To borrow from a famous phrase, it is better to have played together for a few days and lost than to have never played together at all.
When Ryan Lindgren arrived with the Colorado Avalanche, he was excited to play for a Stanley Cup contender. But he was also going to play with one of his best friends, center Casey Mittelstadt.
It was a great moment for the former Minnesota Gophers teammates and offseason golfing buddies. It lasted a week.
Lindgren arrived March 1. Mittelstadt was shipped out March 8 to the Bruins for Charlie Coyle.
“Yeah, it was crazy. Casey is one of my best buddies, has been for a while now,” Lindgren said. “Obviously, we were both really excited to be playing with each other. It was short … but I guess those few days were fun. It was exciting for the time.”
Lindgren has had nearly a month to settle in Denver. He’s found a slightly different role with the Avs, but his style of play has translated well.
For much of his time with the Rangers, Lindgren skated next to Adam Fox, the club’s No. 1 defenseman. The Avs have an established top pairing and a second duo that’s played a lot together as well. When everyone is healthy, Lindgren could slot in as the No. 5 guy during the playoffs.
Given that Samuel Girard and Josh Manson have both missed time with injuries lately, Lindgren has been up on the second pair and is still playing 19 minutes a night, nearly as much as he did in New York.
“He’s fit in nicely,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “His addition, and with (Erik Johnson), has become more important with guys missing time again. Adding that depth, that’s why you do it, so you can be as strong as you can when everyone’s healthy and still have other options who can help win hockey games. He’s a big part of that.”
There was plenty of discourse about how the Rangers deployed Lindgren and what the advanced statistics looked like when he and Fox were together or apart. Colorado is one of the most information-savvy clubs in the NHL, and the day he arrived, Bednar alluded to some ways he felt Lindgren could thrive in the Avs’ ecosystem.
Just this season, the Rangers had only 41.18% of the shot attempts at 5-on-5 when Lindgren was on the ice without Fox, and 44.05% of the expected goals, a model-based statistic that tracks all unblocked shot attempts and tries to strip out things individual players cannot control. Lindgren has played 11 games without Fox since moving to Denver, and his underlying numbers are … doing just fine.
It’s a small sample, but the Avs are producing 50.85% of the expected goals when he’s on the ice at 5-on-5, which is third among the current top-six defensemen on the club and right in line with Girard and Sam Malinski.
Lindgren said he doesn’t see this fresh start as a chance to get away from Fox’s shadow, or to show off more of his all-around skillset.
“I was very fortunate (in New York),” he said. “I got to play with Adam, who was a Norris-winning defenseman, and we were good buddies. We got five-and-a-half years together. I think we did a good job. We had some success. Coming here, it’s a little different, but I try to play my game regardless of who I’m playing with, and just try to compete hard and do the best I can every night.
“When I was playing with Adam, if I got in the o-zone, nine times out of 10 it’s going over to him to try to get him the puck. But I’ve been playing with Sam Malinski, and I feel the same way — just get the puck over to him and let him go to work. I just try to do what I do.”
Bednar certainly trusts him to play more than the other depth defensemen who were here earlier this season. It’s likely that Lindgren and Malinski will be the third pairing in the postseason if everyone is healthy, with Johnson available to rotate in when needed.
Both Lindgren and Malinski are Lakeview, Minn., natives and were born in 1998. They took very different paths to this point. Malinski was playing for the Bismark Bobcats in the NAHL when Lindgren made his Rangers debut, but now they’ve got a chance to skate next to each other during a potentially long Stanley Cup playoff run.
“He was like (in) the south, I was north,” Lindgren said of their hometown of about 76,000 people south of the Twin Cities. “I think when we were real young, we probably went to some camps together. But I was kind of a suitcase (kid). I don’t really play for Lakeville. I was on different AAA teams. He stayed loyal and stayed with Lakeville.
“We obviously knew of each other. It’s pretty cool that we’re on the same team now.”
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