The biggest change the Rangers made this offseason was to their backend, and the biggest reason they were able to make such drastic adjustments is because they believe Brady Skjei can carry quite the heavy load.
The 23-year-old defenseman played 80 games for the Blueshirts last season, and has 87 total NHL regular-season games under his belt.
It might not be the biggest sample size, but what general manager Jeff Gorton — and the rest of the league — have seen has been enough to realize that an increased role was inevitable.
“I’m just taking it stride by stride,” Skjei said Tuesday after a group of mostly veterans skated at the team’s Westchester practice facility, with training camp set to open with off-ice testing Thursday. “I’m excited to maybe take on a new role. I don’t need to change my game at all, but hopefully, I can play well in preseason, earn a spot and show the coaches I can play that role.”
Head coach Alain Vigneault was hesitant to use Skjei in crucial moments at the end of last season, none more noticeable than in late-game situations in the postseason, which ended ingloriously in Game 6 of the second round to the Senators. But Gorton bought out the contract of veteran blueliner Dan Girardi this summer, while another vet, Kevin Klein, chose to retire from the NHL and play in Europe.
“It’s different, I think it’s a younger team for sure,” Skjei said. “The younger core needs to step up this year, for sure, have some leaders emerge. Just keep playing the way [we were], don’t need to change too much up. If we play the way we know how to play, we’ll be just fine.”
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Gorton did get the big-name acquisition when righty defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk decided to take less years to sign to with his favorite team from childhood. He could presumably start the season on the top pair with captain Ryan McDonagh. If veteran lefty Marc Staal can have a bounce-back campaign, he presumably could pair with the up-and-down Nick Holden on the third pair.
That would leave a second pair of Skjei with Brendan Smith, a steady duo near the end of last season and one that can stay together after Smith, last season’s trade-deadline rental, signed a somewhat moderate four-year, $17.4 million deal this summer.
From there, the pecking order of the depth defensemen would be fought over in training camp by the likes of youngsters Anthony DeAngelo, Ryan Graves, Neal Pionk, and Sean Day, along with veteran Steven Kampfer.
But barring any unforeseen circumstance, things are pointing to more minutes for Skjei — and maybe even Vigneault trusting him to protect a late-game lead. It’s a role that intrinsically brings with it some necessary leadership. Asked if he could be one of those young leaders, Skjei answered in his predictably understated yet confident way.
“I think I can be, yeah,” he said. “I know I’ve only played a year and a little bit, but I think I can step up just like any of the other younger guys can. It’ll be a fun yearand I’ll be looking forward to it.”