An unenforced enforcer

IT IS the principal every bit as much as the principle in this case, if not more so. Because though there might be an argument to be made that a youngish, finesse-oriented team such as the Rangers could benefit from having an enforcer/protector in the lineup, it represents a leap of faith to believe Cody McLeod is the individual to cast in that role.

Been there. Did almost nothing to warrant a return. Yet, after batting their eyes at impending Las Vegas free agent Ryan Reaves without reciprocal interest then passing on the opportunity to acquire Matt Martin from Toronto, the Blueshirts for some reason decided to bring McLeod back to Broadway for an encore, re-upping the 34-year-old winger for a one-year deal worth $750,000.

In theory, a player with McLeod’s résumé could protect and defend younger teammates from abuse. More realistically, in this era when the notion that one player could be a deterrent against, say, head shots is largely discredited, McLeod at least would present a credible threat of retaliation in the event of a cheap shot against a Ranger.

Except when given that opportunity last year in his second game as a Ranger after being picked up on waivers from the Predators at the AllStar break, the winger abdicated his responsibility and did absolutely nothing after Marc Staal and Jimmy Vesey took head shots within a span of 1:52 in the second period in Nashville on Feb. 3.

You remember. It was one of the low points of a season that was well on its way to going all wrong. Staal was cheap-shotted into the end boards by Alexei Emelin at 10:49 of the second and immediately left the ice. Seven seconds later, McLeod was sent on against Emelin by Alain Vigneault. The Ranger did nothing during a 52second shift.

At 12:41, Vesey took a reverse hit in the mouth from Filip Forsberg. McLeod took two more shifts in the second period and four in the third. He sought no vengeance. Why else did the 6-foot-2, 210pounder — who played 25 games with the Rangers — think he was there?

McLeod has earned respect through nine-plus seasons in Colorado and a year-and-a-half in Nashville, but his absence that night should have been disqualifying when applied to mulling a return. Maybe McLeod was conflicted after having been in the room with Emelin, Forsberg and the rest of the Predators until just a couple of weeks earlier. No one is suggesting that McLeod is a bad guy or bad teammate, but still, he had an immediate chance to make a first impression, and it was not particularly encouraging.

The only acceptable explanation would have been if Vigneault had instructed his players to stand down, but we’ve done some checking and have learned that was not the case. Indeed, we’re told the coach was upset over the team’s pacifism and raised the issue with the players the following day while reviewing the game video. Problem is that when the coach says “whistle-to-whistle” often enough, players tend to believe it.

David Quinn was an assistant for one year in Colorado during McLeod’s tenure, so presumably there is a relationship between the player and the Blueshirts’ incoming coach. But Quinn needs to have freedom in making out his lineup. If McLeod doesn’t fit, then the coach must have the right to scratch him. This is not the time to scratch Tomas Kloucek in order to play Igor Ulanov, if you get my drift.

The Rangers have done this over and over again. They brought in Donald Brashear when he was 37. They brought in Derek Boogaard when he was 28 and John Scott for a couple of months when he was 29. They bring in heavyweights who not only have punched themselves out for other teams but who are fast becoming anachronisms. Boogaard was a unique, tragic matter, but not since Colton Orr more than a decade ago has this type of transaction worked.

Every piece of data seems to in- dicate otherwise, but maybe you can posit that having an enforcer on the bench creates some sort of comfort zone for Filip Chytil, Lias Andersson and Libor Hajek, not to mention Vlad Namestnikov and Ryan Spooner. Maybe such an addition helps the room. It becomes much more difficult, however, to suggest that McLeod is the right man for the job in New York. The Rangers kind of tried that already.

You are aware, by the way, that the Islanders do not have their own second-, third- or fourth-round picks in the 2019 draft, and as such are out of the offer sheet game this summer, correct?

That is unless GM Lou Lamoriello, a) intends to sign a free agent to a no-compensation contract of no more than $1,339,575 per; or, b) intends to sign William Nylander — er, a generic Group II — to a deal worth at least an AAV of $10,148,303 that would carry compensation of four firstrounders.

Revenge will have to wait.