As the early portion of free agency comes to an end, the New York Rangers appear poised to run it back with the core, minus Barclay Goodrow. Additionally, general manager and president Chris Drury decided to pull the trigger on a Reilly Smith deal, which will hopefully end the revolving door of right-wingers that have been featured next to Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider in the past few years.
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They are likely a better team because of it, but one area in particular that hasn’t changed much is the defensive group. Since the Rangers returned to the playoffs in 2022, five players — Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller, and Braden Schneider — have remained in the rotation. After the Florida Panthers forwards’ forecheck imposed their will on the Rangers’ defensemen in the Eastern Conference Final, the blue line feels as if it’s gotten stale.
Drury perhaps felt the same way and wanted to move on from Trouba – but nothing ever materialized by July 1 – making it increasingly difficult to trade the captain before the 2024-2025 season begins. If the same defensive group as last season is returning, changes to the combinations must be made to give the group a new look and become a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
More Zac Jones And Miller
The two most common pairings the Rangers have deployed in the past three seasons were Fox-Lindgren and Miller-Trouba. Last season, Lindgren struggled immensely. While playing the sixth-most minutes amongst Rangers players in 2023-2024, the Minnesota native posted an expected goals-for (xGF) rate of 45.02 percent, which was the worst among defensemen on the team that appeared in at least 60 games, according to Natural Stat Trick.
That isn’t to say the Rangers should trade the restricted free agent (RFA) yet, but maybe it’s time to split him up from Fox. No other defensive pairing in the NHL has spent the most minutes together in the past three seasons, so it’s time to explore a change. perhaps Miller should take over the spot as he certainly has the skating ability to play a bigger role. In just under 11 minutes together last season, Fox and Miller rocked an xGF share of 71.71 percent. The potential is there.
It’s also time to give Zac Jones, who will presumably replace the loss of Erik Gustafsson, a look not only in the lineup, but in the top four. Last season, when injuries happened, the 2019 third-round pick proved he belonged as a regular. Head coach Peter Laviolette just couldn’t find a spot for him when everyone got healthy for the playoffs. But now, nobody is ahead of Jones on the depth chart, and should secure himself a spot.
Jones plays a unique style compared to most other Rangers defensemen: He can move the puck seamlessly up the ice and is their best offensive defenseman not named Fox. Could he get a look inside the top four next to Trouba or Schneider? The move could be a bold one and his skill set could change the dynamic on the blue line.
Less Trouba and Lindgren
Going forward, it might make sense to rely less on Trouba and Lindgren. Perhaps the Rangers could find a spot for the latter of the two on the second or third pair. According to Rangers reporter Vince Mercogliano of USA TODAY Network, the team, and Lindgren could be working on a deal that gets the RFA signed to a contract worth an average annual value of around $4 million.
Regulating him to a third-pairing role at that number might be a little pricey – but it’s not nearly as big of an issue as Trouba’s $8 million average annual value. That is way too high for a player that’s who might only be the team’s fifth or sixth-best defenseman. Schneider found success playing in the top four while Trouba struggled in the postseason, making the captain expendable.
But the Rangers need to lessen the burden on at least one of Lindgren and Trouba going into next season. New-look defensive pairings will be refreshing and force teams to adjust. It’s been the same story for the past three seasons and you can’t just keep running out the same combinations and hoping for different results in the postseason.
Laviolette will have all training camp to find something new that works. Time and patience should be used to give combinations a new chance. Even with all the offseason madness that surrounded the departure of Goodrow and rumors of Trouba, there’s no reason why the Rangers shouldn’t finish inside the top three of the Metropolitan Division again. Laviolette should take a chance early in the season and see if increased roles given out to Jones, Miller, or Schneider could be game-changers and help the team navigate heavy forecheck pressure in the postseason.
The Rangers will need an answer by the 2025 Trade deadline. While it’s still early, some might expect Drury to make a move for some type of defenseman after making the deal for Smith that will hopefully solve their first-line right-wing vacancy. Plus, assuming the Rangers get both Lindgren and Schneider under contract, they will just have six defensemen on the roster. They will need to sign a seventh unless they promote someone from within their minor league system.
If Jones or Schneider can’t prove they can be part of the solution inside the top four by the trade deadline, Drury will need to use his first-round pick to make a big splash. Sometimes change is a good thing and the Rangers must embrace it. The time is now to map out a new defensive look and get over the Eastern Conference Final hump.
Here’s what the Rangers defensive pairings should look like to start next season:
- Miller-Fox
- Jones-Trouba
- Lindgren-Schneider
