Miller, it seems pretty clear that Rob O’Gara is not going to pan out for the Rangers but Sean Day still has a chance to turn things around. His size would be a nice addition.
Libor Hajek sure looked like he belonged during his short stint on Broadway this season so pencil him in for a spot. Rykov may need a year or two but for the sake of the argument let’s say he’s as advertised and pencil him in.
Adam Fox comes in as the runt in this litter but clearly the Rangers see the potential, let’s add him as well.
The 2021-22 defense
That leaves this as a potential defensive unit for the Rangers by the 2021-22 season, perhaps as early as 2020-21 if they aggressively move out the old guard and Miller leaves Wisconsin after next year.
Rangers Height Weight
K’Andre Miller 6’4 207
Brady Skjei 6’3 214
Libor Hajek 6’2 204
Yegor Rykov 6’2 205
Anthony D’Angelo 5’11 180
Adam Fox 5’10 185
Sean Day 6’3 240
Ryan Lindgren 6’0 201
It’s not quite the size of 2019 Blues, and it’s missing the really big guys on the Bruins, but it could emulate the offensive skills that the Bruins feature on the 2019 defensive unit.
If the Rangers do take a liking to how either the Blues or the Bruins defensive groups are built, perhaps you will see that reflected in this year’s draft. If they go for a big D-man with the 20th pick or one of the second rounders, they could be leaning more towards the St. Louis model. If they look to bolster the forward ranks, then it looks like they will build a defensive corps more in the mold of the Bruins.
Whichever way the Rangers go, it really all comes down to developing the young talent and letting them grow together as a unit. Building a combination of size skill that will be the envy of the rest of the league
More. Forget offer sheets, make trades. light
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