I’m going to be honest – there was part of me that wanted to title this “Ryan McDonagh Headed to LA” just to see everyone freak out. But I decided against it.
Anyway, to the surprise of no one, Ryan McDonagh is the lone representative for the New York Rangers at this years’ all-star game later this month.
Congratulations to #NYR Captain @RMcDonagh27 on being named a #NHLAllStar for the 2nd straight year!! pic.twitter.com/xJYm8LHqMd
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) January 10, 2017
Does he deserve it this season? Debatable. Is he the best option from the Rangers? Not even close. But the new format means each division needs to send six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies. Name three defensemen who deserve to go in the Metro division. My guess is you can’t. But you can easily name forwards and goalies and the first group of each won’t include Rangers so that meant the Rangers had to send a defenseman. Personally, I would’ve gone with Nick Holden but for some reason the league likes to try and sell McDonagh. I don’t think it’s working but they’re going to keep trying.
The worst part about this is with this new format, and the fact the league wants to sell the same faces each year, McDonagh will probably be the only representative for the foreseeable future, even when guys like Michael Grabner, Kevin Hayes or even Holden deserve to go.
That said, McDonagh is not a bad option. He leads the team in assists with 23 and is first amongst defensemen with 25 points. Hope he has a good time in LA and doesn’t look too bad in the 3-on-3 style tournament. Maybe he’ll even be able to be more than passer at the skills competition. On second thought, at least he’ll get to enjoy the NHL100 event the league is hosting that weekend.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
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