The New York Rangers have had a mostly shining summer. They overhauled their defense, on paper moving from perhaps a bottom-five group last year to a top-five group this year. The incredibly team-friendly signing of Kevin Shattenkirk and buyout of Dan Girardi give them a dangerous top pair.
The re-signing of Brendan Smith solidifies the second pair, along with Brady Skjei. Some questions remain around the third pair (and veteran Marc Staal), but the biggest problem now is at center.
The Rangers were able to sign Shattenkirk with cap space cleared in the Derek Stepan trade.