Latest news with #defensemen
New York Times
3 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Can Red Wings find missing piece on defense with pick No. 13 in NHL Draft?
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Since Steve Yzerman took over as general manager of the Red Wings back in 2019, Detroit hasn't been shy about stockpiling defensemen through the draft. Yzerman used his first pick as GM (No. 6 in 2019) to select Moritz Seider, who quickly became a foundational piece of the Red Wings' blue line. Two years later, he used the No. 6 pick in 2021 on Simon Edvinsson, who has joined Seider as a top-four staple for the long-term future. In 2023, Detroit grabbed slick Swede Axel Sandin-Pellikka, who projects to run the team's top power play in the future. Yzerman's Red Wings have also used a whopping six second-round picks on defensemen since 2019, including Albert Johansson, who turned himself into a nightly regular this past season. Advertisement It's been a lot of draft capital, and in a couple of years, it looks entirely possible that Detroit could have a true homegrown blue line to show for it. Detroit has a pair of true two-way pillars in Seider and Edvinsson. It likely has its power-play quarterback in Sandin-Pellikka. It also has the potential for depth, headlined by Johansson at the NHL level and with prospects Shai Buium, William Wallinder and Anton Johansson all candidates to become regulars someday. But even projecting down the line, there may still be a missing piece: one more true stopper who projects to play tough minutes in that top four — whether pairing with Seider or slotting in as a physical, defensive piece who enables Sandin-Pellikka to maximize his talents. And as the 2025 NHL Draft creeps ever closer, Detroit's 13th pick on June 27 may just present the opportunity to find that piece — if a few things break the right way. The draft's top prospect, lefty Matthew Schaefer, will be long gone by 13. The safe bet is that WHL righty Radim Mrtka, who measured in just under 6-foot-6 at the combine, will be gone too. After that, though, it's a little more open-ended. The best fit might be Kashawn Aitcheson, a lefty out of OHL Barrie who plays with a throwback level of snarl. Aitcheson measured in at 6-foot-1 1/2 at the combine, and while his thundering hits are certainly a hallmark of his game, he also has plenty of offense, scoring 26 goals this season while putting up nearly a point per game. Compilation of hits (and a couple fights) of dman Kashawn Aitcheson from the Barrie Colts during his #NHLDraft year. Kash is a missile and throws bone crushing hits, as seen in the clips. The physical aspect of his game makes him an extremely attractive prospect. #2025NHLDraft — Ryan McArthur (@ryanpmcarthur) May 22, 2025 Aitcheson told me he's still working on the balance of when to get aggressive and make those big hits (or jump into the rush), and when to hold off, which will be part of his maturation process, but the fact he's so capable of doing both is highly appealing. He also has an impressive feel for the moment — he had two goals (including the winner) and an assist in Barrie's Game 7 win over Kingston in this year's OHL playoffs and led all OHL defenseman with six winning goals in the regular season. Advertisement 'I think it's just the bigger the game, the bigger the moment, I think the bigger player I get,' Aitcheson told me in Buffalo. 'That's just kind of how it's always been.' Put all those elements together — the physicality, the offense, the feel for the moment and the solid size in a mobile defender — and it's easy to get excited. That said, while Aitcheson plays like the kind of player the Red Wings have coveted, it was interesting to learn he hadn't met with Detroit when we spoke midweek in Buffalo and wasn't scheduled to. That doesn't mean everything, but there are also two potential destinations for him right in front of Detroit's spot, with Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers picking 11 and 12. That makes his path to Detroit look a bit less likely. Another strong candidate would be WHL lefty Jackson Smith, who certainly fits the long, rangy profile Detroit has targeted in its defensemen. Smith measured in at 6-foot-4, 199 pounds and looks every bit of it. He's also a good skater, has offense in his game and is easy to see becoming a two-way blueliner with serious impact on the transition game. One thing I find interesting about Smith after speaking with his coaches in Tri-City is that he's been used differently for Team Canada than he has with his junior club. Coming up, he was an offensive-minded player, and accordingly, he's played more of an offensive role for his WHL team — where his 54 points in 68 games were more than double Tri-City's next-highest-scoring defender. But the national team leaned on him to use his tools more as a defensive stopper. 