Correct me if you heard this before. The Rangers offense has been fortuitous, their defense atrocious, and their goaltending impeccable. I would say you can probably use this sentence to describe the Rangers for most of last spring, if not for the past decade plus. Time is a flat circle, especially for these Rangers defense issues.
I want to believe that the Rangers are as good as their record, but I can’t at this point. What I’m seeing from this team are the same issues that have plagued the club for far too long. On the surface, they seem fine. They’re 4th in the conference in points and 4th in goal differential. In an alternate universe, that should have fans high fiving each other in the corridors of MSG. However, once you peel back the layers, you’ll see this team can’t beat anyone with a solid forecheck or mobile defense.
To date, Rangers fans are predictably pointing the finger at Ryan Lindgren and Jacob Trouba, while seemingly ignoring more systemic issues. For some reason, elements of this fanbase just can’t seem to appreciate or even be able to evaluate stay-at-home defensemen.
If you’re in that camp, consider this. While Lindgren and Trouba have a 46% CF% (shot attempts), they’re both at 52% on high danger chances, despite being last on the team in offensive zone starts (both sub 40%). In the case of Trouba, he also leads the defense in ice-time vs. opposition’s top 6 forwards (36% of TOI).
Meanwhile, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck are pretty much getting a pass. They’re sub 45% on high danger chances and are being deployed in the offensive zone 60%+ of the time. This certainly contributes to the Rangers defense issues. Mika Zibanejad is a major concern as well.
With that said, I don’t want to make this about stats, production, or even usage. Neither are what’s really concerning to me. What is concerning goes beyond the box score, and that’s our team defense and how five guys respond when they don’t have the puck.
Rangers defense issues #1: Man marking
In this clip above against Winnipeg, you’ll see issue #1, which is man marking. The Rangers play man-on-man when the puck is on the half wall. Here you’ll notice that Mika has man marked no one. He’s just swirling around the top of the zone waiting for a breakout pass, which won’t come since we don’t have the puck. This is a theme for the forwards that contributes to the Rangers defense issues.
Same Rangers defense issues, different clip. Here against Washington, Mika’s man is #17 (Dylan Strome). Strome has the puck on his backhand and has the time to turnaround and make play to #21. Mika could have switched with K’Andre Miller and taken #21, but instead picked up no one.
Issue #2: Gap reads
The second consistent issue I see is gap reads. If you’ve been following hockey long enough, you’ve probably heard TV analysts mention gap control, which usually applies to how defensemen defend the space between oncoming attackers. However, it’s often overlooked when describing the play of forwards, which is a large contributor to the Rangers defense issues.
In today’s day and age, forward defensive play is vital to success and all modern systems depend on it. However, the Rangers top 6 has issues with gap play and it’s apparent in almost every game. The defensemen get the blame, but again the Rangers defense issues involve the forwards more often than not.
Much of the focus of this goal was Mika’s whiff on the puck, which no doubt initiated the play. However, Trocheck also should have turned and backchecked once the puck was turned over, but instead he backed off a hit and got caught in no-man’s land. Lafrenier also could have made a hit here, but instead he took a swipe at the puck and missed.
Different game, same issue. Trocheck is initially backchecking the puck carrier and backs off. Panarin could have choked the play out on the boards with a timely hit or poke check, but his gap wasn’t tight to the puck carrier and then just puck watches in the neutral zone. This allows multiple passes to be made on the entry and an easy goal off the rush.
Same game. Same Rangers defense issues. Poor gaps and back pressure lead to a 3-on-2 rush that ends up in the back of the net.
Issue #3: Coaching adjustments
I like Peter Laviolette. Generally, I think he makes the right tweaks as far as who is coming in and out of the lineup, formations, etc. However, tactically there needs to an adjustment in player responsibilities. We can’t have two top lines with offense-only players. Every single Stanley Cup champion over the past 20 years has had a two-way center in their top 6 playing 50/50 offensive zone starts.
If you want to shed the Bread-Vinny-Laf line of defensive responsibility, then by all means, don’t start them in the defensive zone and get them away from shut down lines at home. However, Mika isn’t that 2-way guy either. At this stage of his career, he’s Rick Nash, a perimeter player you leverage for special teams and let him feast on bottom 6 forwards.
Once Chytil comes back, he has to be the #1 center. He’s the only true two-way center on this roster and needs to be out there getting Mika’s 5-on-5 minutes. Right now, Laviolette can’t deploy these players like it’s 2021. He has to shuffle responsibilities based on the skills of our players today, not what they did in previous seasons. Dave mentioned putting Mika at 3C recently and I completely agree with him.
This isn’t meant to absolve the defensemen from poor play. Miller has had an incredibly inconsistent season thus far. Braden Schneider’s rotating cast of d-partners isn’t doing him any favors either.
However, the blueline as a whole has also been put in bad spots every game by a complete lack of defensive responsibilities from the top 6 forwards. This has to get corrected soon through some combination of tactics and trades or, forget Cup aspirations, this team might not make it out of the first round.
More About:Analysis Hockey Tactics
Read This Next
