Regarding the Rangers:
1. If Alain Vigneault’s season-long strategic use of Keith Yandle is any indication, and you would think it would be, the Rangers cannot seriously be invested in attempting to keep the puck-moving impending free agent off the market.
For even on Monday night, when the Blueshirts were reduced to five defensemen for the final 35:14 after Dan Girardi left the match with a damaged hand/finger, the coach gave Yandle the fewest minutes (17:00) on the blue line overall, as well as the least time (4:52) in the third period of a game that was 1-1 from 0:35 until 18:18.
On Sunday, while the Rangers were attempting to protect a one-goal lead against the Capitals, Yandle got two shifts worth 1:13 in the final 9:22 of regulation.
As he has been from the moment management surrendered a first-rounder and top prospect Anthony Duclair in order to bring No. 93 east from the desert the day before last year’s deadline, Yandle has been Vigneault’s sixth defenseman.
Beyond that, Yandle, whose power-play ability was a prime factor in his attractiveness to the Rangers, does not play on the team’s first unit, instead getting the leftover, 30-40 seconds of New York man-advantages.
This, too: The Rangers will not use Yandle to kill penalties. Indeed, Brady Skjei picked up more penalty-kill time (4:21) in two games on the roster than Yandle has all season (2:06).
Does this sound like the résumé of a player the Rangers are preparing to sign for what will be a market value $5.5 million to $6 million per for five or six years?
If general manager Jeff Gorton were serious about keeping the 29-year-old defenseman off the market, wouldn’t you expect the Rangers to increase Yandle’s ice time and responsibilities, especially since the only realistic way to clear out enough space would be to get second-pair lefty Marc Staal’s permission to move him and his $5.7 million per contract that runs through 2020-21?
Wouldn’t you want to determine if the Yandy Man can handle second-pair matchups and increased ice time that he would inherit upon a Staal trade?
If you were going to commit $30 million to $35 million to Yandle, wouldn’t you give him additional power-play time?
I would.
By the way, I’m not particularly interested in pushing Birthday Boy Staal out the door at the age of 29, either, but it is the only logical scenario under which Yandle could stay. Trading Girardi to keep Yandle would mean moving Ryan McDonagh permanently to the right side, which is not in anyone’s plans.
The question wouldn’t seem to be whether the Rangers are planning, or even realistically trying, to sign Yandle to an extension, but whether management would allow No. 93 to play out his contract for a Cup run instead of dealing him as a rental property who should reap a healthy return.
Yes, the Rangers would create one hole to fill another (or a couple) by trading Yandle, but the hole they would be creating would be at their sixth defense position.
2. As Gorton and his staff scour the market and maintain keen interest in Jonathan Drouin, we can report that trustworthy sources have told The Post the team has not inquired even once about Columbus winger Cam Atkinson.
3. Girardi is being listed as “day-to-day” after suffering his hand/thumb injury blocking a shot against the Bruins.
Vigneault should take this opportunity to give No. 5 a few days off and slide Dylan McIlrath back into the lineup for Thursday’s match in Brooklyn against the Islanders.
It would be unfair to heap a disproportionate amount of blame on Girardi for the Rangers’ wobbly play in their own end, but it would also be dishonest to pretend that the hockey warrior’s persistent struggles haven’t taken a toll on everyone, including his partners.
Coincidence or not, McDonagh has played better hockey with Kevin Klein as his partner
than Girardi. Coincidence or not, small sample sizes or not, the fact is that every Rangers defenseman has poorer possession numbers playing with Girardi than with another partner — and some dramatically so, such as the captain at 38.5 percent with him and 54.9 percent without him.
Again, there is no desire to scapegoat Girardi, but there also is no good reason why Vigneault should play the alternate captain in place of McIlrath every game … and no reason at all why Girardi rather than Klein should be McDonagh’s first-pair, shutdown partner until further notice.
4. Seriously, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello haven’t always been this deficient in their own end, have they? Rick Nash, who has climbed out of the defensive rut into which he unaccountably fell last month and is back on his reliable track, is needed with Brassard and Zuccarello to restore some order to the Rangers’ first line.