'I can kind of just switch my mindset to 'just got to shut down these guys,'' Smith said. 'Like, don't worry about the other side of the puck, just shut them down.' That mindset shift entails being 'a pest in the D-zone, making simple plays, just keeping it simple, not trying to do too much,' he said, and right now, he does take some risks that his future NHL team will want to iron out as he develops. Advertisement Smith also acknowledged the physical side of the game can come and go for him, and feels it's something he needs to bring back to his game more in WHL play. 'But then when I go to Team Canada events I do again, so I think it's just a bit more of a mentality for me, where you need to keep on being physical.' But while he's still on the raw side, the tools are there if he's able to roll it into one complete package: The offense that can come from his skill and skating and the physical tools to shut down transition offense. If he can do that, and add in more of the physical dimension, the recipe for a two-way, top-four defender is there. He also has valuable versatility in being able to play both sides of the ice, growing up playing the right side and doing so again at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup and at the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge. 'I can play either side, I'm very comfortable with both,' Smith said. 'Gotten a little bit more comfortable on the left side these past two years, but you throw me on the right side, I'll do the same thing.' As with Aitcheson, there's a chance Smith could get scooped up just before Detroit goes on the clock. Big, toolsy defenseman tend to go early in drafts, and both qualify. But if that happens — which would likely mean four defensemen going in the top 12 — that's the path for a top winger prospect such as Victor Eklund to still be on the board for the Red Wings at 13. Detroit certainly could use another scoring winger in its system, and there are a handful they met with at the combine who could fit. If they end up really wanting a 'D,' though, there are a few more names to know. Kitchener LHD Cam Reid isn't as big as the defensemen Detroit usually targets high in the draft — and the Red Wings were one of two teams he didn't interview with in Buffalo — but he's an excellent skater who competes and plays a smart game. It's not too hard to imagine him still finding a way to eat minutes in the NHL, even as a smaller player. Advertisement 'It's no secret, I'm not the tallest guy on the ice, but that doesn't mean I can't have an impact like I'm tall out there,' Reid said. 'I just kind of think of it (as) just get in the face of guys, and just try to be a guy that's hard to play against. That's all I really care about.' There are also a couple of bigger bodies in righties Logan Hensler (NCAA Wisconsin) and Blake Fiddler (WHL Edmonton), though the value gets more debatable the further you go down the list. The importance of a strong, well-rounded blue line is hammered home every time you watch a Stanley Cup playoff game. It's hard to win at any meaningful level without one. But if Aitcheson and Smith end up going just before Detroit picks, the Red Wings may have to weigh that against their need for more offensive pop in their forward pipeline. (Photo of Moritz Seider and Brogan Rafferty: Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)
New York Times
01-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Why Jackson Smith's 2-way upside makes him an exciting 2025 NHL Draft prospect
The trend among NHL defense corps in the Stanley Cup playoffs has been impossible to ignore. Whether it's Florida with Gustav Forsling, Aaron Ekblad and Seth Jones, Dallas with Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Esa Lindell or Edmonton with Darnell Nurse, Evan Bouchard and Brett Kulak, teams are going on deep runs with blue lines largely made up of big, mobile defensemen who can put those tools to use. And that's just this year. Vegas, Tampa Bay and St. Louis all built their blue lines in much the same way in recent years en route to winning the Cup. Advertisement And when something works in the playoffs, those trends tend to translate to draft day. That's true at the very top of this year's forward-heavy draft class, with OHL Erie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, and it'll be true throughout the lottery, too. The big names on defense after Schaefer are Radim Mrtka (WHL Seattle) and Kashawn Aitcheson (OHL Barrie). But right there with them could be WHL Tri-City's Jackson Smith. He has the frame at 6 feet 3 inches, the fluid skating, and increasingly, the two-way potential to potentially go in that same lottery range, where some team will surely be hoping he can be part of their future postseason blue line. He even poses some intriguing similarities to one of those aforementioned playoff defensemen: Harley. 'Actually he was a guy that we kind of mentioned to (Smith) this year,' former Tri-City coach Stu Barnes said. 