Once the New York Rangers acquired Brendan Smith at the NHL Trade Deadline and failed to move any defensemen off of the NHL roster, they sent a signal. Battles for playing time on the blue-line would begin.
Due to injuries to Dan Girardi, Kevin Klein, and Ryan McDonagh, the battles haven’t been hectic yet. Despite hosting eight defensemen (Adam Clendening, Nick Holden, Girardi, Klein, McDonagh, Brady Skjei, Smith, and Staal) the Rangers have had few games in which all defensemen were available to play.
Thus, we have not yet seen Alain Vigneault choose between his entire stable of defensemen.