Forecasting what the New York Rangers defense corps will look like five months from now on opening night is not an exact science. There are some key decisions general manager Chris Drury and coach Mike Sullivan must make this offseason, most notably if the Rangers will re-sign or trade K'Andre Miller.
On the surface, it's a fairly obvious choice. Miller is a minute-munching 25-year-old defenseman, who has played on their shutdown pair for five seasons. However, his play at both ends of the rink can be Jekyll and Hyde, with eye-popping big-time plays and heinously egregious mistakes and turnovers.
Miller is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights , so he's likely looking to cash in on a long-term contract. However, Miller just had upper-body surgery and is coming off a wildly uneven season — one that mirrored the erratic play of his team.
"I think he is such an interesting case. It's so apparent his career has not gone as he's wanted it to," Mollie Walker of the New York Post told Forever Blueshirts on the Rink Rap podcast. "I feel like so much of his confidence stems from his offensive contributions and that's a part of his game that has not come through nearly as consistently as he thought it would or wants it to.
"The defensive mistakes are egregious. There were so many of them this season that it would be a disservice to the organization for them not to [look into getting] something for him. But it comes down to how they value him. He's always described as a unicorn to me because of his size and athleticism and his reach. You can't teach that, obviously. I do think you have to take the risk and see him in a new system .. but they've seen him in so many systems under how many different coaches at this point."
Walker is likely right that Sullivan will want to get his hands on Miller, coach him up, have him play in his system, instead of trading him and trying to find a suitable replacement.
So, assuming the Rangers re-sign Miller, they could continue to play him on a shutdown pair with Will Borgen . In that scenario, the Rangers likely need a top-pair left-shot defenseman to partner with Adam Fox and replace Ryan Lindgren , and must sign one or trade for one.
Or the Rangers could move Miller up with Fox on the top pair, where he played his best hockey when given the opportunity this past season. That then leaves a hole on the left side of the second pair with Borgen.
Carson Soucy has played that role with Borgen before with the Seattle Kraken . But Soucy has more the look of a third-pair defenseman these days than a 20-minute shutdown d-man.
Does that mean the Rangers still need to go out and acquire a top-four defender?
No necessarily. Like Miller filling the top-pair role next to Fox, the Rangers just might have their own internal candidate for this spot, as well.
"I think they really didn't mind [Braden] Schneider on the left. I think they're very high on Braden Schneider ," Walked stated.
Related: Trade or sign him? Rangers have massive K'Andre Miller decision to make
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Schneider is a right-shot defenseman, who's been a third-pair staple his first four seasons with the Rangers. He played some second-pair minutes in the past with Miller, mainly in 2023-24 when Jacob Trouba was injured. Schneider acquitted himself well with the harder minutes, and he and Miller even paired some during the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This past season, Schneider again bumped up at times to play on the second pair. But this time, he shifted to his off (left) side. That was when Miller paired with Fox early in the season with Lindgren out of the lineup injured.
Schneider held his own on the left side, didn't look out of place at all. When Lindgren returned, Miller and Schneider returned to their usual roles. But the Rangers likely filed away that Schneider on the left side is a serious long-term option, especially since he's blocked moving up on the right side behind Fox and Borgen.
"That's Braden. Braden is built to adapt," Walker stated. "I see online a lot of people give him flack saying 'why are we so committed to Braden Schneider?' Braden Schneider will make lemonade from any type of lemons. He can make it work. Think about how many defensive partners he has had in his NHL career. That's not easy, especially for a defenseman who's still developing and learning in the NHL. It was like every other day it was another different guy he was skating with. So, you've got to recognize that. That versatility has a lot of value."
Finding an affordable, solid right-shot defenseman to play on the third pair is easier than finding one who shoots left and can play up on a shutdown pairing. Dante Fabbro could be a nice fit in that third-line role, and should be an affordable UFA this summer. If not him, there are others. This isn't like paying older vets like Ivan Provorov or Vladislav Gavrikov to play on the second pair.
Schneider turns 24 next season. And after Schneider had offseason shoulder surgery, he should return to his robust physical style that earned him the nickname "Baby Trouba" early in his NHL career.
It's not a slam-dunk play to move Miller up and Schneider up and over next season. Especially since Schneider has been very sheltered defensively by previous coaches Peter Laviolette and Gerard Gallant.
But there's no doubt this is an intriguing option for the Rangers to consider next season.