'You try to, with these young guys, give them maybe somebody that they can look to at the next level and see what could be, and I think Thomas Harley's a great comparison.' Of course, Barnes — a former Dallas Star himself — knows that's a lofty comparison. Harley has become something of a darling in the wake of his success at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and after eating massive minutes with Heiskanen out injured. He scored the Game 6 overtime winner that sent Dallas to the conference final. Smith is a long way off from being able to do any of that. But in terms of the profile, it's easy to see some rhyme with the 2019 No. 18 pick. Smith came into Tri-City two years ago as 'a real good offensive player already, just by pure natural skill,' Barnes said. Certainly, those talents are reflected in his 11 goals and 54 points in 68 games this season. But over the course of two seasons with the Americans, Smith has grown his defensive game more and more, using that reach and mobility — and at times, physicality — to look the part of a legitimate two-way defenseman. Jackson Smith rush defence reel from Game 1 of the CHL USA Prospects Challenge. Led the game in rush stops with perfectly timed pokes as opponents entered his range, big hits, and a tight gap — all as a left-shot playing on the right. — Mitchell Brown (@MitchLBrown) November 27, 2024 'You always come into the league as a 16-year-old and you want to prove yourself, you want to prove what type of player you are, and you're energetic and you're go-go-go-go-go,' said Tri-City assistant coach Jody Hull, who works with the team's defensemen. 'And he did that. But I think this year, his overall game just matured. Like he just wasn't relied on offensively to create stuff, he was also very sound defensively, and that was proven because he was pretty much (playing) against the other teams' top players most nights.' Advertisement Certainly, you expect that to come with time and feedback via video, but both Barnes and Hull independently took it a step further than just calling Smith coachable. They also feel he's a good self-evaluator. Like many young defensemen with natural offensive games, and the physical tools to get away with the temptations they bring, Smith has an occasional tendency to skate himself into trouble. Sometimes, it leads to a turnover. And when that happens, Hull said Smith will come right to the bench and say I know. 'He can own up to his things, and as a coach, that's important for a player's development,' Hull said. 'And I think when he's done that a few times this year, his next few shifts are just like, 'Boom.' Like, wow, this is what you can be all the time.' The turnovers themselves represent one of the questions in Smith's game, with those mental lapses always a bit of a risk. As much as teams value the traits of a big defenseman who can transport the puck, making good decisions is paramount if you're actually going to succeed in the NHL. But as much as any coach wants to avoid turnovers, Hull also realizes that Smith's natural gifts — and the instinct to use them — are what can make him so exciting. He doesn't want to take them away. And for good reason. Sticking with the Harley comparison for a moment, it's worth noting that in Corey Pronman's 2019 scouting report of the then-Mississauga defenseman, he wrote: 'Harley makes a lot of plays but tends to get too cute and make costly turnovers.' It's not a unique issue for a defenseman with natural talent to struggle with. And not all of them pan out like Harley, of course. That's part of what makes that self-awareness piece key, because if Smith can be the one to recognize his mistakes, and then diagnose where he went wrong, then perhaps he has a better chance to find that elusive balance between risk and reward as he grows. Advertisement 'It's just, as a coach, having trust that you know you can put him back out there,' Hull said. 'Because it probably never happens twice in a row in a game. … Might happen four games from now again, but it's not happening that game, or in that situation.' There's also another trend that Barnes and Hull have noticed from Smith over the last two years, particularly when the young defender departs for events with Team Canada. With Tri-City, he's relied upon a lot for offense — his 54 points were more than twice as many as the team's next-highest scoring defenseman. But when he's with the national team, they feel his game takes on a different character. 'His role there has been more shutdown, PK, get the job done in the final couple minutes if we're defending the lead,' Hull said. 'And I think that proved to him that he's capable of doing those things. And that's going to be a big part of his game for him moving forward, without taking any of his offensive abilities away from him.' 'He gets put in these situations where he's surrounded or playing against really high-end players,' Barnes added. 