McDonagh's Rising Offensive Confidence Raises Ceiling For Defenders Potential

The evolution of Ryan McDonagh continues and with each passing game the 22-year-old defender takes his game to another level for the New York Rangers.  Last week I took a look at how far McDonagh has come since last year at this time and that he has developed into a top caliber defender that has made the loss of Marc Staal significantly less noticeable than many would have expected.  Last night was another example of how McDonagh not only is taking on the challenge of filling the huge void Marc Staal’s absence leaves on the blue line defensively, but his offense is evolving.  When discussing his offense last week I wrote:

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 confidence was on full display in the third period against the Canucks as McDonagh pinched deep finding himself open in the slot to take the Brandon Dubinsky feed and beat Roberto Luongo for the Rangers second goal.  Scoring the goal on emboldened McDonagh to be more aggressive on the offensive end and he showed that he can combine his tremendous skating ability with skill and instincts as he danced around would be defenders and then made a perfect pass to Marian Gaborik for a tap-in goal late in the final period.

When healthy, the New York Rangers possess arguably the best top four on defense in the NHL as each of Staal, Girardi, McDonagh and Sauer can play against top lines and be a shutdown defender.  The problem with that grouping is that none of them have truly been able to be a consistent threat on the other end of the ice, but McDonagh has those type of skills if he remains confident in his game.  The Rangers are certainly hoping that Michael Del Zotto and Tim Erixon can use their noted offensive skills to provide that threat from the blue line and combine with the shutdown defenders to make a formidable defensive corps.  

There has always been hope that Staal would take another step offensively and he has shown those flashes, but of the top four from last season it might be McDonagh who is best equipped to become the complete package as a two-way defender.  McDonagh was originally seen as an offensively skilled defender when he was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens 12th overall in 2007, but his focus shifted to defense first during his time at Wisconsin.  Now that he has established he is more than capable of being an excellent defensive defender at the NHL level, and the confidence that comes with that, McDonagh can allow his natural talents to display themselves offensively.

There are few who doubt that McDonagh is going to be a stalwart in the NHL for a long time regardless of whether the offense ever fully develops, but with each step forward his offense takes, the ceiling for him grows exponentially.  Aside from the stellar start of Henrik Lundqvist and possibly the play of Dan Girardi, the elevation and maturation of Ryan McDonagh to start his second season has been the biggest positive of this young season for the New York Rangers.

McDonagh Has Grown Into Top Caliber Defender For Rangers

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.  

Would Leaving McDonagh-Sauer Together Be Better Move For Rangers Defense?

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.

Could McDonagh, Sauer Regress In Second Season With Rangers?

The New York Rangers have an impressive group of young and talented defenders on the NHL roster.  The group has the potential, if each plays at their peak, to be the best defense corps in the league.  Marc Staal and Dan Girardi are the constants, and the Rangers will need them to maintain their elite level as a top pair to go far this season.  However, as important as Staal and Girardi are to the team, the emergence of Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh last season was critical to the Rangers success.  There is no question as to whether Staal and Girardi can bring their level again this season, but should there be more questions about Sauer and McDonagh slipping in their level?

Neither Sauer nor McDonagh were expected to play the roles they did last season.  Sauer was a fringe bet to even make the roster heading into training camp while McDonagh was seen as a top prospect, but certainly not expected play 20 minutes a game and be as composed as he was game after game.  Now the expectations for each has risen considerably as they are considered locks to be the second defensive pair on the club this season and play huge minutes.  The fact that they are more defensive minded should limit the potential for a slip in their game, but it is interesting to see that there is little to no concern over whether the two of them will regress this season.

For Sauer the concern is more with his prior injury history than his ability to play at the NHL level.  Sauer always had the game made for this level, but could not seem to stay healthy long enough to get a legit shot with the Rangers.   The 76 games he played last season were his most as a professional, so there is some concern there, but the other side of that is he went into the offseason healthy and training for next year instead of rehabbing an injury.

With McDonagh the most interesting part of his first professional season was the differential in the two adjustments he had to make to the AHL and NHL competition.  When starting out with the Connecticut Whale McDonagh struggled early, but then found his stride before his January call-up.  With the Rangers he seemingly took one game to shake off the rookie nerves and never looked back from there.  The concern with McDonagh is that the staff is going to push him to get more of the offense he is capable of, as they have with Marc Staal, and could lead to some early season struggles, but do not expect him to lose confidence and have a sophomore season like Del Zotto did last season.

