I’d love to say I planned to write up Ryan Lindgren’s report card when we are 55 days away from hockey, but this is pure coincidence. But I’m running with it. Lindgren is as close to the heart and soul of this team as you can get, especially when you look at how the Rangers have historically performed without him in the lineup. Lindgren doesn’t score much, but that doesn’t take away from his clear value to the Rangers.
Since overall defense is tough to quantify, and even harder to truly see with the naked eye, we rely on what metrics we have available. For example, the Rangers record without him may simply have been due to the lack of depth at the position, especially when Ben Harpur was the 6D for so long last season. Replacing Lindgren with Harpur or, even worse, Libor Hajek is tough for any team.
It should come as no surprise that Lindgren is fantastic defensively. There really isn’t much else to say. It also shouldn’t surprise anyone that he is mostly one-dimensional, with minimal offense to his game. He is a 15-20 point defenseman who plays stellar defense. This is where I deviate from many who use these stats, as I am perfectly fine with Lindgren’s one-dimensional play. It’s a dimension this team needs, but at the right price.
The concern with Lindgren is his injury history. He had a lengthy –and poorly managed by the team– injury that cost him most of the final month of last season. There are rumblings this is what led to Jim Ramsay’s dismissal, but they are rumblings and nothing is concrete. His 2021-2022 season was his best, playing 78 games. He hasn’t played more than 63 games in any other season, and that was last year.
Lindgren is just steady, and steady is good. He’s not going to wow you, and as long as he stays healthy, the Rangers are significantly better with him in the lineup. We can talk all we want about his next contract, but that’s for another day.
Grade: A
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