'He seems to really be able to raise his game and be successful on both sides of the puck.' That, certainly, is part of the vision NHL teams will be dreaming on when they consider Smith for this draft. A big defenseman who can produce offense is nice, and Smith has the ability to be that. But when that 6-foot-3 blueliner can also use those feet to shut down transition the other way, and then start the break back north, it becomes an especially appealing package. 'The way he defends is with his stick, and then once he has the puck it's with his feet,' Hull said. 'He can get your team out of trouble pretty quick with the puck on his stick. Whether it's a pass, or whether it's him just carrying it himself out of the zone.' That in itself is a valuable tool for a defenseman: being able to skate the puck into the neutral zone and then make a clean first pass to get the offensive process started. Advertisement 'And then again, he's got a good shot, he's deceptive, he's able to change angles on the shot in the offensive zone,' Barnes said.' He's patient with the puck. He doesn't panic a lot with pucks when he is on offense. It's going to be interesting to see how he relays it, but I think some of those attributes are going to make it pretty exciting.' Add that up, and it's not hard to see why Smith is among the top defense prospects in the class. He fits the physical profile teams have seen win at the hardest time of year. He's shown an ability to both defend and create offense. He's still early in the process, of course. But the potential is there for it all to come together into a complete package. 'Honestly, in two years from now, when he's more of a man, I don't even know what his ceiling is going to be,' Hull said. 'I really don't.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NHL free agency — Top defensemen available in 2025, including Aaron Ekblad
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing, and NHL free agency is now less than two months away. Though there's not nearly as many high-end unrestricted free agent defensemen this year compared to last summer, there's still plenty of notable players looking to cash in July 1. And the competition to sign the top options will be fierce, since defensemen are always in high demand. Advertisement Whether it's a rebuilding franchise looking for a jumpstart, or a contender looking to get over the hump, teams will come calling for this batch of free agents. Let's take a look at the top 10 free agent defenseman in 2025. Related: NHL free agency — Top forwards available in 2025, including Mitch Marner 1. Aaron Ekblad Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Aaron Ekblad comes with some baggage after he was suspended 20 games this season for violating the NHL policy on performance enhancing drugs. But he's a 29-year-old right-shot defenseman with one Stanley Cup ring — and perhaps on his way to a second this spring. He's going to get paid. He's solid at both ends of the ice, has bite to his game and is a leader. Pretty much the whole package, no? 2. Vladislav Gavrikov Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Vladislav Gavrikov had perfect timing by putting together his best NHL season in a contract year. After spending three plus seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets, he became a key component to the Los Angeles Kings defense corps, and just had 30 points in 82 games with a plus-26 rating. He also chewed up big minutes on the top pair, averaging 23:05 of ice time per game. He'd be a perfect top-4 defenseman to bolster anyone's blue line at age 29. 3. Ivan Provorov Credit: Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images Ivan Provorov is another solid option, who can play in pretty anyone's top-four. He spent seven seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers before moving on to the Blue Jackets, where he just recorded 33 points in 82 games with a plus-11 rating as a solid top-pair two-way defender. He also eats big minutes, averaging 23:21 for the Blue Jackets this season, and has averaged up to 25 minutes a night previously. He hasn't missed a game in three seasons and is only 28 years old. Advertisement NHL Games Today: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Schedule, Dates, Times, and Results 4. Dmitry Orlov Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Another rock-solid defenseman, Dmitry Orlov is a player that many teams would love to add to their blue line, even though he'll be 34 next season. The 2018 Stanley Cup champion remains a solid shut-down defenseman who slots in on the second pair, and had 28 points this season Can Carolina afford to lose him, especially since his contract should come in under his current $7.75 million AAV because of his age? 5. Tony DeAngelo Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Tony DeAngelo resurrected his NHL career with the New York