76-8 — Brady Skjei – Kevin Klein
Lastly, we come to perhaps the most important decision, one that could make or break the season—the sixth and final defenseman.Rotating D-men in the playoffs is not a realistic, reasonable or reliable option. Although AV may look to plug in his last d-man based on team matchup, this game of musical chairs must end prior to mid-April. Currently, G is out “around two weeks,” and Kevin Klein must wait for back spasms to subside before re-entering the fray. The hope at this point has to be that someone will play their way into a spot and remain there, and with G off the ice at the moment, we’ll see whether Kleiner can harken back to his old, grizzly self.
The drop-off for No. 8 has been rather sharp and there are not a ton of clear answers as to why this has been the case. However, the team needs him to turn it around before AV is forced to field Adam Clendening or Girardi in a playoff battle.
Clendening is an OK piece, but not one I’d trust to play in crunch time of Game 7 on the road in Washington—especially not when a guy like Klein has already been in some of those deep playoff battles. Girardi has lost more than a step and although he really hasn’t been awful of late, an ok performance is the absolute best thing we can hope for. That won’t get it done either, and whoever plays in a spot with our stud rookie is going to have to eat up some valuable minutes. Brady Skjei has been very good all season long, and a hopefully stable partnership with an in-form Klein will give him breathing room to continue producing offensively. Skjei is currently ninth in the NHL in rookie scoring with his three goals and 28 assists, trailing only Zach Werenski of Columbus among first-year blue-liners. He was also arguably our best player in the forgettable first-round playoff exit against the Penguins, so a drop off in play due to fear or anxiety seems extremely unlikely.
Essentially, Kevin Klein could be the difference-maker in the equation. Whether we get the beast from seasons of old or the unsure veteran of this season so far could truly determine how far we’re able to go. But the Smith deal looks good early and we didn’t have to mortgage the farm for him either. While Kevin Shattenkirk may still permanently return to New York come July 1, 2017, the deadline is done. The Rangers can look around the room and know who they’ll be going into battle alongside—the only question now is who to put out there on the frontline?
