The Rangers may have a timing problem on their hands with Sean Durzi.
Durzi has been out since Oct. 26 with an undisclosed injury, and while he’s been practicing and skating in a non-contact jersey, the calendar could end up working against his return. New York just wrapped up a four-game road trip with a 5-1 win over the Canucks on Friday night in Vancouver, and the team now has a five-day break after Monday’s home game against the Montreal Canadiens before facing the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 22.
That gap matters because Durzi could be ready to come off injured reserve as soon as Monday. But since he isn’t occupying a roster spot, the Rangers have to weigh whether it makes more sense to hold him out one more game and use the extra recovery time.
“We’d be foolish not to consider that,” coach Mike Sullivan said Friday. “Obviously, it’s always going to come down to a medical decision on whether or not our medical team thinks he’s ready to play or not.
And ‘Durz,’ he has input into that as well. But has that conversation been had?
Of course.”
When Durzi does get back in, the most likely setup has him sliding onto the second pair with Marcus Pettersson. Through his first 14 games this season, he averaged 19:52 of ice time and posted five points, with two goals and three assists. That would push Braden Schneider down to the third pair and likely knock Scott Morrow out of the lineup, especially with Sullivan preferring to balance his defense with three right-handed shots and three lefties.
Morrow has only one assist in seven games, but he’s played with a lot of confidence at both ends of the ice while averaging 13:23 per night.
“I think Scotty, in particular, has been very effective joining the rush, helping us off the offensive blue line,” Sullivan said. “He’s made some plays to help us offensively, and I think they’re defending hard.”
The bigger question might be what happens if the current third pair keeps holding its ground. Morrow and Matthew Robertson have spent the last four games together, and the results have been encouraging. Robertson was understandably shaky in Seattle after learning just before puck drop that he was replacing Alberts Smits, but the pair settled in from there.
On Monday in Edmonton, Morrow and Robertson were 1-2 in Corsi percentage for, Fenwick percentage for, and shots for percentage. They weren’t quite as sharp in Wednesday’s win in Calgary, but Morrow still finished third among the six defensemen in Fenwick for and saw power-play time, while Robertson handled a penalty-kill shift cleanly.
They also ranked second and third among Rangers defensemen in expected goals for percentage, just behind Vladislav Gavrikov, even though they were still logging six to eight fewer minutes than the other four defensemen.
“Those guys have done a good job. They keep their game simple.
They’re moving pucks. They’re defending hard.
When you look at their overall 200-foot game on both sides of the puck, they’ve helped us on the breakouts with some of the outlet passes they make.” Sullivan explained.
Robertson’s case is especially notable because he started the season in Hartford of the American Hockey League before getting called back up. That followed a rookie year in which he played 72 games for the Rangers.
“I think Robbie’s come in and he’s done an admirable job. He’s playing within himself.
He’s defending hard. He’s got some mobility.
He’s got size and reach, and he’s using his stick well.” Sullivan said.
“These guys, they’re competing hard for us.”
There’s also a separate wrinkle with Schneider. He has played on his off-side before, so a Schneider-Morrow pairing could be an option on the third pair until Smits returns, even if Sullivan sticks to his usual righty-lefty structure.
But Schneider’s status may end up deciding a lot of this anyway. He didn’t play the final 8:27 on Friday after helping kill off an Adam Fox penalty, and he appeared to be hurt and exhausted as he came off the ice, hunched over and done for the night.
Sullivan didn’t have an update afterward. If Schneider can’t go Monday and the Durzi plan stays in place, Marc Del Gaizo would likely draw in. From there, Schneider’s health will shape the next move.
If Schneider and Morrow do get more run together, there’s at least a small sample that points in the right direction. The pair had played 3:51 together entering Friday and allowed just one chance and one shot against while generating 10 chances and seven shots for. That one chance did become a goal, but the numbers still suggest a pairing that can tilt the ice.
Schneider’s longer track record and $5.5 million salary this season before restricted free agency make him a bigger name in the mix, but his expected goals against numbers have remained on the wrong side: minus-7.1 last year, minus-1.1 this season entering Friday, and minus-24.1 for his career, with his best season at minus-0.5.
For now, the Rangers have a few moving parts on defense, and Durzi’s return may not be as simple as a clean activation. The break in the schedule could end up giving the team a reason to wait.
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