The New York Rangers are playing in the Eastern Conference Final after winning the Presidents’ Trophy this season. They have gotten excellent goaltending from Igor Shesterkin and have been outstanding on special teams but they have struggled at even strength and have gotten little production from their defensemen. They were shutout 3-0 by the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on May 22 and went long stretches without scoring chances. To win this series, they will need to get more offense from their defensemen.
Lack of Scoring From Defensemen This Postseason
In 2021-22, Adam Fox was dominant in the postseason and he was one of the driving forces behind the Rangers’ unexpected run to the Eastern Conference Final. He had five goals and 18 assists in 20 games. In Game 4 of the team’s first-round matchup this postseason, Washington Capitals’ defenseman Nick Jensen kneed him. He has not missed any games since then but he is not moving very well and has labored in races for the puck. He also has struggled to create space to get shots through from the point, especially on the power play. He has no goals and four assists thus far in 11 playoff games.
No Rangers defenseman has more than four points this postseason. K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider are both excellent skaters and have looked to skate the puck up the ice more often in the last few games and Schneider hit the post on a breakaway in the first period of their 3-0 loss in Game 1. They have played well defensively for the most part but have combined for just one goal and three assists in the postseason.
Related: Rangers’ K’Andre Miller Becoming a Force on Defense
When Fox missed time early in the regular season, veteran blueliner Erik Gustafsson stepped up and finished with six goals and 25 assists in 76 games. He is not great defensively and while he takes some risks, he has yet to break out in the postseason and has no goals and three assists in 11 games.
Defensive defenseman Jacob Trouba is tied for the team lead with four points, including a shorthanded goal against the Hurricanes in Game 5 of the second round. Ryan Lindgren is also known for his defensive play and he has just one point this postseason but it was a beautiful assist to set up Kreider’s game-winning goal in Game 6 of that series.
Zac Jones
Late in the regular season, both Trouba and Lindgren missed a few weeks injured and Zac Jones played very well filling in for them. He is a skilled offensive defenseman who produced while playing for the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) but he struggled defensively in the NHL. This season he took a big step forward and made some excellent defensive plays while rarely making mistakes.
Jones finished with two goals and seven assists in 31 games in the regular season. He did a nice job given that he rarely got ice time on the power play and averaged just 14:38 per game. His strong play late in the season made him a candidate to stay in the lineup in the postseason but head coach Peter Laviolette opted to go with Gustafsson instead.
Playing Jones comes with some risk as he has never played in the postseason and he last played more than six weeks ago on April 7. However, with the team looking for offense from their defensemen, he could provide a boost. He can start the rush with clean passes and he is also a good skater. In the offensive zone, he has the shiftiness to create space for himself that should allow him to get shots on goal from the point. The Rangers were held to just 23 shots in Game 1 against the Panthers.
For the Rangers Moving Forward
There is no perfect solution for the Rangers when it comes to generating offense from their defensemen. One of the keys is getting Fox going on the power play even if he is not 100 percent healthy right now. Additionally, strong skaters Miller and Schneider will have to look to get more involved in joining the rush. On the third defense pair, the Rangers need to get more from Gustafsson who has just seven shots on goal in 11 games. Jones is certainly a candidate to replace him in the lineup for Game 2.
The Rangers must find a way to get more offense from their defensemen to beat a really tough Panthers team.
