For all the changes the Rangers made, all the depth they’ve added, all the pledges to be better, they won’t be better if they don’t defend better. A lot better.
Simple as that.
And though their defensive downfall last season was a top-to-bottom fail, the poster boys were defensemen Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, fairly or not.
The two alternate captains started the season as the Rangers’ second- and third-most important defensemen, and had nightmarish seasons, Girardi to a greater extent than Staal.
On Friday, the first day of training camp on which the Rangers hit the rink for on-ice testing, both addressed their issues and their plans to be better.