The New York Rangers have only played three regular season games, and you may think this is premature, but Marc Staal’s struggles to date aren’t unique to this season. In a year that is all about development, it is a tough question that is fair to ask.
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To his credit, David Quinn seems to recognize that the Rangers’ only permanent alternate captain hasn’t played well, as Staal has the lowest average time on ice, 16:34 a night, among Blueshirt defenders. In his career, Staal has never averaged less than 18:00 a game over the course of an entire season, so this is new territory for him.