At the beginning of the season Mike Sullivan had an interesting quote about Braden Schneider and where he ranked in the pecking order of defenders on the team, and it is hard not to think about that quote in the context of how the team has handled Adam Fox's absence. Sullivan said, "If we were to rank our defenseman top to bottom, we believe that Schneids is amongst the top four. But that doesn’t mean he has to play in the top four." The genesis of this quote was based on Schneider being penciled in on the right side of the third pair, and the need for clarification of his value to the team.
When Fox was placed on injured reserve, Schneider was given the opportunity to jump from the third pair to the top pair, which was a big a promotion, but not if you view it through the lens that the Rangers felt he was the fourth-best defender on the team. As the month of December is coming to a close, and Fox's return is getting closer, it has become more clear that Schneider isn't the defender the Rangers think he is, and that really limits his future with the organization.
This was supposed to be a different year for Schneider, instead it has been more of the same
It was revealed in April that Schneider underwent surgery to fix a torn labrum in his shoulder that had bothered him for the last two years. It was something he felt he could play through, but admitted it limited him from being as effective as possible. That context helped explain his underwhelming performance, as did his early struggles this year because he got such a late start after recovery. But as the season has gone on it has been more of the same for Schneider, something that's only been heightened with him being placed in the spotlight of the Rangers' top pair.
Schneider has logged 654 minutes at 5v5 for the Rangers and has a GF% of 45.13, a CF% of 45.97, and an xGF% of 46.58 per Evolving-Hockey. Among defenders who have played for the Rangers this season, Schneider ranks eighth, seventh, and seventh in the respective categories.
In the month of December he's posted a 37.49 GF%, a 45.69 CF%, and a 47.94 xGF% in 232 minutes, and he's averaging just under 24 minutes a night. To be fair, he was never going to be Adam Fox. But with that said, a few years ago the Rangers had a situation like this occur, and Erik Gustafsson stepped in and was quite exceptional in an increased role. That Schneider has looked more out of depth is what's concerning.
Additionally, while offense has never been his strong suit, this year his numbers have dropped in a big way. He's averaging .18 points per game which is down from the .26 he totaled last season which was a career-high and factored out to six goals, 15 assists, and 21 points in 80 games. Mind you, this came while Schneider was playing with a torn labrum, something that got so bad that he finally relented and got fixed when the Rangers missed the playoffs.
At the start of the season he was regarded as a top four defender, even though he was used on the bottom pair, and he's now had an extended chance to show what he can do with additional minutes and has failed to make the most of it.
Rangers should consider trading him at the trade deadline
Schneider is a restricted free agent this summer, and has a cap hit of $2.2 million per season. He turns 25 in September and is getting closer and closer to unrestricted free agency. He's someone that has unexpected trade value, and has drawn interest in the past from the Vancouver Canucks.
At 6'4" and 214 pounds he's fits the build of what most teams look for in a right-handed defender, but he hasn't been able to live up to the hype. With Fox and Will Borgen under contract for the next few seasons, Schneider's upward trajectory is blocked. If the Rangers are going to devote time to a defender on the third pair and get them additional minutes on special teams, they are better off focusing on Scott Morrow who was acquired in the K'Andre Miller trade. There's a chance that Morrow may not amount to anything, but Schneider's had more than enough time to prove himself, and it may be best to finally move on.