Revamped Rangers blue line could be start of something new

Just four defense pairs in the NHL have been on the ice for at least 3,600 minutes at five-on-five over the past four seasons beginning in 2020-21, and two of them belong to the Rangers, who have been a study in stability on the back end. 

Pretty much from the moment K’Andre Miller left Wisconsin to turn pro in 2020-21 under then-head coach David Quinn, the top four has been inviolate except to accommodate injuries. Miller has skated on the left with Jacob Trouba while Adam Fox has been on the right with Ryan Lindgren. They have been the equivalent of 1A/1B matchup pairs. 

The Miller-Trouba tandem was on for 3,914:19 over the past four seasons while the Lindgren-Fox duo was on for 3,603:10. Carolina’s Brady Skjei-Brett Pesce pair led the league in five-on-five minutes the past four seasons at 3,976:13 while the Kings’ Drew Doughty-Mikey Andersson tandem ranked third at 3,865:35, per Natural Stat Trick. 

But partially because of the preseason upper-body injury sustained by Lindgren in the second exhibition game that landed No. 55 on IR and partially because head coach Peter Laviolette wanted to see a different look, the Blueshirts went with three essentially new combinations in their 6-0 rout at Pittsburgh in Wednesday’s opener. 

The first pair featured Miller on the left with Fox in which the club’s two most mobile and offensively gifted defensemen were united. There has been talk about this look for a couple of years, and before Wednesday the young defensemen had been on for 337:34 at five-on-five the previous four seasons. 

Almost incredibly though, Wednesday represented just the sixth game in which Nos. 79 and 23 started as a pair — and just the second since the final four contests of the 56-game, 2020-21 season. Not once in 2021-22, not once last year. The last time Miller and Fox had formed a tandem came in the 13th game of the 2022-23 season against Detroit at the Garden on Nov. 6 when Lindgren was sidelined. 

The second pair in Pittsburgh featured Trouba on the right side but with righty Braden Schneider moving to his off-side for the first time in a 207-game NHL career that began midway through 2021-22. The move surely was prompted by the head coach wanting his four top defensemen to comprise the top-four but the ascension of rookie righty — or righty rookie? — Victor Mancini was also a significant factor in the decision. 

The 21-year-old entered rookie camp with a sum of 17 pro hockey games on his résumé, seven in the regular season and 10 in the playoffs last season after leaving Nebraska-Omaha. He made an immediate impression that stuck. He and Zac Jones comprised the third pair in the opener, with Mancini having earned the Broadway Hat off a rambunctious, effective NHL debut in 17:27 of work. 

Indeed, the remade defense limited the Penguins to precious few scoring opportunities following the opening 10 minutes in which Igor Shesterkin provided several key saves. As such, the Blueshirts stuck with the same alignment for Saturday’s home opener against the Utah Yoots née Arizona Coyotes née Phoenix Coyotes née Winnipeg Jets. 

“We’re looking at certain players and trying to come up with the answers to that and Ryan’s absence for a period of time,” Laviolette said following Friday’s practice. “I thought we played pretty well. I said after the game that Shesty had to make probably a half-dozen really big saves through the first 12 or 13 minutes, but after that I thought we were pretty good defensively at closing things down. 

“I thought the pairs got better as the game went on, and I thought the forwards were able to read off the defensemen so [new pairs] didn’t seem to be a factor.” 

Lindgren continues to skate with the team, albeit wearing a non-contact jersey and a full visor. The hierarchy will face a roster decision when No. 55 is cleared to play ahead of the coaching staff’s lineup decisions. The Blueshirts have the Red Wings at home on Monday before a three-game trip to Detroit, Toronto and Montreal. 

The club is currently carrying seven defensemen with Chad Ruhwedel as the spare. Obtained at the deadline from the Penguins before re-upping for one-year, $775,000, Ruhwedel has played five games wearing the Blueshirt. He would require waivers to be sent to AHL Hartford. That seems a minimal risk. 

Mancini does not require waivers. If the physically inclined 6-foot-3, 215-pound lad encounters hiccups over the short run, he could theoretically return to the Wolf Pack, where he would command major minutes. 

But if Mancini remains on course and the defense remains healthy, the Blueshirts could waive Ruhwedel. And if Schneider is comfortable and effective on his off side, Lindgren could slide in on Mancini’s left on the third pair, thus bumping Zac Jones to the stands. 

This could be the start of something new.