The New York Rangers made a lot of changes to their blue line this season as they traded away Ryan Lindgren and acquired blueliners Will Borgen, Urho Vaakanainen, Calvin de Haan, and Carson Soucy. They also acquired prospect Jackson Dorrington and signed him to an entry-level contract. While Borgen has done a nice job on the team’s second defense pair, they still need to find the right defense partner for Adam Fox, and that should be a priority for them in the offseason.
The Rangers’ Situation on Defense
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy last season, the Rangers did not make the playoffs this season in large part due to their poor defensive play. General manager Chris Drury made a lot of trades including moving on from Fox’s long-time defense partner Lindgren, who struggled the last two seasons while playing head coach Peter Laviolette’s man-to-man defensive system.
Drury also traded away the Rangers’ former captain Jacob Trouba, who played alongside K’Andre Miller on the second defense pair, and replaced him with Borgen. He then signed Borgen to a five-year, $20.5 million contract extension. Miller struggled and made a lot of mistakes early in the season, but showed improvement with his new defense partner.
Braden Schneider was a bright spot for the Rangers on defense as he did a nice job defensively while also chipping in offensively. He is out with an upper-body injury but set career-highs in goals with six, assists with 15, and time on ice per game at 17:52 in 80 games. He spent the majority of the season paired with Vaakanainen, and they did fairly well together.
Both Vaakanainen and Soucy got the chance to spend time playing with Fox, but they both made some mistakes, and neither looked like a reliable top-pair defenseman. Blueliners Zac Jones and de Haan frequently ended up being healthy scratches.
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The Rangers signed Vaakanainen to a two-year, $3.1 million extension, and Soucy is signed through next season with a $3.25 million cap hit. Miller and Jones are set to become restricted free agents, while de Haan is set to become an unrestricted free agent.
Fox’s 2024-25 season
Last season, Fox played at an elite level and finished with 17 goals, 56 assists, and was plus-21 in 72 games. He has not played as well this season, but he has still put up impressive numbers as he has 10 goals, 51 assists, and is plus-8 in 73 games.
The decrease in production is partly because the Rangers’ power play, which was one of the best in the NHL last season, has been ineffective this season, especially during the last few months. Fox has not gotten as many shots through from the point, Mika Zibanejad has missed the net on a lot of his slap shots, and Chris Kreider has fewer goals scored on deflections.
Fox has consistently generated offense at even strength, but only had one goal in his first 40 games. At times he missed the net or passed up good shooting opportunities. His playmaking is elite, and he makes smart plays with and without the puck.
Fox has also played well defensively, relying on his intelligence, positioning, and active stick to make plays in the defensive zone. However, it has been difficult for him to form chemistry with his defense partners. He has spent time playing with Lindgren, Miller, Soucy, Vaakanainen, and now rookie Matthew Robertson, who made his NHL debut in a 5-3 victory over the Florida Panthers on April 14.
For the Rangers Moving Forward
While Fox is capable of playing better, he has still performed very well this season, especially given that he has played with so many different defense partners. The Rangers locked up star goalie Igor Shesterkin with an eight-year extension, but they need to figure out what to do on defense and find the right partner for their star defenseman.
Ideally, the Rangers will find a lefty who skates well and can be trusted as a shutdown defenseman. Ironically, Ryan McDonagh would be an excellent fit, but they traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2017-18 season. At 35 years old, he has four goals, 27 assists, and has the best plus/minus in the NHL at plus-44.
The Rangers need to put their best players in positions to succeed, and that means finding a strong, reliable defense partner for Fox this offseason.