I do not expect either of these two to regress from last year, and the lack of concern over their regression is a testimony to how well they played last year and the faith it created for them with the fan base.

Video: Stepan, McDonagh Talk Transition From College To NHL, Which Rangers Helped Most

 In the second installment of the Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonaghs interview with Blueshirts United they discuss the transition from playing at Wisconsin to being a professional in the NHL along with which Rangers veterans had the biggest influence on them during their rookie year.

Video via Blueshirts United:

Rangers Player Review: Ryan McDonagh

The New York Rangers movement to incorporate more youth in their lineup has been a combination of better drafting and key trades for prospects that have developed into NHL caliber players.  One of those trades was made on June 30, 2009 when as part of the deal that sent Scott Gomez to Montreal, Glen Sather was able to bring Ryan McDonagh to the organization.  After going back and forth on the issue, McDonagh eventually decided last summer to leave Wisconsin after his Junior season and turn professional.

McDonagh came to camp and appeared to be NHL ready, but the team sent him down to begin the year in Hartford.  There were multiple reasons for the decision by the organization to send down the now 22-year-old defender.  In Hartford he was going to get more playing time than he would have to start the season in New York.  Also, with the possibility of losing Michael Sauer to waivers and wanting to keep Steve Eminger on the team, McDonagh not be subject to waivers made the move to send him down the easy one.

After struggling early with the transition to the AHL, McDonagh found his game and was eventually called up the Rangers on January 3, 2011.  Initially the promotion was just a corresponding roster move with the team sending Michael Del Zotto down to work on his game.  However, shortly after he was brought up Michal Rozsival would be taken out of the lineup due to injury.  

McDonagh would struggle some in his debut against Dallas, but the very next night against St. Louis he showed that he was ready for this level.  The improvement from his debut and capability that McDonagh showed in that second game was enough for management to feel comfortable trading away Michal Rozsival just a few days later.  The move was a big vote of confidence for McDonagh and the rest of the young defense.  He would repay that confidence in full over the course of his 40 game rookie season.

Pairing with Michael Sauer for the second half of the season, the rookies gave the Rangers a second set of shutdown defenders.  With each passing game the confidence level grew in the young defenseman and so did the accolades from all around the league at the steady defense he was putting on display.  The easiest aspect of his game to praise is his tremendous skating ability, but it was his poise and intelligence that stood out just as much.  It was rare to catch McDonagh out of position and his willingness to make the simple play was something that all young players could use more of.  Physicality is also part of his game whether just in the normal course of checking the opponent or in clearing the opposition out from the crease in front of Henrik Lundqvist.   That attention to detail on the defensive side of the ice is why McDonagh was able to accumulate a plus-16 rating in his 40 games.

Offensively, McDonagh is still a work in progress as he scored only one goal while adding eight assists for the Rangers.  For those who focus on the point totals, McDonagh is not going to be a flashy player or even a big point producer, but he will use his intelligence, physicality and skating ability to shut down the opposition.  As the season progressed and his comfort and confidence grew you saw a little more offensive play from McDonagh and the hope is that will continue to develop as he grows in the NHL.

If the salary cap relief in dealing Scott Gomez alone was not enough of a win for the New York Rangers and their fans, the 2010-11 season showed how big a coup the deal was as Ryan McDonagh was introduced to the NHL and showed that he is likely to be a stalwart for the next decade on the New York blue line.

Grade: A-

Rangers In Need of A Blueline Shakeup?

The idea of mixing up players is nothing new for the New York Rangers as with every struggling period of offense coach John Tortorella gives the line lottery wheel another spin to see what combination of players it kicks out.  On the flip side of that, there is little to no consideration of changing things up when it comes to the defensive pairings, at least not when it comes to the top pair of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi.  Maybe it is time for that to change.  I have thought about and even suggested this for some time and now I think the time has come to put real consideration into splitting up Staal and Girardi.  I know it is crazy to think about doing this down the home stretch of a playoff chase, but hear me out first and see if it sounds a little less insane by the time I am done.