Colin Stephenson: Why Sean Durzi has fit perfectly with Rangers
Detroit Red Wings center Marco Kasper and Rangers defenseman Sean Durzi fight during the second period of an NHL game Friday in Detroit. Credit: AP/Duane Burleson
The Rangers gave away a big piece of their core over the summer when they traded Vincent Trocheck, who returned to Madison Square Garden with the Utah Mammoth on Sunday.
It was painful to give up someone who played so hard for them and was such a big part of their culture the past few years, but what the Rangers got in exchange for Trocheck has improved the organization both now and for the future.
Prospect Cole Beaudoin had a goal and two assists Saturday in the season opener for AHL Hartford in his first professional game. At the NHL level, defenseman Sean Durzi has settled right in on the Rangers’ blue line and in their locker room.
Durzi had 25 shifts and 22:57 of ice time Sunday as the Rangers beat Utah, 4-2, for their third straight victory. He was a plus-1.
Entering the game, Durzi was third on the team in average time on ice. This followed a standout performance on Friday as he scored his first goal and engaged in his first fight as a Ranger in a 2-0 win over the Red Wings.
“Durz has been great,’’ coach Mike Sullivan said at the morning skate Sunday at the Garden. “We’ve really liked what he’s brought to our blue line, which we felt was a priority in helping us improve . . . He’s a good puck-mover. He defends well. He’s mobile. I really like Durz’s game, and I think it’s only going to get better. He’s a young guy [he turns 28 on Oct. 21]; he’s going to continue to grow.”
Trocheck got the video tribute treatment in his return to the Garden but the game was special for Durzi, too. He got to play against his old team for the first time since the July 1 trade.
“Six months ago, these guys were some of my best friends,” said Durzi, who was caught completely off guard by the trade.
“I was shocked, I would say. I wasn’t expecting anything,’’ he said. “I mean, it’s part of the game, obviously, [and] I think you should be ready for it at any time. But . . . it happens. There’s the initial shock, all that stuff, and then the process of going through it in the summer, moving cities. All that just becomes part of it. But yeah, initially I was shocked.’’
He’s embraced the move, though. He got a place in Manhattan, which he said is “a little different than Utah, a little faster pace,” and he said he’s loving his new lifestyle.
Having been traded a couple of times (from Toronto to Los Angeles and from the Kings to the Arizona Coyotes before they moved from Arizona to Utah), he said he wasn’t overwhelmed by the move to New York.
“I’ve been fortunate. I’ve lived in a couple different terrains now in my career,’’ he said. “I came in a little early in the summer, settled in. Living in the city’s been great. You can’t ask for much more. There’s always something to do, always somewhere to eat. And then the team’s been great. There’s a good group of guys in the city, and it’s good. Easy to become friends.”
Durzi has been a perfect addition for the Rangers. He’s fit in with his teammates and has been very media-friendly (he has aspirations of being a broadcaster in his post-playing career). On the ice, he’s given them all they could have wanted in a player.
A right-shot defenseman, he runs the point on the second power-play unit, and he and new defense partner Marcus Pettersson make up one of the two primary defense pairs on the penalty kill. His average ice time of 21 minutes, nine seconds entering Sunday was behind only Pettersson (22:14) and Vladislav Gavrikov (21:28). He’s getting more ice time right now than No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox.
Durzi’s power-play goal in the first period Friday helped send the Rangers to their second straight win. His shot on the next power play — which was tipped in by Oliver Bjorkstrand — briefly gave them a 2-0 lead before it was wiped off the board by an offside challenge. That deprived Durzi of a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight). His second-period fight with Detroit’s Marco Kasper was the Rangers’ first fight of the season.
“I try to bring a little bit of everything,’’ Durzi said, showing off the cuts still visible on his knuckles.
He’s done that, all right, and it’s made a difference already.
Notes & quotes: Gavrikov, Gabe Perreault, J.T. Miller and Eeli Tolvanen scored for the Rangers. Igor Shesterkin, who scored the franchise’s first goal by a goalie last week, got an assist on Tolvanen’s goal.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
