New York Rangers fans these days are on edge; missing the playoffs last season while watching your team fall apart has a tendency to cause that reaction. Very little these days is needed to tip us over the edge. The NHL Network ranking of Adam Fox among their top-20 defenseman has certainly “triggered” the fanbase. Add in separate discussions on who Fox should be paired with this season and you a double-dip for your reading pleasure.
I will discuss the latter first. Larry Brooks hit on several Rangers’ points in his column last Sunday. One is the lack of Rangers prospects as part of the four top teams on the preliminary World Junior rosters: Brooks, though, touched on the Fox pairing discussion, pretty much saying what all of us have either said or been thinking. Peter Baugh also weighed in on the topic.
If Adam Fox — working diligently at the gym this summer — is not paired with Vladislav Gavrikov from Day 1 on an inviolate first tandem, that would be too crazy, even for a Rangers organization that once signed the best checking center in the league and tried to turn Bobby Holik into a first-liner.
I expect David Quinn to have a positive influence on Fox and the defense working that side of the ice.
Brooks’ view, based on organization history, is supported by the information presented by Baugh below in his column. Playing the Gavrikov-Fox duo together from the get-go makes too much sense. I get the argument of splitting up your best duo to lengthen the defense. But Fox now has the chance to pair with someone signed for seven years who should be the best partner he ever had.
Throwing shade on Ryan Lindgren has become too easy. There is no question he wore down based on the physical punishment he took. This should not diminish what he did the first few years with Fox and how comfortable Fox was with him. But Garikov brings a skill set and a style of play that should enable Fox to regain – if it was lost previously – spot amongst the elite of the league.
I am likely one of the few who didn’t think Quinn did a bad job as coach. New York was the hottest team in the league before the pandemic related break and were unable to regain that form when play resumed. Fox enjoyed substantive success under Quinn, and lord knows the D could not be any worse under Quinn than it was under Phil Housley. Quinn has his work cut out for him, see Baugh’s column below for information on the blueline.
“When you really watch him closely — just his foot positioning, the way he positions himself between the puck and the goal — he’s just always in the right position,” said one Western Conference-based NHL scout who frequently watched Gavrikov in 2024-25. “You have to play through him. … He just neutralizes you. He’s just so smart about it. He makes it look easy.”
“I could definitely see them being used as a pair together,” the scout said. “Gavrikov is a bigger guy, really good at breaking up plays, good stick. Fox is way more of that new school offensive puck-mover. Their playing styles are different and they’re built completely differently physically. Maybe the differences can complement each other.”
Fox played at least 100 minutes at five-on-five with three partners in 2024-25, according to Natural Stat Trick: Lindgren (611:31), K’Andre Miller (314:46) and Carson Soucy (146:38). In total he commanded over 50 percent of the five-on-five expected goal share, per the website, though just barely with Lindgren (50.02 percent). With the Miller-Fox or Soucy-Fox pairings on the ice, New York had more than 60 percent of the expected goal share.
Fox’s counting stats took a dip in 2024-25, with 61 points compared to 70-plus in each of the previous three seasons, primarily because the Rangers’ power play struggled. But his underlying numbers were still elite.
The Kings similarly enjoyed at least 50 percent of the expected goals share when any pairing with Gavrikov was on the ice last season (minimum 15 minutes played). If Gavrikov plays at the high level he did in 2024-25, there’s reason to believe he and Fox could instantly become one of the NHL’s best pairs.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s what you see in training camp or preseason,” said a Western Conference executive. “It gives you a chance to put your best two defensemen on the ice at the same time for 20-24 minutes every night, which is always a great option.”
If reading the above from Baugh doesn’t convince you that camp should open with Gavrikov next to Fox, little will. A defensive ballast who will allow Fox to maximize his skills is the perfect combination. One should rub off on the other and allow the team to have a true shutdown pair. That also should allow the other four d-men a chance to settle into the right spots rather than attempting to shoehorn players into roles.
If Sullivan stacks the top pair with Gavrikov-Fox, then two of the following players would need to make up the second pairing: Will Borgen, Braden Schneider, Carson Soucy, Urho Vaakanainen and Scott Morrow. None of them have ever averaged more than 18 minutes a game in a full season. One Eastern Conference executive noted that New York has traded away Lindgren, Miller and Jacob Trouba, all of whom averaged 20 minutes at least once in their Rangers career. That’s a lot of minutes to replace.
The Eastern Conference executive views Schneider, who is 23 and coming off labrum surgery, as a top-four defenseman, but sees Borgen as more of a No. 5 or 6. (He noted, though, that sometimes players can find chemistry with another defenseman and rise higher in the lineup than they’d otherwise be slotted.)
The Eastern-based scout liked Borgen’s play after New York acquired him in the Kaapo Kakko deal in Dec. 2024, viewing him as a legitimate top-four option. But the scout added that in his estimation, the Rangers currently have “closer to a top three” than a top four.
