Schneider facing Rangers ceiling as he seeks ‘next level’
BRADEN SCHNEIDER is a young defenseman in a hurry to make more of his mark on the Rangers. And when he was given the opportunity to do that by stepping up in the lineup in the two games bridging the All-Star break for which Jacob Trouba had been suspended, Jan. 27 at Ottawa and Feb. 5 at the Garden against Colorado, the 22-year-old seized the moment(s).
Schneider moved up to a matchup tandem on K’Andre Miller’s right side and got his two highest ice times of the season, 20:54 in the 7-2 victory over the Senators and 19:41 against the Avalanche in that 2-1 overtime triumph in which the tandem had its fair share of time attempting to deal with Nathan MacKinnon and
Mikko Rantanen. Schneider is averaging 15:06 of ice time on the year.
“I prepare for every game the same whether I’m playing on matchup pair or whether I’m playing the third pair,” Schneider told The Post before the Rangers’ 2-0 win over the Flames in which he was in his usual third-pair spot alongside Erik Gustafsson. “I try and make sure that I am performing my best and playing the best hockey that I know how to play, and for me that would be hard-to-playagainst, [having] good gaps, using my legs to defend, to join the rush or whatever it may be.
“Obviously in those games you’re told beforehand that you’re going to be matched up against a top line so you kind of look for and be ready for some of the things they tend to do. I’ve got to make sure that I’m going the same every night. After you play a role like that it does help with confidence that you passed a test against a good team, like against Colorado, you feel good when you don’t give up a whole lot and get the win.
“You have to keep reminding yourself that, ‘Yeah, you have to keep playing like that.’ ”
Head coach Peter Laviolette has been impressed by Schneider’s evolution in what is still only the defenseman’s second full season in the league. It often seems as if Schneider has been here forever and not only just 25 months. He has been a staple in the lineup and on the right side of the third pair since his recall and debut in San Jose on Jan. 13, 2022.
“I thought he played really well with more minutes, more responsibility and sometimes harder minutes and harder opponents,” Laviolette said. “It was really good to see him step up inside of that and play big minutes.
“He did a really good job in the absence of Jacob. Troubs is an awfully hard guy to replace because of his physicality . ... But it’s the way he defends, his attitude, his physical presence. That’s necessary and needed inside of our lineup. So I thought Schneids went up there and did a good job.”
It is the standard refrain from mites on up. In order to earn ice time you have to get ice time. There is a process to understanding how to be a valuable teammate with more limited minutes than perhaps previously customary. Remember: every player in the NHL at one point was his team’s best.
“When you’re getting on more and you kind of get into a rhythm, you definitely get a bit more of a flow for the game, a better feel for the game. You pick your spots, your reads are a little quicker, you can join the rush and be, I guess, a little more physical,” Schneider said. “When you’re playing more, you’re just playing.
“Regardless, there is no excuse if you’re in a different role. You’re playing hockey, you have a job to do for your team, you’re playing with your instincts, you’re playing simple and you have to trust yourself.”
Schneider, who is coming up on restricted free agency out of his entry-level deal, has a frozen glass ceiling above him on the right side of the blue line in Adam Fox and Trouba. When adding Schneider to the mix, the depth chart scared off Nils Lundkvist. There is, though, a natural order on the right side and Schneider is aware of it and the challenge it presents.
“Foxy and Trouba, they are worldclass players. They play their game and they play it amazingly. It’s hard to try and break that up, if that’s the right way to say it, but that’s not my goal,” Schneider said. “They’re great players in their own right but definitely I want to try and find ways to involve myself in the game more and to help our team win, whatever that may be.
“I think of myself as a young player who is still learning. I’m going to try and keep doing my best, playing my game and being patient. There definitely is a next level I can achieve and that’s definitely a goal.”