The biggest change the Rangers made this offseason was to their backend, and the biggest reason they were able to make such drastic adjustments is because they believe Brady Skjei can carry quite the heavy load.
The 23-year-old defenseman played 80 games for the Blueshirts last season, and has 87 total NHL regular-season games under his belt.
It might not be the biggest sample size, but what general manager Jeff Gorton — and the rest of the league — have seen has been enough to realize that an increased role was inevitable.
“I’m just taking it stride by stride,” Skjei said Tuesday after a group of mostly veterans skated at the team’s Westchester practice facility, with training camp set to open with off-ice testing Thursday.