Islanders after a strong half season in the KHL. Due to injuries on their blue line, the Islanders played DeAngelo 23 minutes a night, and he handled the workload well, though he's more of a second- or third-pair guy on a really good team. DeAngelo had 19 points in 35 games and remains a solid puck mover and offensive threat. He's had issues with teammates in the past, but at 29, the hope is that he's more mature these days. Advertisement Also Read:: 2025 NHL Mock Draft 1.0: Who do Islanders take with No. 1 pick? 6. Matt Grzelcyk Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images Matt Grzelcyk will be an intriguing option this summer if he hits the open market. While never much of a point scorer, the 31-year-old just set a career-high with 40 points in 82 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. It's also the first time he's suited up in all 82 games of a season. The Penguins are in a gray area after letting coach Mike Sullivan go and missing the playoffs for the third straight season, so it's hard to say what direction they'll go with Grzelyck. He's an affordable, reliable veteran and shouldn't have trouble landing a job. 7. Dante Fabbro Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Dante Fabbro had a terrific bounce-back season with the Columbus Blue Jackets after struggling for several seasons with the Nashville Predators. Just 26 years old, Fabbro registered a career-high 26 points in 62 games this season and scored nine goals this season, three of which were game-winners, both career-highs. Fabbro is also a right-hand shot, always a plus on the open market. 8. Ryan Lindgren Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Ryan Lindgren was a mainstay on the New York Rangers blue line for seven seasons, most often playing top-pair minutes alongside Adam Fox. He gives up the body night in and night out, and is as physical as they come. Of course, that's a detriment, too, because he's prone to injury and could wear down sooner rather than later. That's why the Rangers moved on from the heart-and-soul veteran and traded him to the Colorado Avalanche ahead of the deadline. Still, he's going to be a solid second-pair d-man for whoever signs him this summer. 9. Nate Schmidt Credit: Rich Storry-Imagn Images Known to be a fantastic teammate and dependable two-way defenseman, Nate Schmidt has been a part of several great defense corps over his time in the NHL. He played a huge part in the Vegas Golden Knights improbable trip to the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, and now is making an impact with the Florida Panthers, scoring three goals in the opening round and helping Florida take care of the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. He's 33 and been on five teams, so there's a good chance teams won't break the bank with him. But he'd be a nice addition to fill out someone's blue line in a supporting role. 10. John Klingberg Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images This is about as high risk high reward as it gets, but John Klingberg is set to become a free agent after once again trying to find his way back in the NHL. The 32-year-old hasn't played more than 17 games since the 2022-23 season, when he played 50. That being said, we're talking about a player who once scored 67 points from the blue line. While not nearly that player anymore, the right-hand shot just may be worth taking a shot in the dark on, especially for a rebuilding team that needs to fill out their blue line.
New York Times
06-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Rangers report card: Grading every defenseman and goalie, from Adam Fox to Jonathan Quick
NEW YORK — The Rangers' group of defensemen changed drastically throughout the season. President and general manager Chris Drury shipped out captain Jacob Trouba and longtime Ranger Ryan Lindgren. In came Will Borgen, Carson Soucy and Urho Vaakanainen, all of whom could be in Mike Sullivan's opening-night lineup. Overall, the team's group of defensemen had a difficult 2024-25. With Sullivan coming in and ex-coach Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley both fired, all will have new sets of eyes on them entering 2025-26. Before we get going on grades, here's a reminder about the scale: It's all based on expectation. A B grade means something different for Adam Fox than it does for Urho Vaakanainen. A: The player was at a career-best level. B: The player had a good season based on their standards. C: The player had an acceptable season but perhaps left you wanting a little more. D: The player had a disappointing season. F: The player had a worst-case scenario season. This article also goes over the team's goalies from 2024-25. Defensemen had to play at least 30 games and finish the year with the franchise to qualify for grades. Goalies had to play a minimum of 20 games. Let's dig in. Defensemen Adam Fox: B- 74 games, 10 goals, 51 assists, 