Key and Trouba not been themselves recently while Gus and Schneids have been great. I think it’s worth a shot swapping them and seeing if that helps with some of the defensive issues.
I will say that I would also love Key to get some time with Fox, as the two have played very well together historically even in limited time (66.7 xGF% this year though in very limited minutes) and as much as this is a hot take, I don’t think Lindgren has been all that great this year and he’s beginning to remind me of Dan Girardi at a similar age (taken a lot a punishment and showing clear signs of decline). Fox hasn’t admittedly played well either since the injury but I have faith he will eventually come around. At this point, Key hasn’t played well lately and hasn’t earned being trusted on the top pair, but maybe having a partner like Fox will allow him to find that next level. Regardless, it’s clear the defense is currently deployed has far too many holes.
While I don’t think this skid has been as bad as it looks (since the beginning of 2024, they’ve had a 50% xGF% or better in all but two games) and this skid has been mostly the result of bad goaltending and cold shooting, the bottom line is the defense hasn’t been nearly as good as it was to start the year and adjustments need to be made. Moreover, despite his bad stretch recently, Steve Valiquettes model still has Igor around 4.5 goals above expected, which means that the defense in front of him has been so bad he’s still better than expected despite the high quality of chances being allowed.
Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts and opinions.
by Aggressive_Forecheck
9 Comments
Miller & Trouba have been a terrible pair for some time now
Trouba……..high compete level but lacking in skill
Miller……..zero compete level but very skilled
Pick your poison.
I’m not sure if moving Key up is the right call right now. Fox hasn’t been playing amazingly in his own right since coming back from injury, and Key has been struggling for about a month. However, Lindgren has been faltering, too. And I’m not super keen on moving Gus up with Fox, since both are offensively minded. So we’re kind of at an impasse. Maybe instead we need situational pairings.
**5v5—tied:**
55 – 23
56 – 8
79 – 4
**5v5—up:**
55 – 8
79 – 23
56 – 4
**5v5 down:**
56 – 23
79 – 8
55 – 4
TBH, could be the stupidest idea of all time, though. Feel like if this worked, more teams would already be doing this, and AFAIK, they’re not lmao.
Key needs to be with Fox. Simple as that. And I know Fox/Lindgren got chemistry and work well together but Trouba/Miller doesn’t whereas the few times Trouba/Lindgren were together they were pretty good. I’d sacrifice the liability on D of having 2 offensive minded D Men on the ice together if it’s gives us a 2nd pair that can shut down mostly anyone up until Trouba does some boneheaded play that leaves the G exposed.
[I called this out last night](https://www.reddit.com/r/rangers/s/4vwtVx2n67). We have an extremely large sample size of these pairs being bad. Hell, 79/8 gave up the 2nd most even strength goals in the NHL last year. Is that enough to even *consider* changing it up? I don’t see how it isn’t
It’s absurd that 79/23 hasn’t gotten any runway, especially considering they were NYR’s best D pair last year. Is NYR really going to lower the ceiling of Miller by forcing him to drag around Jacob Trouba for the rest of his career? Miller has Devon Toews potential and yet this is what they’re doing to him. It’s garbage
They have both been awful
79-8 has always been a bad pair. Both guys tend to get caught pinching and wandering in the dzone. That pair needed to be changed a long time ago.
Surprised 56-4 is so high, Gus has been refreshing after getting used to having so many bad lumbering defensemen who can’t skate or move the puck for shit back there for so long
To me this is an example of stats without context leading to bad conclusions.
Laviolette shelters Schneider – Gus because they aren’t as good at defending. Because they are sheltered, 4 – 56 pair have better numbers. Laviolette uses the Trouba – Miller pair against tougher competition and in defensive situations so they have worse numbers.
If you switch the roles, 4-56 would be so much worse and the punching bags for this sub instead of 8-79, and the team would be worse as a whole.
Trouba is great at making outlet passes, getting shots through, and laying hits but isn’t great in one on one situations or breaking up plays. Bit of a poor man offensive defensemen. Miller projects to be an offensive dman but it hasn’t happened yet. His pinches rarely seem timed well. It’s a tough problem to solve with basically Lindgren being the only stay at home type. Hopefully Robertson can be that guy at some point.