Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller, New York Rangers (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)
For years now, one of the main issues that has plagued the New York Rangers has been their poor play in the defensive zone. No matter who the coach has been or the players that have been deployed, the defense has never gotten better over these past few years, and that was the case once again last season. It was one of the main reasons why the team struggled so much, and if it wasn’t for Igor Shesterkin bailing them out time and again, the season could have gone much worse than it did. Now, changes have been made to this defensive core that remained intact for many years, but these changes still aren’t good enough, and the Rangers’ defense could once again be a key issue for them next season.
Changing a Group That Proved They Couldn’t Get the Job Done
Since the 2020-21 COVID-shortened season, there were four mainstays on the Rangers’ defense. Those players were Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, and K’Andre Miller. The following season, Braden Schneider made his NHL debut and never looked back, and these five players made up the core of the defense that tried and failed to get the job done in the playoffs for three straight seasons. There have been plenty of names that have come and gone through those years that played the role of sixth defenseman, but these five seemed like they could be the foundation of the defense for years to come, but their poor play overall when the games mattered most proved that they were not good enough and changes had to be made. Starting last season, due to the teams’ overall poor performance, changes were made, and this defensive group that once seemed like they could be the future was broken up rather quickly.
Of the seven defensemen who were on the opening night roster last season, five of them are no longer on the team. It started with Trouba last December, with his trade to the Anaheim Ducks. Rookie defenseman Victor Mancini, who played in 15 games for the Rangers and started with the team due to an injury to Lindgren, was traded as part of the J.T. Miller trade at the end of January. Lindgren was traded ahead of the trade deadline to the Colorado Avalanche, and Zac Jones, who played in parts of five seasons with the Rangers, was recently not given a qualifying offer and left as an unrestricted free agent, and signed a deal with the Buffalo Sabres. The last player moved was Miller, who was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in a trade we will get more into later. This means the only two players left are Fox and Schneider. The Rangers will have a whole new look defensive group going into next season.
The K’Andre Miller Trade was the Right Move to Make
There were rumors all offseason that the Rangers were looking to move Miller, and there were a number of reasons why this was the case. The first was that he was a restricted free agent, and general manager Chris Drury was not comfortable giving him a long-term deal or even a short-term deal that would walk him right to unrestricted free agency in two years. He was not comfortable giving him the long-term deal because Miller had not developed into the player many hoped he would be. He was still making costly mistakes that a player six years into his career should not be making, so given these reasons, it was best for both parties to move on, and that is exactly what happened on July 1.
Miller was traded to the Hurricanes as part of a sign-and-trade. The Rangers signed Miller to an eight-year deal worth $7.5 million per season and moved him to Carolina in exchange for Scott Morrow, a 2026 first-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick. This return was better than many expected the Rangers to get, but there were rumors that the Hurricanes were going to send Miller an offer sheet, but wanted to try and make a deal with the Rangers first. They paid a high price, both in the trade and for Miller’s contract, but they hope it’s a deal that works out for them going forward. For the Rangers, it was the right deal to make, and while you don’t usually want to trade these players to a division rival, the package they got in return for a player they didn’t want anymore is good enough that you can stomach trading this player. While it sucks Miller never turned into the player they thought he could, it was time to move on.
Replacing Miller With Vladislav Gavrikov Isn’t Enough
With the Miller trade, the Rangers had a hole to fill on the left side of their defense, and their answer to this was signing Vladislav Gavrikov to a seven-year deal worth $7 million per season when free agency opened. Seeing what other players were signing for, it seems as if Drury got Gavrikov to take a discount to play in New York, and it seems he was willing to do so. He is a much more polished player than Miller at this point, and his play defensively is up there with some of the top defensemen in the NHL. While he won’t provide much offense, he won’t need to when he is paired with Fox, who reads the game better than anyone and is looking to have a bounce-back season offensively. While adding Gavrikov was great, the depth on the Rangers’ blue line leaves much to be desired, and that is where the issues will be going into next season if nothing changes.
The players that are likely to fill out the rest of the defense are Schneider, Will Borgen, Carson Soucy, and Scott Morrow, who they got in the Miller trade. It seems as if they are going to move Schneider to the left side, even though he is a right-handed defenseman, to have him play with Borgen and then have Soucy and Morrow be the third pair. Soucy didn’t look great in his short time with the team last season, and having a player who makes $3 million and who Drury traded a third-round pick for, playing on the third pair isn’t the best look. And, while Schneider looked decent playing on the left side last season in the few games that he did, it’s not his natural side, and you can’t expect him to just start playing well on his offside. Drury made his bed with these players to start next season, but at least on paper, it’s not looking very promising.
While it is still early in the offseason and everything could change with one trade or free agent signing, it’s safe to assume that these are the players that will start on defense for the Rangers next season. Outside of Fox and Gavrikov, there are a lot more questions than answers in regards to how they will play under new head coach, Mike Sullivan. If no other moves are made, the Rangers’ defense is once again going to be a major area of concern, and if it doesn’t go well, next season could look just as bad as last season did.