61 points, +9 Fox's numbers-counting stats took a downturn, as did those of many Rangers. The lackluster power play played a major role in that for Fox. He actually had more even-strength points this season (40) than in 2023-24 (38) despite having 12 fewer points overall. Obviously, Fox was part of the power play, and everyone on that unit deserves some blame, so that factors into his grade. But his five-on-five numbers were still strong, even though coach Peter Laviolette often paired him with Ryan Lindgren and Carson Soucy, both of whom struggled at points throughout the season. He led the team in Net Rating, according to colleague Dom Luszczyszyn's model, and in expected goal share, according to Natural Stat Trick. When Fox played on a pairing with K'Andre Miller, his numbers were excellent. The Rangers had 64.72 percent of the expected goal share in 314 minutes with that pair on the ice at five-on-five, according to Natural Stat Trick, which was the best mark of any pair in the NHL that played at least 200 minutes. New York also outscored opponents 19-12 when Fox and Miller were together. Sullivan will have to consider keeping them together more consistently next season, though he could face a similar dilemma as Laviolette did: Do they need to be split up to balance out the defensive pairs? K'Andre Miller: C- 74 games, 7 goals, 20 assists, 27 points, +0 The 25-year-old Miller had a rough start to the season, but his production picked up when the calendar flipped to 2025. He had five goals and 21 points in the last 44 games of the year. New York still had a sub-50-percent five-on-five expected goal share with Miller on the ice in those games, according to Natural Stat Trick, but he and Will Borgen often played against other teams' top players. Miller finished the year with the second-toughest quality of offensive competition, according to Hockey Stat Cards. Only Borgen had harder minutes. Miller's season is hard to grade because of what he's shown in the past. He had a 43-point season in 2022-23, and almost all that production came at even strength. If that's the standard, then this season is disappointing, but putting him in the D range felt too harsh based on how he finished the year and the quality of opponents he faced. He also played nearly 22 minutes a night, second only to Fox. Miller is a restricted free agent this summer. He's going to be an interesting case with the Rangers' limited salary-cap flexibility. For any developmental frustrations he's had, New York's defensive corps can't really afford to lose him. Braden Schneider: B- 80 games, 6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points, +9 Schneider, a 2020 first-round pick, has consistently played more and taken on more responsibility, such as penalty killing, each year he's been in the NHL. His ice time per game went up to 17:52 per game this season, nearly a two-minute increase from 2023-24, and he had a Net Rating in line with his $2.2 million cap hit, according to Luszczyszyn's Net Rating model. Still, his game has yet to take the dramatic jump the Rangers have hoped for. He still had some of the easiest five-on-five minutes on the team based on quality of offensive competition, according to Hockey Stat Cards, so Laviolette did not yet trust him in big defensive situations. Perhaps that will change under Sullivan. Schneider had surgery at the end of the season to repair a torn labrum. He first suffered the injury in the 2022-23 season and could play through it, but it's gotten worse over time. He felt it made him more hesitant to use his physicality in 2024-25. He should be ready for the 2025-26 season. Schneider is still only 23. Given his youth, a new coaching staff potentially giving him more opportunity and a clean bill of health, there's reason to believe his game can take a jump next season. Urho Vaakanainen: B 46 games, 2 goals, 13 assists, 15 points, +8 Vaakanainen, 26, came to the Rangers in the Jacob Trouba trade. He and Schneider played together much of the second half of the season. A Boston first-round pick in 2017, Vaakanainen looks capable of being a No. 6 or No. 7 defenseman on a good team. Drury saw enough to extend him for $1.55 million annually through 2026-27. Vaakanainen set a career high in points despite playing 17 fewer games than with the Ducks in 2023-24. His underlying numbers weren't special — New York had only 44.1 percent of the expected goal share with him on the ice at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick — but he gave the Rangers about what they could've hoped. Will Borgen: C+ 51 games, 4 goals, 9 assists, 13 points, +9 Drury bet big on Borgen, acquiring him in a package for 2019 No. 2 pick Kaapo Kakko and then extending him through 2029-30 at $4.1 million average annual value. Laviolette used Borgen with Miller frequently against tough competition. He played 18:18 a game after coming to the Rangers, more than 40 seconds higher