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Grading the Rangers: Ryan McDonagh

August 1, 2016, 7:59 AM ET [189 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Blog parameters:

Each person covered will be given a rating. Factoring into that rating will of course be his performance but another input is going to be performance versus expectation coming into the season. Much of the background I likely covered in my tear down blogs, so don't expect massive chapter and verse but possibly some quick hitting information if not already covered in those blogs. In addition, to create some parameters, a player will have had to play 20 games to get a grade. Anything less means there isn't a representative sample for which to make a decision, so Brady Skjei and Marek Hrivik, to name two, will not get grades.

Here is where it gets really funky and interactive. I want you the reader to comment on the blog as to the rating. But not just hey I think you are right on or you are crazy but to provide your own rating and rationale for it. So if you agree with what I wrote, great, say that. But if the belief is the rating should be higher or lower, then you have to provide the rationale accordingly. Plus and minus grades are allowed to enable a broader opinion. Before the next blog, we will see if the blog comments consensus rating mirrors mine.

In addition, to shake it up, I will jump around a bit, so not all the players of the same rating are listed in a row, same with positions. So in the immortal words of Forrest Gump, you never know what you're going to get.

Covered in this blog: Ryan McDonagh

This is what I wrote on Part II of my Rangers tear down and post-mortem blogs.
Just like almost everywhere on this team, the defense could see an overhaul. Despite Larry Brooks column yesterday, I don't foresee Ryan McDonagh going anywhere. McD had an uneven year and it is possible that he has reached his peak performance. But if he can remain at his 2014-15 level or even what he showed when fully healthy this year, then his $4.7 million cap hit for three more years is an even greater bargain..


Overall Grade: C+ (Carp had a great breakdown of McDonagh, excerpts below).

McDonagh led the team in ice time, 22:21 per game and plus/minus, for whatever that’s worth. His 9-25-34 stat line was one goal and one point better than his ’14-15 totals, and five goals and nine points shy of his career bests in ’13-14.

At times he used those fabulous wheels. At times he wasn’t able to use his wheels because the Rangers didn’t have the puck, and with the way their defensemen and forwards played in their own end, and the way they failed to get out on the rush for much of the season, his wheels were rendered useless a lot of the time. The same could be said for the speed of the Rangers’ forwards.

Of course, it was affected by the injuries that have piled up, including the past shoulder injuries, the broken foot that robbed him of some training in the short summer last year, then the concussion and the immediately-following neck injury, and then the broken hand this season

McDonagh needs to use his speed and skill to be involved in the offense, indeed, but he also needs to use those tools and his hockey sense to defend better. The Rangers need to defend better


Lots of talk also centered around whether McDonagh was the right choice as captain and if his duties as captain adversely impacted his play. It sounds great in theory and may have a kernel or two of truth, but that's just an easy excuse. Comparisons were made to Brian Leetch, who struggled with the captaincy when he ascended to that role after Mark Messier left.

The difference here is that McDonagh wanted to and wants to be center. Leetch was more comfortable as a support player, enabling him to lead on the ice rather than off the ice. McDonagh's struggles were likely due to a myriad of other causes - injuries, attempting to do too much, some regression, a poor pair mate Etc - rather than attributable to the burden of captaincy. Plus, if you heard him after the season, he said all the right things about what needs to be changed and occur on 2016-17.

We also might have placed unreal expectations on McDonagh. After his 2013-14 captain, we viewed him as an elite, elite d-man whose growth would take him to the top of the league. Maybe, we were a bit too effusive in our praise and raised him to a level that was or is unattainable. I still believe he is a top pair and possibly upper shelf d-man, just falling short of that rare air at the top of the league.

I expect a rebound from McDonagh, health permitting, to close to what he provided in 2013-14. If that does happen, the Rangers should be in better hands on the blue line. But that also will depend on the pieces around him.

Players covered in prior blogs, My grade, Consensus Grade

Derek Stepan C+/B-
Eric Staal D/D
Antti Raanta B+/B+
Kevin Hayes D/D
Viktor Stalberg C+/B-
Chris Kreider C+/C
Mats Zuccarello B+/B+
Kevin Klein C+/C+
Tanner Glass C/D
Rick Nash C-/C
Assistant Coaches C/C
Dan Girardi D+/C or C-
Derick Brassard, B/ B+
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