How Rangers’ defensemen of the future are faring in the AHL

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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Here is the truism that makes Rangers brass smile, and affords it the ability to not rush anyone up the defensive pipeline.

“I’m a big believer that you can never have enough defensemen, because they always seem to be the ones that [get hurt] quickly because of how much contact they take,” AHL Hartford’s coach Keith McCambridge told The Post before his team’s 2-1 loss here the Islanders Bridgeport affiliate, the Sound Tigers, on Wednesday night. “Hopefully that doesn’t happen. But they’re all just focused on making sure they work on their games, continue to grow, game-in and game-out, and the get the repetitions in practice.

“And minutes,” McCambridge continued. “Minutes are huge. You can teach them in practice and video, those are all parts of development. But minutes, playing in key situations, and having success — and having some adversity as well — that’s part of development. That’s part of growth. Those are all good things.”

So taking the ice and playing solid games for the Wolf Pack were Ryan Lindgren and Libor Hajek, two key pieces to big-time trades made this past season. They joined John Gilmour (leading team defenseman in points) and Rob O’Gara, who both have some NHL experience, along with talented project Brandon Crawley.

Up at the Rangers level, coach David Quinn has continually said they have eight legit NHL defensemen who can play every night. That will be true again once Adam McQuaid returns relatively soon from his core injury that has kept him out since Oct. 25. But that logjam — at least until the lead-up to the Feb. 25 trade deadline — is not something the young blueliners down here are thinking about.

“Obviously they have a lot of really good defensemen up there and they’re all up there for a reason,” Lindgren said. “I don’t look too much into that. They have eight ‘D’ that can play, and there’s nothing really I can do about that. I just have to make sure I’m doing what I can down here and get better every day.”

Lindgren is certainly a player the Rangers think highly of, having obtained him in the trade that sent Rick Nash to the Bruins. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, the University of Minnesota product had a good training camp and is adapting to his first full season in pro hockey. He might not be the flashiest player on the ice every night, but stability is something every team needs on the back end.

“He’s been more of that old-school defenseman with regards to he’s a pain for the opposition to play against,” McCambridge said. “He gives you an extra little hit here. He does all the little things, blocking shots, that stay-at-home-style defenseman needs to do. And he’s been good. He’s been really good for us.”

Of course every player in the minors believes they could be playing in the NHL, and the 20-year-old Lindgren is no different. But he’s also not trying to rush it.

“I think that I can play at the NHL level,” Lindgren said. “I just have to keep working and hopefully I get my call to play up there and show them what I got.”

Hajek is the other big prospect, having come over as part of the deal that sent Ryan McDongh and J.T. Miller to the Lightning. The 20-year-old Czech measures 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, but his biggest asset isn’t just his size.

“His skating ability, he’s a powerful skater,” McCambridge said. “When you see him skate, he’s got a real strong, powerful stride. Which is a big part of what NHL players, NHL defensemen need to have. He’s got lots of good tools. He’s a bright prospect for a reason. We see a lot of positive in his game. He’s here to work on making sure that’s there every single night.”

That consistency was the main point McCambridge was trying to drive home during this developmental process. And because of the current glut of defensemen with the Rangers, the big-league club isn’t concerned about rushing one of these prospects along too fast.

“A big part of a defenseman is consistency,” McCambridge said. “It’s a big part of the position that when you do mess up, you’re exposed.”