There is no way to prepare for the absence of an All-Star
defender like Marc Staal from your lineup.
The combination of the level he plays at, the competition he shuts down
and the sheer number of minutes that he eats makes him one of the most valuable
New York Rangers. However, that is the
situation before the Rangers now and the question is not about if they have to
cope without him, but which set of pairings is the best way to do so?
The plan for now is to have Ryan McDonagh move up and play
with Dan Girardi on the first pair while Michael Del Zotto will partner with
Michael Sauer on the second pairing.
There is no question that McDonagh is capable of playing against the top
opposition around the league, but would the Rangers be better off leaving him
with his regular defense partner, Michael Sauer, and letting them become the de-facto
top pair?
Argument For Girardi With
McDonagh:
Dan Girardi has been playing excellent quality defense against
the top lines in the league for the past three seasons. That level of experience playing against the
best in the league is exactly what the team needs on the top defensive pairing
with Staal missing. Girardi can impart
what he knows to McDonagh and they would be ahead of where McDonagh-Sauer would
be in knowing how to best limit the league’s elite players/lines.
In terms of the team, there is no defender on the club,
including Staal, that epitomizes the character of the team like Girardi with
how he sacrifices his body on a nightly basis blocking shots. While Michael Sauer did an excellent job last
season of making himself into an integral part of the defense, he has not done
anything to warrant him moving ahead of Girardi on the depth chart. There is also the consideration that the
pairing of Girardi and Del Zotto had their struggles when together in parts of
each of the past two seasons
Argument For Sauer Remaining
With McDonagh:
Michael Sauer was the Rangers most consistent defender on a
nightly basis last season and showed that he can handle any and all situations against
every level of competition. Sauer did
not have significant time against top line competition, but he had some,
playing with Staal, during the brief absence of Girardi last season. Obviously he had some on the penalty kill and
during different shifts throughout games last season.
This is not an argument to say that Sauer is better than Dan
Girardi or anything of that ilk. Sauer
has less experience in the NHL in totality than Girardi does in taking shifts
as a top pair defender. The difference
for Sauer is the relationship he has with McDonagh on the ice. The two are one of those pairings that has
just clicked from the very beginning as they complement one another very
well. How quickly they developed the
understanding of what one another were going to do on the ice was one the most
impressive aspect of last season, so it seems strange to playing around with
it.
Leaving the continuity of a tremendous pairing that knows
exactly what one another are going to do on the ice is something that is
appealing, especially with the flux that is the rest of the defense corps right
now. The decision came down to the fact
that Tortorella is more comfortable with Girardi’s experience against top line
competition. There is no arguing against
that experience, but maybe that experience was better served building Del Zotto’s
confidence as he in thrown into playing against better competition than
expected while leaving McDonagh-Sauer together.
It is tough to argue against having McDonagh rise and Girardi stay where
he has earned his place in the lineup, but maybe a little continuity might not
have been so bad when the ability differential in Sauer and Girardi’s game is
so slim.
