Ex-Rangers defenseman praised by new coach despite poor metrics in Avalanche debut: ‘our best D tonight’
Underlying numbers, statistics and metrics be damned. Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was impressed with Ryan Lindgren in his debut Tuesday after the veteran defenseman was acquired from the New York Rangers three days prior.
“He was solid. Tonight, as far as puck play goes and defending hard in the zone, I thought he was our best D tonight,” Bednar said postgame. “It’s not flashy, he’s not gonna wow you, but he’s effective getting things done.”
Lindgren played his first game with the Avalanche in a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Even though he was wearing a sweater other than the Blueshirt for the first time in 388 NHL games, it was familiar territory for Lindgren to play against the Penguins, a Metropolitan Division rival of the Rangers.
But instead of playing with Adam Fox on defense, Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad up front and Igor Shesterkin in net, Lindgren’s new team featured its own stars, led by defenseman Cale Makar and forward Nathan MacKinnon.
Lindgren logged 20:33 TOI, including 1:52 on the penalty kill. He had one hit and one blocked shot. But his underlying numbers weren’t great.
Per Natural Stat Trick, the Avalanche were outshot 14-7 with Lindgren on the ice 5v5 and out-chanced 7-2, though he was not on for either a goal for or against. His xGF was not pretty, 24.14 percent.
Still, Bednar was pleased with what he saw from Lindgren, and the defenseman appeared satisfied with his debut, as well.
“Personally, I thought I had a pretty good game,” Lindgren said. “I’m still learning obviously, learning the systems … but, yeah, being here at Ball Arena, it’s a lot of fun, it’s a great crowd here, great energy. It was a lot of fun tonight.”
Makar, Devon Toews and Samuel Girard each logged more ice time than Lindgren among Avalanche defenseman. Bednar said after Lindgren was acquired that he could see the former Rangers defender playing a similar role as he did in New York, helping lighten the load on Colorado’s top defensemen.
“That’s a big add … getting another really strong penalty killer, the physicality around the net front and down low in your own zone to be able to help close plays out,” Bednar said about Lindgren. “He can play a lot, and I think that will lighten the load and allow us to be able to, especially on the penalty kill, save some ice time off of 7 and 8 (Toews and Makar) so their energy can be used in some other situations.”
Related: Rangers trade grades after acquiring Calvin de Haan, Juuso Parssinen from Avalanche
Ryan Lindgren says good to ‘move on’ with Avalanche after trade from Rangers
The Rangers traded Lindgren and forward Jimmy Vesey to the Avalanche on Saturday for defenseman Calvin de Haan, center Juuso Parssinen and a second- and fourth-round pick in this year’s draft.
Lindgren and Vesey were respected veterans in New York, but each is a pending unrestricted free agent, and neither was going to be re-signed this offseason by the Rangers. The draft picks received from Colorado were crucial to making the deal from New York’s point of view, to help rebuild draft capital.
Parssinen is a wild card in the trade, a 24-year-old with good size (6-foot-3, 212 pounds) and flashes of skill. He centered the third line in consecutive Rangers wins against the Nashville Predators and New York Islanders, though clearly was finding his way on the ice where he had minimal impact.
De Haan had an assist in his Rangers debut Sunday against the Predators and has played well on a defense pair with Zac Jones. The 33-year-old is a pending UFA and not expected to return next season.
As for Vesey, his Avalanche tenure began the way most of his final season with the Rangers was spent — in the press box as a healthy scratch. Still, Bednar is happy to add the 31-year-old to Colorado’s roster.
“Jimmy’s a little bit of a Swiss Army knife,” Bednar explained. “Over his career, he’s been moving around a little. Another top penalty killer as a forward – you can’t have enough of those.”
The Avalanche (36-24-2) are the first wild card in the Western Conference, three years after winning the Stanley Cup. They’ve retooled a bit this season, trading pending UFA forward Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in a massive in-season deal that saw forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury land in Colorado. The Avalanche also swapped goalies, acquiring MacKenzie Blackwood from the San Jose Sharks for former Rangers netminder Alexandar Georgiev earlier in the season.
“Obviously a lot of emotions go on, but to find out you’re coming to Colorado and what a great team they have here and just meeting all the guys, I’m just really excited to be here,” Lindgren shared.
The heart-and-soul warrior also added this about leaving behind what was a messy final season with the Rangers.
“New York definitely was up and down. There was a lot of stuff going on, so it’s nice to just come here and move on. It’s a new chapter here. Gotta get up for the playoffs, so I’m really excited.”
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