Although there hasn’t been much talk about it in the Rangers blog-o-sphere, there is an intense battle heating up for the bottom defense pairing. Most of the focus has been on Brad Richards, and with good reason, but the bottom defense pairing is shaping up to be a great battle in camp. Although Tim Erixon and Michael Del Zotto appear to have the inside track, and Pavel Valentenko is getting most of the attention for dark horses, I’m going out on a limb and saying that if Erixon or Del Zotto falter, that Tomas Kundratek is a prime candidate to take a spot.
Kundratek didn’t make it past the first round of cuts last year, but that means nothing heading into this year’s camp (see: Sauer, Mike). Kundratek’s game is a simple one, he just gets in the opposition’s way. He has been incredible in his own end with the CT Whale, he is rarely out of position and does the little things right. The best thing that can be said about a defensive defenseman i...
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