“I could also see that leading to them possibly breaking up Fox and Gavrikov if you wanted to balance it out a little bit more,” he said.
Saying the remainder of the D is a question mark is a work in progress and question mark is a fair and accurate comment. Schneider has yet to hit the level we thought he would and should be at following his promotion and playoff run several years ago. I am not convinced Borgen is best suited to skate opposite Schneider, but camp likely will open that way.
Carson Soucy, Urho Vaakanainen and Scott Morrow will battle to fill the third pair. Soucy regressed mightily from his play two seasons ago in Seattle. It’s possible Quinn and Mike Sullivan re-pair Soucy and Borgen as they were in the past, though Schneider, even on is off-side, and Borgen, likely are a better combination. Vaakanainen was fine on the third pair while Morrow, acquired from Carolina in the K’Andre Miller deal, should get a chance in camp to show he can fill a full-time role. He is likely the second-best offensive blueliner on the team.
Fox Ranked 16th Best D-Man by NHL Network
Your view of this rating may depend on if you are a Rangers’ fan or not. If you go by the eye test, including his performance in the playoffs in 2023 and at times in 2024, then you probably think this is fair or even a little high. Similar to those whose opinion is based on Fox’s performance in the 4 Nation’s Tourney, where Fox struggled and slid down the pecking order of blueliners that dressed for the US (and for other teams) .
On the flip, a look at Fox’s advanced metrics, somewhat discussed by Baugh, still show an elite defender. This is further borne out when you add in the two knee injuries Fox suffered that adversely impacted his performance in the 2024 post-season. Most of us believe he was “diminished” physically last season as well, which played a factor in his so-so, by his standards, 2024-25 campaign and 4 Nation’s Tourney.
Neither side will be swayed by what the other thinks. Rangers’ fans are more than happy to take up the banner for Fox. A strong season and all this discussion will be a moot point in the future
Great blog, Jan.
I definitely think they should start Fox and Gavrikov together. Play it by ear if things need to change and they need to lengthen the pairs. On paper, I’m not excited about the bottom four. But I do fully expect several players to be better now that Housley and Lavi are gone.
As for Fox’s ranking, I don’t care much, doesn’t bother me. I think he has the potential to be much higher on the list. Hoping he can put the knee injury behind him. He has looked slower since it.
I still have high hopes for Schneider and he needs to show continued growth this season. Beyond this a major question. Fox never relied on speed but his shiftiness certainly looked impacted last season
Yeah I also believe Schneider can be a mainstay on this D corps. I meant more in aggregate. Would love an upgrade over all of Borgen/Soucy/Urho/Morrow. Schneider plus any three of them barely says a playoff team, let alone a cup contender. Don’t get me wrong, they have forwards with offensive talent and one of if not the best goaltender in the world, but the defense is lacking.
As for Fox, you are right, he was never “fast”, but he was elusive. And that has been missing. Something has been off.
It might be a hot take, but we have quite a few B/C level prospects, that includes Schneider. They should figure out a way to consolidate those assets into 2 stalwart future players for the 2nd pairing. Its why Ive been trying to pick at the Dallas defense. Theyre going head first into a cap situation this free agency where they need to resign Harley whos due for a massive raise, as well as Robertson. Really want Bischel from them. Id try to take some of this excess we have on the RD and get a LD. Borgen has been ok, not good, not bad, ok. IMO hes a very good 3rd pairing guy. I dont know if hes a 2nd pairing guy, maybe if he had a LD partner who was better than him. The way I see it, outside of the top pair, we have a bunch of 5th, 6th, 7th defensemen with Schneider sort of being on the fringe of that 2nd pair RD spot. We gotta see how he looks after getting his shoulder fixed up.
It seems like Morrow is the player that should grow into a second pairing role, which will push Borden down to the third pairing. But that’s possibly going to take a little time. EJ Emery is also on his way. Pretty difficult to find the balance of win now and plan for the future.
The changing scheme and Sully’s overall style should aid a slightly weak d corp.
The knee injury (ies) impacted his shiftiness. I am hoping the extra time off helped Fox heal. Based on the cost of free agents in this year’s market, the cost for the blueline is not horrible, though talent is up in the air. Would you rather Cody Ceci at $4+ mil or Borgen? (and neither is not a possible response :)).
Fox with Gavriko is a no brainer, Fox needs that strong stay at home D man like Lindgren use to be. My concern was how slow he was like banger said. Time will tell if he regained that step.
Fox was never outright fast, like speed skating fast, it was his decision making. When Lindgren started regressing, it took half a second away from Fox’s reads and it was massively noticeable. Gavrikov is gonna be a big for Fox. Gavrikov is better now than Lindgren has ever been at any point in his career, so its gonna be interesting to see Fox playing with the best Dman partner hes ever had.