New York Rangers: Fox and Lindgren could make pantheon of pairings

Their Season

As already mentioned, Adam Fox slipped under the radar prior to the start of 2019-20, although the New York Rangers knew exactly the kind of talent they had on their hands.

However, even Head Coach David Quinn admitted in a recent Live Q&A hosted by the Rangers that Fox had far exceeded expectations in his rookie year.

After all, while Fox lived up to his reputation for being an offensive juggernaut that plays the game of hockey with real flair and a dollop of panache, the blueliner also played with a real maturity in his own zone too.

Ryan Lindgren, meanwhile, was expected to make the cut out of Training Camp but instead began the year in Hartford with the Wolf Pack after losing out to Libor Hajek in the battle for a roster spot.

Hajek was the polished high-end gem acquired as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Ryan McDonagh to the Tampa Bay Lightning, with many predicting a top-four role for Hajek.

However, Hajek’s game was plagued with inconsistency and the Rangers coaching staff, along with the front office, obviously felt that a prolonged period of time in the AHL would be far more beneficial for the 37th overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Therefore, Lindgren was presented with his big chance at the end of the October after being called up by the Blueshirts, and the tough-as-nails defenseman never looked back.

And, as they say, sometimes the best things in life can come when you least expect them and that’s exactly what happened to the Rangers.

Because, in a bid to shake up their defensive pairings, Coach Quinn threw Fox and Lindgren together and, just like that, a blockbuster partnership was formed.

They say opposites attract and that’s especially true with the Fox and Lindgren partnership, but that’s why it works so well.

Fox exudes smoothness, a high hockey IQ and just a boatload of swagger, while Lindgren is a human battering ram that snarls and eats pucks for breakfast.

Plus, the two were able to maximise each other’s strengths while also helping the other to work on their weaknesses.

For instance, Fox learnt first hand what it means to really battle in the corners and give it your all every single shift before applying it to his game, while Lindgren rectified the one major flaw that was really holding him back.

His mobility.

As a result, the two meshed perfectly and emerged as easily the most consistent and most effective pairing the Rangers had in 2019-20.

Lindgren’s mere presence and ability to patrol his own zone enabled Fox to put up some pretty impressive numbers for a rookie with eight goals and 34 assists for 42 points in 70 games, with a pretty remarkable CF% of 51.7 and plus/minus rating of +22 to boot.

Lindgren, on the other hand, wasn’t as productive with 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) in 60 games, but he still put up +16 while averaging 16:34 minutes of total ice time per game.

His role was also to be both protector and destroyer, sticking up for his teammates while obliterating opponents with 94 hits and blocking shots for fun, 74 to be precise.

Having an absolute punisher next to him no doubt made Fox’s transition to the majors a lot easier, while Lindgren evolved his game the longer the season went on as well as ensuring that he still played with a real chip on his shoulder.

Now, let’s delve a little bit deeper into just how well the Fox-Lindgren combination worked.

According to Naturalstattrick.com, Fox and Lindgren were on the ice together for 676:34 at even-strength five-on-five (80.9 percent of the time), allowing 318 shots and 25 goals against while being on the ice for 334 shots and 34 goals for.

Together they recorded a 51.23 SF% and a 57.63 GF%, keeping in mind that the pair were consistently matched up against top-six forwards.

So, both the hardcore stats and the eye test tells you just how great a pairing the Fox-Lindgren partnership is, but what can we expect going forward?