As the march toward opening night continues for the New York Rangers, we have a pretty set look at what the opening night roster will look like. Like other seasons, there are a few spots up for grabs, but the majority of the roster has already been decided, barring any major trades. The Rangers forwards are improved, getting younger and more skilled, but there are too many question marks to be confident the group is good enough to make the playoffs. Grading the Rangers defense and goaltending has us far more optimistic than others, but as they say, they need to play the games.
Defense
Anyone who has watched a single Rangers game over the past decade or so has seen New York ice one of the worst defenses in the NHL. Defense has been a huge problem for the Rangers seemingly every year, with little to no effort to fix the issue. There have been bright spots, but never a truly cohesive unit that was a fit for the new NHL.
Chris Drury has earned the ire of Rangers fans for many legitimate reasons, with the defense long being one. Drury identified this as an issue in the offseason and made significant moves to address the bumbling blue line and bring them into the 21st century.
New York’s defense always starts with Adam Fox, one of the top defensemen in the entire NHL. As long as Fox remains his productive self, the Rangers have their anchor. Fox is accompanied by Vlad Gavrikov, who was excellent in his first season with the Rangers. There’s no reason to believe Gavirkov will be anything but that.
The key pairing is the completely transformed second defensive pairing. Sean Durzi, an excellent puck-possessing offensive defenseman who can hold his own in his own end and Marcus Pettersson, an excellent defensive-defenseman who can exit his own zone. This is a huge upgrade on last year’s starting second pair of Carson Soucy and Will Borgen, and a lot better than even some playoff teams are throwing out there.
Finally, rounding out the defense will be perennial trade candidate Braden Schneider in a much more appropriate, sheltered role, as well as most likely Matthew Robertson or top prospect Alberts Smits. The third pair is a bit of a wild card, especially since Smits can potentially even shift some players down in the lineup if he steps right in. That’s the best case scenario, as it’s far more likely Smits starts in Hartford.
Grading the Rangers defense is mostly contingent on how coach Mike Sullivan deploys the pairs. He’s good at getting more out of his defense than most, so let’s see how he does with an actual NHL caliber defense.
Grade: A
Goaltending
Igor Shesterkin is an all-world goalie and one of the best and most consistent goalies in the NHL. As long as he’s between the pipes, the Rangers are in every game.
After Shesterkin is where things get murky. If Dylan Garand is the backup, New York has at the very least a player with plenty of potential backing up Shesterkin. I’m higher on Garand than most.
However, if New York opts to play Joonas Korpisalo, they will have a struggling backup who is making far more than he should. Losing Garand to keep Korpisalo would be disastrous for the organization. It won’t happen, as most of us here think the Korpisalo acquisition was a cap dump to make the Borgen trade happen. It just happened over two trades instead of one.
Until the backup is confirmed, grading the Rangers goaltending is a bit of a crap shoot. If it’s Garand, then it’s far better. If it’s Korpisalo–and the Rangers lose Garand to waivers–then it’s a disaster.
Grade: B+
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