One year ago Ryan McDonagh was coming off his first training
camp with the New York Rangers having shown well in the preseason, but having been
sent down to get more experience with the then Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL). McDonagh struggled early on in the AHL, but
few would believe that with the way he has grown since joining the Rangers on
January 3, 2011. When McDonagh joined
the lineup the hope was that he could play solid on the third defensive pair
while gaining experience and eventually moving up the ranks. McDonagh quickly changed those calculations
with his seamless transition to the NHL that had him combine with Michael Sauer
to form a stellar second pair.
McDonagh was expected to continue in his role on the second
pairing with Sauer to give the Rangers, along with Marc Staal and Dan Girardi,
one of the best top four defensive groups in the league Last month, during
training camp, it was revealed that Marc Staal has been dealing with concussion
issues over the summer and ended up not being ready for the start of the
season. With Staal unavailable, McDonagh
was elevated to play with Dan Girardi against the best line that the opposition
has to offer. The loss of an All-Star player
like Staal from any lineup is a huge void to fill and there was considerable
fear amongst the fans that the void would be very evident against the excellent
top lines Los Angeles and Anaheim possess.
McDonagh eliminated those fears with his performance in the
two games in Sweden. He continued to show
tremendous poise and intelligence in all facets of the game while display his
tremendous skating and positioning skills to help limit the chances of the
opposition’s best players. By playing a
smart, simple game in his own zone McDonagh limits the chances of giving the opposition
unnecessary chances in front of his goaltender while helping to limit those the
other team would create on their own.
Offensively McDonagh is still a work in progress, but he is
gaining in confidence. The confidence
shows itself in him having less hesitation to shoot the puck or even join the
rush. Joining the rush got the Rangers
in trouble in the first game when he was called for a phantom penalty in the
offensive zone, but the aggressiveness is something the Rangers want to see more
of from him.
The loss of Staal was and will certainly be felt deeper in
the defense corps, but McDonagh is proving on a daily basis that he is ready to
take on the role of a first pair defender in this league. The scary part for the rest of the league is
that the chemistry with McDonagh and Girardi still developing, so their
effectiveness is only going to improve if they continue to play together. The growth of McDonagh in the past year is
something that has to be beyond what the Rangers could have hoped and if the
trajectory continues he could soon challenge a healthy Marc Staal for the best
defender on the team. A year ago that
was crazy talk, and maybe it still is, but McDonagh is making it seem plausible
down the road.
