Seven games into his NHL career, Braden Schneider looks like a guy who belongs.
The 20-year-old defenseman, called up from AHL Hartford on Jan. 11, has fit seamlessly into the lineup for the Rangers. And head coach Gerard Gallant and assistant coach Gord Murphy, who runs the defense, are starting to give the rookie more and more responsibility.
After he took his first penalty-killing shift as an NHL player in the win over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday, Schneider was asked if the next step was getting power-play time. He laughed.
"We're not going to get that far ahead,’’ he said before Thursday's game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.