The makeup of the Rangers defense is hardly what they thought it was going to be in training camp, and suddenly the question is whether that group is still a strength of theirs at all.
For the second straight game, coach Alain Vigneault made veteran Brendan Smith a healthy scratch, this time also adding 21-year-old righty Anthony DeAngelo to that list for the team’s 3-1 loss to the Blues on Tuesday night at the Garden. Playing on the third pair was Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer, who had both been scratched for the opening two games and struggled during Sunday’s 2-0 win over the Canadiens.
“I’m never surprised. Every season is different,” Vigneault said of his defense corps. “You go in thinking that the makeup of your team might be this and this, but at the end of the day, like you mention before every training camp, players are the ones that make your decisions for you by how they play.
“Right now, on defense, we’ve got eight guys that in our estimation can all play in the NHL. So there’s good internal competition, and it should bring [out] the best of them.”
Smith sitting might be the biggest surprise, having come over at last season’s trade deadline and then re-signing with the Blueshirts just before he would have become an unrestricted free agent. The four-year, $17.4 million deal, carrying an annual salary-cap hit of $4.35 million, was quite an investment in the 28-year-old, who plays with as much physicality and edge as anyone on the roster but had a tough opening two games to start the year.
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“What Smitty has to do, and what Anthony has to do, they have to get ready, stay ready,” Vigneault said, “and when they get the next opportunity, they have to force me to keep them in the lineup by their play.”
Winger Adam Cracknell made an inauspicious Rangers debut, playing 8:01 after being claimed off waivers from the Stars on Monday. The 32-year-old got fourth-line duty with David Desharnais and Paul Carey, but as Vigneault cut down to the three lines trying to come back from a 2-1 deficit, Cracknell got just two shifts in the third period.
Part of the reason Cracknell was claimed was that he had a career year last season under coach Lindy Ruff, who is now a Rangers assistant.
“Playing for Lindy Ruff I think helped last year, and having such a good season under him,” said Cracknell, who scored 10 goals with 16 points in 69 games for Dallas. “Now I have to build that trust up with a new organization and make sure they made the right decision.”
Veteran forward Andrew Desjardins was released from his professional tryout. He had been with the team all through training camp, but after a preseason suspension, he never got a contract offer.
With DeAngelo as a scratch, Vigneault had to change his second power-play unit, where DeAngelo played along the blue line. The coach went with Jimmy Vesey, now both of the man-advantage units comprising of four forwards and one defenseman.