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Fans of the New York Rangers are
spoiled by knowing what it is like to have a number one shutdown defenseman in
Marc Staal. Staal has long been the best
defenseman on the team, but this season he raised his game another level
garnering his first All-Star selection.
Last summer Staal was rewarded for his past played with an eye to his
future results when he received a five-year $19.875 million dollar contract. At the time of the deal there were those who
wondered if given his lack of offensive numbers the Rangers had overpaid Staal.
This season should have erased those
questions from anyone who asked them.
With each passing season Staal proves he is amongst the best shutdown
defenders in the league while slowly adding to his offensive game along with
taking on more leadership in the room.
To have him locked up for four more seasons at less than $4 million per
season against the cap is a coup for the organization as he heads into his
prime years.
Each night Staal, along with his
partner Dan Girardi, takes on the very best that the opposing team has to bring
to the table. The job the pair does
against the league’s best often seems to spoil Rangers’ fans on the rare night
where Staal has an off game as fans seem to forget just how good he is. Maybe it is the lack of flash to Staal’s game
that causes many to underappreciate the way he shuts down the league’s elite on
a nightly basis. If there is anything to
criticize in his game it would be that he has nights where he doesn’t take the
body like he is capable of doing and how he can get overaggressive on the
inside move and be beaten wide on the rush.
Those things are clearly nitpicking as Staal does have ferocious hits at
times and uses his long reach and excellent positioning to be the player that
he is over the course of the season.
In 77 games, Staal had seven goals
and 22 assists for a career high 29 point season. Staal’s offensive improvement
was aided by increased chances on the power play where he had four goals and
seven assists after having zero goals only one power play assist in his first
three seasons combined. Staal continued
to cement himself as a workhorse averaging a career high 25:44 of ice time per
game this season to lead the Rangers. It
was the fourth consecutive season that he has increased his ice time and at
times, especially late in the season, it seemed to take a toll on him this
year. Hopefully with a more consistent
and trusted third defensive pair next season the Rangers can back down Staal’s
minutes to some extent and keep him fresher every night.
What
you had to like most about Staal’s 2010-11 season was not that he continued to
do the things that made him so good in the past, but that he continues to add
elements to his game. He had significantly
more confidence this season in rushing the puck up the ice and joining the rush
which helps to create offense for himself and space for his teammates. Along with that and the afore mentioned
contributions on special teams, Staal took on a significantly larger leadership
role when he assumed the “A” for the first time this season. He is another of the even-keeled leader on
the team and at the heart of the core this team is being built upon.
Aside
from Henrik Lundqvist there is no more valuable player to the New York Rangers
than Marc Staal. A number one defender
is not an easy thing to find in this league.
The Rangers are blessed to have one as young as Staal with so many years
left in his career and it would behoove those who seek to criticize Staal to
remember that fact.
Final Grade: A
