from Katie Strang of ESPN,

For many years, this designation would have gone to goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who has been the backbone of the New York Rangers for the better part of a decade. And though Lundqvist has remained consistently stellar, the team has vastly improved in front of him, as well.

Plenty of folks assumed the Rangers would drop off once Lundqvist went down with a vascular injury at the end of January, but instead the team kept plugging along. Lundqvist’s injury was dispiriting, but not devastating.

If there is any single player the Rangers can ill-afford to lose this coming season, it is McDonagh.

The 26-year-old captain anchors the team’s back end and leads a defensive corps that includes the likes of defensive partner Dan Girardi, and veterans Marc Staal, Kevin Klein, Keith Yandle and Dan Boyle. McDonagh often draws the unenviable task of matching up against opposing team’s top lines, and his stout, physical presence is what makes the Rangers one of the stingiest teams in the league.

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