The New York Rangers' back end has a fresh feel with two new defensemen. Urho Vaakanainen and Will Borgen have joined the team, and they're looking to make their impact known in the iconic Blueshirt despite only playing three games collectively. One of the looming questions regarding the Rangers blueline is who comes out when K'Andre Miller is healthy, or do the Blueshirts just keep the unit that beat the Dallas Stars together until they balk?
The win over Dallas saw Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Urho Vaakanainen, Chad Ruhwedel, Braden Schneider, and Will Borgen as the six-man unit that did the job unconvincingly. There was no Zac Jones, which was a significant concern as the Rangers looked for anything to get them back into the win column, and with Miller still on the injured reserve, how do the Rangers lineup when they have all eight of their defensemen available to them?
Without a doubt, Miller walks straight into the lineup, probably for Chad Ruhwedel. It leaves the question of whether the Rangers opt to leave Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen, or Zac Jones out of the lineup, and that's a difficult conversation. If the Rangers are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in as we get to March, all three could be traded, but trying to decide which two to play regularly will be difficult for Peter Laviolette.
Borgen is a bigger, physical defenseman who can move the puck but isn't the greatest. Vaakanainen is somewhat similar, though his draft position gives him more pedigree to his name than Borgen. Jones is the best of the three with the puck, and he's the youngest, but his struggles have coincided with the Rangers' shortcomings. He was one of the reasons for the early success in the absence of Lindgren and with Mliler having issues.
So, which one do you leave out? I think it should be Vaakanainen, but that's a decision that the Rangers will have to make. If Vaakanainen earns that place over Borgen or Jones, he should keep it. There's a lot of hockey left to play this season, and the Rangers are hunting for a playoff push. They can do that if they get back in the win column more consistently, but that's been an issue.