McDonagh's game has soared since being selected as All-Star

When Ryan McDonagh was named to the All-Star Game as the lone Rangers representative, some in the New York press corps privately speculated that the captain was chosen because the Metropolitan Division squad in the 3-on-3 “tournament” in Nashville next weekend needed a defenseman, not a forward.

After all, the 11-man Metro team already had six forwards locked in, including the Islanders’ John Tavares, Alex Ovechkin (Capitals) and Evgeni Malkin (Penguins), and goalies Braden Holtby (Capitals) and Cory Schneider (Devils).

And to be fair, McDonagh hadn’t fared all that well before the Jan. 6 announcement. He had five goals and 12 assists in 40 games, but more troubling was a slippage in…