The Rangers, who came in off of three road losses and facing the next two on the road, made the most of their return to MSG. Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello each had a goal and an assist while the Undertaker - aka Dylan McIlrath - scored his first of his career on a howitzer from the point. The win provided New York a much needed breath of fresh air, aided by the debut of Brady Skjei.
The kids will lead them was a big part of the story Tuesday. McIlrath, who many of us viewed as a draft day bust and waste of the 10th overall pick in 2010, has slowly found his game. The knee injury, which looked to have retarded his growth, might have been the best thing that happened to him as it enabled him to better learn the game and how/when to use his skills. McIlrath benefited from playing major minutes in the AHL playoffs, which is where we first saw major glimpses of why NY took him in the first round. Then, upon getting called up and finally paired with Keith Yandle, those skills and his game have taken a major step forward. McIlrath has credited Yandle with helping him tremendously on the ice during his stint here in NY. Last night was a great indication of how AV's and the coaching staff's confidence in McIlrath has grown, playing him 18:38 included 4:42 short handed.
Skjei, the team's first pick in 2012, made his NHL debut last night. That debut is just the next step in what many of us believe will be a very good career at this level. Skjei received the opportunity due to Dan Girardi getting scratched with a 'swollen knee.' Besides a whiff in the second period that resulted in Jordan Eberle's goal, Skjei had a solid game. What I liked is the AV gave Skjei a chance to make up for that turnover for which he was rewarded by a good third period in which Skjei played 2:23 short handed.
When Girardi and Kevin Klein (oblique) are ready to return, the Rangers will have a major logjam on defense. Skjei is likely to return to Hartford, but his play Tuesday is why NY should not rush back both G and Klein and have them sit Thursday in Minnesota and Friday in Winnipeg. That would give Skjei two more games to really get settled. When both d-men return, the rally hard part is what to do with McIlrath. AV will need to juggle the lineup and pairings. One thought, which we have made before, is to give Staal and Klein and Boyle days off to keep them fresh, enabling McIlrath to see semi-regular time at a minimum.
Long-term, the challenge of how to juggle all the defenseman gets harder. Dan Boyle, who has been the Rangers best defenseman lately, will likely retire at year-end, freeing up open spot. Yandle, the team's best offensive and puck-moving d-man, will be a UFA after the year. Re-signing him would be nice but his expected contract requests, both $ and years, along with the logjam probably makes retaining a long-shot. Kevin Klein has one more year left on the contract he signed with Nashville, so he could be the odd-man out especially when you factor in the next sentence, though his $2.9 million salary is fairly nice for a second-pair defenseman. With Girardi (2019-20) and Marc Staal (2020-21) each signed long-term with no movement clauses, moving either one via trade or buyout to free up a spot are right now unappealing options to New York. However, doing so might be in the team's best interest to make that needed space. If you had McDonagh, McIlrath and Skjei, then combine those three with two of Staal, G and Klein along with re-signing Yandle, the issues that have existed this year on the blue line might get remediated quickly.
One other item we have railed about is the team's history of dealing first round picks. The below from Elias Sports Bureau shows why those picks can be so valuable. "Five of the Rangers’ own first round draft picks (Marc Staal – 2005; Chris Kreider – 2009; Dylan McIlrath – 2010; J.T. Miller – 2011; Brady Skjei – 2012) played in tonight’s contest. According to the Elias, tonight’s contest was the first game in which five of the Blueshirts’ own first round draft picks all played since Nov. 21, 1998 (Brian Leetch, Dan Cloutier, Alexei Kovalev, Manny Malhotra, and Niklas Sundstrom). Also according to the Elias, the Rangers’ own first round selection in four consecutive drafts (Kreider, McIlrath, Miller, and Skjei) played in the same game for the first time since Apr. 5, 1978 (Dave Maloney – 1974, Wayne Dillon – 1975, Don Murdoch – 1976, Ron Duguay – 1977, and Lucien DeBlois – 1977)." Granted, the Rangers have done a decent job with late picks and used the first rounders to get Nash and Yandle, but at some point, you can't keep giving the future for now, even if those picks have brought in useful assets.