Braden Schneider continues to develop for Rangers
Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider, center, celebrates his goal with left wing Sammy Blais and right wing Julien Gauthier in the first period of an NHL game against the Blues at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 5, 2022. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
All athletes are taught to focus on the game in front of them, and not what awaits down the road. But they are human, after all, not robots. And as the weather starts to get warm, the days start to get long, and the games remaining on the schedule get fewer and fewer, it would be understandable if a Rangers player might, in a spare moment, look ahead to a month from now, when the Stanley Cup playoffs are underway.
“Yeah, it's hard not to,’’ Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider admitted after Saturday’s morning skate, before the Rangers took on the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. “Obviously, you're trying your best to stay in the moment … but I think we're trending in the right direction, and it's exciting.’’
As they prepared to face the Penguins for the second straight game, the third time in a week, and the final time in the regular season, the Rangers (39-19-10) were comfortably in third place in the Metropolitan Division, beginning the day with a 10-point lead over Pittsburgh and the Islanders, who were tied for the first wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They were 13 points ahead of Florida, the team just out of the second wild-card spot.
So while nothing can be taken for granted, with 14 games remaining, the odds greatly favor the Rangers – who entered Saturday on a 4-0-1 run – to make the playoffs.
But they’re not there yet, Schneider cautioned.
“Everyone's excited to get to that point, and it's the best time of the year to play hockey,’’ he said. “But we’ve still got lots of work to do, and some games to finish here. So I'm going to try and keep my head in where we are right now.’’
It’s been an interesting season for the 21-year-old Schneider, a second-year player from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, who was the Rangers’ second first-round pick in 2020.
Penciled into the third defense pair from Day One of training camp, Schneider has played in every game but one for the Rangers this season – he dressed but didn’t play in that weird Feb. 26 win over the Los Angeles Kings as part of the salary cap gymnastics the Rangers had to fit Patrick Kane onto their roster – and entering Saturday he had recorded five goals and 11 assists, with 11 penalty minutes and a rating of plus-11 in 67 games.
He’s been paired with every defenseman on the roster, first taking turns partnering with Zac Jones and Libor Hajek in the early season, then with Ben Harpur for a long while, then newcomer Niko Mikkola after he joined the team Feb. 9 in the Vladimir Tarasenko trade. When Ryan Lindgren got hurt, and K’Andre Miller got suspended, leaving the Rangers to play with five defensemen for three games, he took turns with fellow righthanders Adam Fox and Jacob Trouba, too.
“I think for personal experience, it's important that you learn to play both sides, and understand what that feels like,’’ he said. “It helps put some experience under your belt, and you feel more confident when you get more reps in different situations.’’
Rangers coach Gerard Gallant has been pleased with Schneider’s development this season.
“He's getting better and that's exactly what you want,’’ Gallant said. “I mean, he's not taken off to the roof, but he looks more confident with the puck, and the offensive zone. But he's doing real good things, so we're really happy with him. Most of the times you don't see a whole lot of him, and that's a good sign for a defenseman.’’
Schneider had a goal-scoring binge between Nov. 22 and Dec. 9, when he scored four goals in a 10-game span. He hasn’t scored a goal since, a span of 27 games. But he’s hardly concerned about that.
“I'm still picking my spots and trying to join the rush, and, and I think I was doing a better job at getting some pucks through at that point,’’ he said. “And … I feel like I've learned you go in spurts. You shoot and then they get through, and they go all the way home, and other times you're shooting and they're hitting the knee or they're getting stopped.’’
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.
