Four Thoughts: 1/2

1. This post should aptly be titled ‘Four Resolutions’, primarily things I want to see happen over the second half of the season… First up is finally putting to rest the McDonagh-Girardi pairing. The game against the Avs on New Years Eve was the second straight time that the long time pairing was split. McDonagh has had a good year in the offensive zone and his 23 assists so far this season is well on pace to shatter his season high on 29 set in 13-14. Defensively it’s been rough for both of them, frequently hemmed in the defensive zone and forced to ice the puck at a higher clip than usual. You’ll probably get Klein and possibly to a lesser extent Holden getting time with the captain which should help 27’s overall game.

2. With Buchnevich, Nash and Zibanejad’s return to the lineup right around the corner, it would be nice to see the Rangers operate at close to 100% health again when they were scoring every night at a ridiculous clip. I’ve been impressed with how the Rangers have handled things without Zibanejad which speaks more to Hayes’ development than anything. Hayes’ play has randomly led to Stepan trade rumors which was something I addressed a couple weeks back. Assuming when Nash returns probably sends Hvirik back to Hartford, but Buchnevich’s return will make things interesting when it comes to decisions on the forward group.

3. Letting your play-makers make plays: Miller got heat from AV and was dropped to fourth line work after he was criticized for making poor decisions with the puck. We’ve all seen Miller make very high risk passes in the defensive zone to lead a breakout which caused AV to reach a boiling point with his game. All players are motivated in different ways, which is more than likely the case with JT Miller and how he responded to getting his ice time cut with two goals on New Years Eve. I can easily get into double standards when it comes to the coach between Miller and other specific players on the lineup, but we’ll leave that for another day.

4. Free Clendening!: This one is simple. AV has spun the goaltending carousel pretty liberally this season as well as shuffling the lines in the forward group, which gave rise to the Kreider-Stepan-Zuccarello line which has been among the hottest in the league. But defensively, the six have stayed the same despite the rough, heavily condensed schedule. Clendening’s spot starts have yielded some tough results for the young NYR defenseman, who’s still trying to carve out a niche some where. The Rangers have three back to backs this month and few more in February and March. Sitting some of the regulars more frequently can only be beneficial for what could hopefully be a long postseason run.