Rangers' Braden Schneider, a righthander, could move to off side with Ryan Lindgren sidelined
Braden Schneider of the Rangers skates during a preseason game against the Islanders at UBS Arena on Friday. Credit: Errol Anderson
GREENBURGH — It’s fairly routine to see lefthanded-shooting defensemen playing on the right side in the NHL. A righthanded shot playing on the left side, however, is a rare sight.
But with lefty top-pair defenseman Ryan Lindgren out with an upper body injury and possibly not available for opening night, the Rangers are in a position where they might ask one of their right-shot defensemen to do just that. During Sunday's practice righthanders Braden Schneider and Jacob Trouba were partnered together, with Schneider getting reps on the left side.
“It's something that I've done before, in juniors,’’ Schneider said. “I think it's obviously going to be a bit of, like, get some work, get some reps in, just get that feel back. Because there are some things that are different, like dealing with a lot more pucks on your backhand. It's harder to make seam plays in the neutral zone, and things like that.
“But all in all, I feel like it's something like… it’s an opportunity that I want to try and embrace, if that's the way we go.’’
With Lindgren out since suffering his injury in a fight with the Islanders’ Scott Mayfield in the second preseason game on Sept. 24, the challenge for coach Peter Laviolette has been to figure out who should step in for Lindgren as the partner for No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox. And then, how best to reconfigure the defense.
Under normal circumstances, the three defense pairs each feature a lefthander and a righthander. But to replace Lindgren, Laviolette wants the best available defenseman, regardless of whether he is left- or righthanded. With lefthander Connor Mackey being sent down to Hartford on Sunday, the Rangers currently have eight defensemen still in training camp, and five of them are righthanded.
In their final preseason game on Friday against the Islanders at UBS Arena, Laviolette started the game with lefthander K’Andre Miller partnering with Fox. Midway through, he swapped Schneider in for Miller and Schneider finished the game on Fox’s left.
“That was the plan going in, as we're evaluating anything, just to see a righty on the left side of Foxy,’’ Laviolette said.
The Fox-Miller pair was on the ice for two goals and did not allow a goal, while Fox-Schneider was on for one goal against, and none for. At Sunday’s practice, Laviolette had Miller with Fox and Schneider with Trouba. The other two pairs were lefty Zac Jones with rookie righthander Victor Mancini and Chad Ruhwedel, a righthander, with lefthander Matthew Robertson.
Laviolette was asked if he thought it would be more difficult for a righthanded-shooting defenseman to play the left than for a lefty to play the right.
“It’s probably the same, I think,’’ he said. “The game opens up when it's on your forehand and you have to open it up and do things a little bit differently. Some guys don't have any problems adjusting. [Schneider's] a guy that's played both in the past and when you just have players out of the lineup, players sometimes do different roles.’’
Schneider said he’s talked to teammates who played the off side just to get some insight.
“I feel like it's all about, like, picking your spots and just making sure that you're doing kind of the details that you need to do to play defense in general,’’ he said. “But it's just, there's some parts of the ice that, if you put yourself in, and they tend to be a bit more tricky.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
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