Rangers' defense picture gets murkier
NEW YORK - This is the state of the right side of the Rangers defense: They added over the summer a righty puck-mover in Adam Clendening, and a lefty defensive D-man who theoretically can play, and is comfortable playing, the right side in Nick Holden.
They also had incumbents Dan Girardi, a righty whose game had many questions, many of which still exist, coming off the worst season of his career in which injuries surely slowed him and decision-making created chaos in the defensive zone; and Kevin Klein, a solid second-pair righty whose game suffered when he was elevated to the first pair.
And they have Dylan McIlrath, a young righty – and you all know about his toughness, size and physical play – who improved dramatically last season and still could not get into the lineup unless there was an injury or two, even though Girardi and the ancient Dan Boyle badly needed nights off.
So now here are the Rangers (1-1) two games into the season, McIlrath having been through a difficult training camp and preseason and dropped down to No. 8 on the depth chart, and No. 5 on the right side, all of a sudden thrown into the lineup Monday against the Stanley Cup finalists, the 2-0 San Jose Sharks at the Garden.
Girardi (groin strain) and Klein (back strain) are both out, day-to-day the team says, so Holden was on the top pair with Ryan McDonagh, Clendening promoted to the second pair with Marc Staal, and McIlrath in the lineup on the right of rookie Brady Skjei.
Good luck, kid.
The more pressing issue than McIlrath playing despite coach Alain Vigneault’s preference is what do the Rangers do about this?
They need to find out, first and foremost, if Girardi – with a longer summer to recover and train after so many short summers following long spring playoff runs – can still play at a reasonable level. He was very solid in the opening win over the Islanders, but left the second game in St. Louis early.
But the Rangers also might need to go outside the organization to find a defenseman who can solidify their pairs, and more importantly another puck-mover to replace Keith Yandle, who signed with Florida this summer.
On the other hand, if they have three dependable right-handers, what happens with Holden and Skjei? They are third and fourth on the depth chart behind McDonagh and Staal on the left. So they won’t both be in the lineup if/when the Rangers have three legit right-handers.
The Rangers scouted the Islanders’ home opener against Anaheim, where left-handed defenseman Cam Fowler was playing for the Ducks – ironically a player who was available in the first round of the draft in which the Rangers chose McIlrath (Vladimir Tarasenko, who scored the first goal for St. Louis Saturday, and scored 40 last season, was also on the board).
There have been rumors and speculation about Winnipeg’s available Jacob Trouba, a righty who asked to be traded; and the Blues Kevin Shattenkirk of New Rochelle, a right-hander will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.
The Rangers have extra forwards, but they don’t have a lot of top-line talent – they are doing the offense-by-committee with three balanced lines. They would probably have to give up a Chris Kreider or a J.T. Miller to get a legit defenseman.
That’s a steep price no matter who comes back in the deal, and might spring a leak elsewhere on the roster to plug one hole.
NOTEBOOK: Raanta season debut, Buchnevich out, Nash moves up ...
Goalie Antti Raanta got his first start in goal as the plan to limit Henrik Lundqvist’s workload to 52-58 games began to take shape. Raanta’s first start last season was also against San Jose at the Garden, a shutout victory, the first of four in a row as a Ranger. Raanta won that game and each of his next three starts. … Rookie winger Pavel Buchnevich (back spasms) was scratched Monday, so center Josh Jooris, signed over the summer from Calgary, got his first start of the season. … Brandon Pirri slid from center to the wing on a line with Jooris and Michael Grabner, Rick Nash moved to Buchnevich’s spot on the line of Mika Zibanejad and Kreider, and Jesper Fast took Nash’s place on the right of Miller and Kevin Hayes.