There's no surplus of top-four defensemen in today's NHL

If goaltenders are platinum and centers are diamonds, defensemen are becoming more like gold coins in today's NHL: Everybody wants them.

When healthy, the Rangers are sitting pretty in the commodities market: They have a legit top four or five blue-liners, but health is fleeting, unpredictable. Forwards generally can be shuffled, acquired, summoned from the minors. Defensemen? More of a precious metal.

With Dan Boyle's broken hand and Ryan McDonagh's separated shoulder healed -- their losses tested the Rangers' depth early -- there's a semblance of stability. "Those are our best two puck-moving defensemen and we've only had them in our lineup for two games," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said Saturday.

Clearly, the Rangers and other teams are relying on mobile defensemen to clear the defensive zone, control the puck, trigger a transition game and get pucks down ice. High-end teams have defensemen join the rush regularly.

Ideally, Vigneault prefers to carry eight defensemen, but the salary cap makes that impossible at this point. That has forced the Rangers to test low-cost vets: Tomas Kaberle played a couple of games in Hartford, then left for Europe. Henrik Tallinder signed a 25-game tryout and played his first for the Wolf Pack on Friday.

Even the Red Wings are shopping. They wanted Boyle before he signed a two-year deal with the Rangers in July. "Would I like two or three more right shots? Absolutely, whether up front or on defense," Wings general manager Ken Holland told the Detroit Free Press. "But there's not a hockey store I can go to."

For now, Matt Hunwick, 29, who won the seventh defenseman's role out of Rangers camp, has usurped John Moore on the third pair. Moore, 24, has all the tools, but hasn't been able to nail down the reads and remains a question mark.

"It's not that John has played bad," Vigneault said Saturday, "Hunwick has played a little better, moving the puck, one-on-ones, his gap is just a little bit tighter. Johnny's going to get a chance to play."

When his one-year $850,000 deal ends this summer, however, Moore will go to arbitration and the number may be too rich for management.

And there's the lingering question of the future of Marc Staal, who can be an unrestricted free agent this summer if no extension is reached, and nothing's imminent.

Washington's Mike Green and Buffalo's Tyler Myers will reportedly be available before the March 2 trade deadline. But Green has been brutal defensively and Myers will be very pricey.

So for the short term, meet your Rangers seven defensemen -- unless the injury bug bites again.

Taking the high road

It appears that to qualify for the playoffs, the Blueshirts will have to be road warriors again. They won 25 away games last season, and just 20 at home. The Rangers have not taken advantage of a favorable early home stretch of 16 games, going 8-5-3. Game No. 17 is Monday, leaving just 24 remaining at Madison Square Garden and 32 on the road after Saturday night's game.

Beliveau was game-changer

Few players -- in any sport -- can spark a rule change. But Montreal icon Jean Beliveau, who died last week, did, according to Canadiens history. In a game against the Bruins in 1955, the Canadiens had a two-man advantage with a pair of Boston minor penalties. Back then, a shorthanded team wasn't allowed to put a player back on the ice after a power-play goal. Beliveau scored three times in 44 seconds. After the season, with that hat trick in mind, the Original Six teams voted to allow penalized players to return after a goal. The vote was 5-1; the Canadiens were the lone dissenter.

KHL: Financial concerns?

Falling oil prices and foreign sanctions have decimated the ruble, and James Mirtle of the Toronto Globe and Mail speculates that Russia's KHL will be hard-hit. Players are paid in rubles and contracts have lost 35 percent of their value. That could be good news for the Rangers. It might be easier to lure prospect Pavel Buchnevich to North America. The 19-year-old, a third-round draft pick in 2013, has 10 goals and 21 points in 32 games for the Severstal Cherepovets.

He likes a good steak

Henrik Lundqvist a vegan? Not quite. What's his go-to dinner? "A good steak," he said last week. The King loves quality Italian, but "I eat so much pasta on game days."