New York Rangers: Dan Girardi is Motivated and Will Look to Rebound
This season is go time for Dan Girardi, who will look to prove the critics wrong and show the New York Rangers organization and their fans that he can still be a productive top four defenseman.
The 32-year-old Dan Girardi is far from the defenseman he used to be for the New York Rangers. Over the past five seasons, Girardi has seen his ice time decrease significantly, along with his point production. For Girardi, this season will be about proving that he can still play in a struggling Rangers defense corps, even with younger players looking for a full-time job in the big leagues.
Apr 23, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi (5) warms up before playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in game five of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
2015-2016 Traditional Stats
Games Played: 74
Goals: 2
Assists: 15
Points: 17
Plus/Minus: 18
S%: 2.6
TOI: 20:19
Previous Role: Top Four Defenseman
Season In Review
In an interview with the Players Tribune last November, Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux called Dan Girardi the NHL’s most underrated player. Not just on the Rangers, but the whole league. Coming from a prolific scorer who sees Girardi several times a year shows Girardi is still a force.
On a defense that struggled for most of the year, Girardi looked like an ironclad defenseman.
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While Girardi saw his playing time go down, his points go down, and his shot percentage go down, he saw his best season in regards to plus/minus. As a defensive defenseman, that statistic carries a lot of weight. Considering Girardi only directly contributed with 17 goals, he did an excellent job keeping them out of his own net. Which, the Rangers will need a lot of this year. However, that play did not continue into the postseason play.
His age showed as Girardi missed three of the team’s games in the nightmare series against Pittsburgh. In the two games Girardi did play, he did not look good. With just a single point and a plus/minus of -2, many were calling for him to be a healthy scratch. The offseason led to a flurry of trade rumors suggesting GM Jeff Gorton was looking to put an end to Girardi’s time with the Rangers. However, may it be his ugly contract or a change of heart, Girardi will be suiting up for the Rangers on opening night.
2016-2017 Projected Stats
Games Played: 70
Goals: 3
Assists: 14
Points: 17
Plus/Minus: 12
S%: 2.0
TOI: 18:25
Expected Role: Top Six Defenseman
Reasoning
While another season starts, Girardi gets another year older. Another season also means more wear and more tear. As we saw in the postseason, Girardi needed some time off for what Alain Vigneault called “a whole thing” injury. With that, I expect Girardi to take the most time off in a season since his inaugural year with the Rangers in 2006-2007.
Whether it be an injury or just a system where Vigneault decides to give Girardi more nights off, I expect to see less of him. However, less of Dan Girardi is still a 70 game season. He has an unquestioned work ethic and passion, I can’t imagine a situation where Girardi asks for more than 12 games off. No way.
His role with the team has consistently been a top four defenseman. I think the addition of Nick Holden in the rotation along with young guys like Brady Skjei and Dylan McIlrath looking for more action gives Girardi more time on the third pairing.
At the end of the day, Girardi does a great job doing what he is supposed to do: play defense. Despite his struggles in the postseason and growing fatigue, Girardi has high expectations to continue to the be the force on defense.
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