Death. Taxes. The Rangers scratching Zac Jones. These seem to be the only three guarantees in life as a Rangers fan as we begin 2025.
Scratching Zac Jones has become a bit of a meme lately, along the lines of Tom Renney scratching Petr Prucha almost 20 years ago. At first, it was an understandable decision. The Rangers had just made trades for Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen, and Peter Laviolette wanted to see what he had in the newcomers. But scratching Zac Jones for those makes sense. Scratching him for, in particular, Ryan Lindgren, has been a fool’s errand.
If you’re sick of Lindgren being the whipping boy, I apologize in advance. This is not a personal vendetta, it’s just reading the writing on the wall. For starters, we all seem to agree that Lindgren will be traded at the deadline. It was up in the air at the start of the season, but with the Rangers in free fall it’s a guarantee. Chris Drury has been very non-committal on the defenseman, as evidenced by his one-year contract in the offseason.
Making matters worse is Lindgren’s play on the ice. He was never going to be a noted offensive contributor, but what made him a key piece with the Rangers in the Quinn/Gallant era was his ability to play solid defense while also executing a good first pass out of the zone. That first pass is non-existent, and has been since Peter Laviolette arrived. Lindgren simply doesn’t have the foot speed for the aggressive man/zone hybrid the Rangers play.
Scratching Zac Jones in favor of Lindgren is a joke at this point
Despite Lindgren’s clear struggles, there have been no changes to the Rangers blue line. It’s still Lindgren with Adam Fox on the top pair, something that clearly doesn’t suit either anymore. K’Andre Miller has had his struggles this season, but whenever he’s with Fox, the duo simply puts up numbers. They were by far the best defense pair the Rangers had, and in 259 minutes TOI, they are still above a 60% shot-share, expected-goals share, high-danger chance share, and most importantly, goals-share.
Moving Lindgren down in the lineup may help, but that won’t help the issue with scratching Zac Jones.
To be direct, Jones’ numbers are better than everyone’s except Fox’s at this point. Jones with Braden Schneider was a solid second pair, believe it or not. They were at a 49% xGF share and a 48% CF% share, which is fine. Their goals-share was at a whopping 64% though, which likely wouldn’t have continued given the xGF share, but is still far, far better than basically every other pair out there this season.
Scratching Zac Jones is insanity simply because of this. The numbers show he’s better than Lindgren, Miller (though I’d like to see more Miller-Fox to get him going again), Borgen, and Vaakanainen. It’s not even close. Jones has been arguably the Rangers third-best defenseman this season to Fox and Schneider. Yet he’s the 7th defenseman on the depth chart and is likely headed towards a trade.
Play. The. Kids.
Vaakanainen and Borgen are not the answers. They are pending UFAs who will likely be traded at the deadline. Jones can be a part of the Rangers future in the right role. We have enough evidence that he and Schneider should be paired together. If anything, it’s to see what that duo can do and if they can be a part of the next Rangers core.
The most vocal approvers of scratching Zac Jones seem to rely solely on size. Or in this case, height. Jones is listed at 5’11 and 190 lbs, per HockeyDB. For reference, Fox is listed at 5’11 and 180 lbs. No one questions Fox’s size though. Odd, isn’t it? Strength matters more than size. Jones has shown a willingness to get dirty in front of his own net, battling guys who have multiple inches and a couple dozen pounds on him. He’s willing to do the dirty work, unlike most of the team at the moment.
This is a lost season. Scratching Zac Jones in favor of any veteran–including Borgen and Vaakanainen–who isn’t a part of the future is just dumb at this point. It’s not like the veterans being played are helping.
Play the kids. Play Jones.
More About:Players
Read This Next
