18-year-old Alberts Šmits opened Monday night’s game on the New York Rangers‘ third defensive pairing alongside Brayden Schneider, but a shaky start forced a sudden tactical adjustment behind the bench. Within the game’s opening five minutes, the score became 2-0 while the duo of Marcus Pettersson and Sean Durzi were on the ice. Head coach Mike Sullivan subsequently broke up his defensive units, pairing Šmits with Durzi while moving Pettersson alongside Schneider.
Sullivan points to a lingering trend behind the tactical shuffle
The defensive shakeup was not merely a reaction to this game, but a reaction to a longer period—the last four or five games, according to remarks made by Mike Sullivan during his postgame press conference. Sullivan noted that while Pettersson and Durzi logged heavy minutes against opposing top lines during the first seven or eight games of the season, their performance dipped noticeably over the subsequent five or six outings.
Mike Sullivan has – Given full trust to a 21 year old F in Top 6 deployment – 1st coach to give their former 1st overall PP1 time and 19 min a night – Play a 18 year old, 1st Round defenseman 15+ min a night Say what you want about some of his lineup decisions but he’s… https://t.co/mtiFdTfpEE
Durzi has been dealing with physical health issues recently, a factor Sullivan identified as contributing to the pairing’s declining efficiency. That was a collection of things over a longer period of time,
Sullivan said. Durzi is battling health. I think that’s part of the reason.
The coaches decided to split up the pairing where Durzi had previously played alongside Marcus Pettersson, putting Pettersson together with Schneider instead while Šmits was paired with Durzi.
Ice time distribution highlights a heavy workload for the rookie
During Monday’s 3-6 defeat—which marked the Rangers’ third loss in a row following defeats to the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs—Šmits logged 13 minutes and 56 seconds of ice time, finishing the night with a minus-one rating. The Latvian teenager recorded one shot on goal, blocked one shot, delivered one hit, served a two-minute minor penalty, and committed one turnover. Šmits spent four minutes and 36 seconds alongside Schneider, eight minutes and 35 seconds with Durzi, and 35 seconds paired with Vladislav Gavrikov. In the team’s first 13 games, Šmits and Schneider played 143 minutes together, and Šmits’s next highest ice time total in a game was 18 minutes alongside defenseman Adam Fox.
No Rangers defenseman finished Monday’s game with a positive plus-minus rating. Durzi and Pettersson matched Šmits at minus-one, while Adam Fox finished the night at minus-two. Through 14 games this season, Šmits has averaged 14 minutes and 34 seconds of ice time per game while maintaining a minus-four rating without recording a point. Against Los Angeles, the Kings received three points from Drew Doughty with one goal and two assists, one goal and one assist apiece from Artemi Panarin and Joel Edmundson, and single goals from Taylor Ward, Mikey Anderson, and Brandt Clarke.
Coaching staff sees long-term promise despite early hurdles
Evaluating Šmits’s performance, Sullivan praised the defenseman’s skating ability, physical frame, stickhandling, and puck-moving vision. The coach acknowledged that adjusting to the speed of the NHL represents a major hurdle. Opportunities arise and disappear much faster than in any other league in the world,
Sullivan said, adding that assistant coach David Quinn has dedicated significant time to individual development work with the young hockey player. Ultimately, the main thing is that he is progressing. Šmits does not let difficulties get him down. He deals with the challenges.
Sullivan also noted that there have been stretches where Šmits played very well alongside moments that provided learning opportunities.
Standings pressure builds ahead of upcoming matchups
Sullivan stated that what has been seen so far certainly gives reason for optimism, while the standings point out that with 15 points after 14 games the team is in the Eastern Conference. The team will attempt to halt its three-game slide when they host the Edmonton Oilers.
Keep reading