than his previous career high in ice time per game (17:35 in 2023-24 with Seattle). Among defensemen who played at least 40 games for the Rangers in 2024-25, only Vaakanainen had a lower expected goals rate than Borgen (45.4 percent). Some of that is because Borgen was playing the most difficult minutes on the team, which boosts his grade. Overall, the start to his Rangers tenure went decently but wasn't quite enough to push him into the B range. Zac Jones: C 46 games, 1 goal, 10 assists, 11 points, +0 Coming in and out of the lineup did not do Jones any favors this season, so the coaching staff has to wear his grade as much as he does. His points-per-60 minutes rate went down from 2023-24, which isn't ideal given he was not playing against top competition on other teams. His expected goals rate was still solid compared to his teammates (47.79 percent, fifth on the team, per Natural Stat Trick), but his failure to become a lineup regular drops his grade to a C. If Laviolette's staff had stuck with him at points, maybe his grade — and outlook with the franchise going forward — would be different. He's now entering restricted free agency. Here are quick thoughts on the defensemen who played games for the Rangers this season but did not qualify for grades. Incomplete Carson Soucy: Acquired for a 2025 third-round pick at the deadline, Soucy is on the books for $3.25 million next season. His transition to New York wasn't seamless after a difficult start to the season with the Canucks: Laviolette scratched him three times, and Soucy averaged only 16:14 a night in 16 Rangers games. New York will need him to revert to his form from his last season in Seattle (2022-23) and first season in Vancouver (2023-24) for the trade to look worthwhile. Calvin de Haan: He played only three games and made his displeasure known, both with an exchange heading off the ice in April and in his end-of-season interview on breakup day. Chad Ruhwedel: The Rangers brought in Ruhwedel at the 2024 deadline for a 2027 fourth-round pick. The veteran has played only 10 games with New York since and spent almost all of this past season in Hartford. Connor Mackey: Mackey energized the Rangers with a fight in the 2023-24 season. He tried to do the same this season but did not get the same results. This season's fight came in the first game of a 1-7-0 stretch. Matthew Robertson: A 2019 second-round pick, Robertson had to wait a long time to make his NHL debut. He finally got in when Schneider opted for surgery late in the season and nearly scored on his first NHL shift. Traded Ryan Lindgren: Lindgren had an unceremonious end to a praiseworthy Rangers career. He went to Colorado to the deadline and finished his New York tenure with 387 games played, 12 goals and 87 assists, plus a whole lot of putting his body on the line. Jacob Trouba: Drury shopped the Rangers captain after the 2023-24 season and finally dealt him in December. Trouba mentioned it was hard for him to lead in the same way after how public his situation got over the summer. Victor Mancini: Mancini was one of the best stories in the fall as he burst onto the scene to make the Rangers out of training camp. He went to the Canucks in the J.T. Miller trade. Goalies Igor Shesterkin: B 61 games, 27-29-5, .905 save percentage When we submitted team MVP ballots, I put Shesterkin No. 1. The goalie's on-the-surface numbers were solid but not great, but that was mostly because of the Rangers' porous defense. He was sixth in the NHL with 28.59 goals saved above expected, according to Evoloving-Hockey. Clear Sight Analytics also viewed him favorably, though CEO (and former Rangers goalie) Steve Valiquette noted his metrics were substandard with the score tied this season. 'Overall he's been a Top 5 performer,' Valiquette tweeted in April. 'He just needs a Nintendo blow at score tied.' The pressure will go up on Shesterkin in 2025-26, when his salary cap hit goes from $5.66 million to $11.5 million. His pay will now match his importance to the team. Jonathan Quick: C 24 games, 11-7-2, .893 save percentage Quick's save percentage dropped from its .911 mark in 2023-24, but as with Shesterkin, the Rangers' defensive woes played into that. Unlike Shesterkin — whose GSAx went up, according to Evolving-Hockey — Quick's underlying numbers also took a hit. He saved 12.82 goals above expected in 2023-24. This season he saved 3.89 fewer than expected. Quick is 39 and his cap hit was only $1.275 million. His on-ice numbers were fine for a backup goalie, and he made the contract more than worthwhile with his off-ice leadership. Incomplete Louis Domingue: Now an unrestricted free agent, Domingue played only one NHL game with the Rangers in 2024-25, the same number as the year before. Assuming this is the end of his Rangers tenure, he finished it with a 2-0-0 record and .943 save percentage. (Top photo of Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
