Bet, hold or fold: New York Rangers defensemen

Bet, hold or fold: New York Rangers defensemen

Bet, hold or fold: New York Rangers defenders

Following on from an examination of the New York Rangers scoring and depth forwards, today we look at the Rangers defensemen (minimum 10 appearances) and ask if they should bet (build round them next season), hold (keep, but look to upgrade if possible) or fold (get rid!).

Adam Fox – Bet

Season stats: 10 goals, 51 assists, 61 points, +8, 40 hits (74 games)

Particulars: Age 26 season, $9,500,000 cap hit in 2026, signed through 2028.

Even in a down year, Fox remains one of the best blueliners in the NHL. The Rangers second leading scorer, and ninth among all NHL blueliners, Fox is an elite passer, a brilliant power play quarterback, and an underrated positional defender.

He’s arguably the strongest ‘bet’ on the Rangers board.

K’Andre Miller – Hold

Season stats: 7 goals, 19 assists, 26 points, -2, 106 hits (74 games)

Particulars: Age 25 season, restricted free agent.

Hoo, boy! What do to with ‘Key’?

Huge, a great skater, and possessing an old-fashioned howitzer, Miller is loaded with potential. But after a down season in 2024 and a disastrous campaign this time around, what exactly is he? Does he need a change of scenery? Is Peter Laviolette simply the wrong coach for him? Is it as simple as him being overrated?

If, as reported, Miller will only re-sign if he gets a big pay raise, New York should be tempted to fold. That said, perhaps his market is compressed with two poor seasons in a row. If New York can re-sign him on reasonable dollars, bring back the talent, and see if you can get him back to his previous standards.

Will Borgen – Bet

Season stats: 4 goals, 9 assists, 13 points, +7, 74 hits (51 games)

Particulars: Age 28 season, $4,100,000 cap hit in 2026, signed through 2028.

The Rangers have shown their hand, here, extending Borgen not long after acquiring him as part of the Kaapo Kakko deal.

In a disastrous year on the Ranger blueline, Borgen has stood out as a bright spot, delivering desperate play, hard hits and more offense than what was expected. Smack bang in his prime, Borgen will be in the Rangers top four for the next few seasons at least.

Braden Schneider – Bet

Season stats: 6 goals, 15 assists, 21 points, +9, 146 hits (80 games)

Particulars: Age 23 season, $2,200,000 cap hit in 2026, signed through 2026.

Projected as a stay-at-home dreadnought, Schneider has developed into a solid two-way piece for the Rangers. A good skater with a nice shot, he could stand to use his huge frame a little more often (what Ranger doesn’t?), but given his ag,e there is still a lot of development left in the boy from Prince Albert.

Zac Jones – Bet

Season stats: 1 goals, 10 assists, 11 points, +0, 28 hits (46 games)

Particulars: Age 24 season, restricted free agent.

The Rangers should really make a bet on Jones who, despite his diminutive stature, is a willing worker, a good anticipatory defender, and an excellent secondary creator on the blueline. Will they, though?

History (limited ice time, too many healthy scratches to count) suggests that Laviolette, and perhaps Chris Drudy, are not sold on Jones. Really, they should be by now. When Fox missed games earlier this season, Jones stepped in capably to quarterback the power play and be the primary option on defense. Yes, he’s small. So what? He plays with more energy and urgency that most Rangers defenseman. The club needs to embrace that.

Urho Vaakanainen – Hold

Season stats: 2 goals, 13 assists, 15 points, +7, 19 hits

Particulars: Age 26 season, $1,550,000 cap hit in 2026, signed through 2027.

Could New York do better on their third pairing? Probably. But Vaakanainen is a solid and cost-effective option as a stay-at-home third pairing D-man, with the capability to step onto a higher pairing on a spot basis. Given he’s about to hit his prime years, he’s worth keeping around.

Carson Soucy – Fold

Season stats: 1 goals, 2 assists, 3 points, +2, 29 hits (16 games)

Particulars: Age 30 season, $3,250,000 cap hit in 2026, signed through 2026.

Here’s what this writer wrote about Soucy after his trade deadline acquisition:

Trading a juicy third-round pick for a player in the midst of his worst season as a pro could mean one of two things:

• Soucy is at the start of a rapid decline.
• Soucy was miscast on a wafer-thin blueline with a dysfunctional team.

Drury and the Rangers will be hoping for the latter.

It hasn’t gone well, has it?

Terrible skating, even worse positioning, and a stark lack of physicality from a player who has built a career on exactly that suggests that the 30-year-old is in terminal decline. Somehow +2 in 16 games, Soucy has provided precisely none of what the Rangers must have hoped for. Signed for next season, the team will be hoping for a serious bounce back if they’re unable to get rid.

In the final instillment of New York Rangers: bet, hold, fold, we will examine the goaltending and off-ice decision makers.

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