Rangers defenseman gets ‘fresh start’ after injury-plagued debut

A year ago, Kevin Shattenkirk was playing through a knee injury just so he could make the opening night start in his first season with his hometown Rangers. It turned out to be a bad idea, the beginning of a hugely disappointing season both for the New Rochelle native and the Blueshirts.

In the interim, he has had surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his left knee and the Rangers have marched forward with their full-scale rebuild. That included firing coach Alain Vigneault and replacing him with David Quinn, whom Shattenkirk knew from their time together at Boston University.

Now that the calendar has flipped and another regular season is about to begin when the Predators come to town Thursday, it feels like a new beginning for many people — but Shattenkirk probably the most.

“It’s kind of a fresh start,” Shattenkirk said after Tuesday morning’s practice in Westchester before the team’s rescheduled golf outing. “I think it’s nice to have an idea of what’s coming, it’s not brand new. It’s a fresh start for me to hopefully prove myself and show what I wanted to show last year. I’m looking forward to it.”

The organization is also looking forward to seeing what Shattenkirk has after he signed an under-market deal, a four-year, $26.6 million free-agent contract in July 2017. Back then it was all smiles with the discount (in term) he gave his childhood-favorite team. But the knee injury hampered him from reaching the level of play most expected, then the Rangers’ season went into a tailspin that led to the letter to the fans in February and the subsequent selling off of assets with an eye to the future.

“I think we’re a very driven team in here, having last year and underachieving in a lot of minds. So we have a lot to prove,” Shattenkirk said. “We’re all starting at the same level and it’s nice for everyone to kind of step up.”

Though it’s only Shattenkirk’s second year on Broadway, Quinn is going to rely on him to be a leader both on the ice and in the locker room. The two have a history and a special relationship that goes back almost a decade, and they already have a very open line of communication — something Quinn has stressed with all his players.

“I think we have a bunch of guys that lead. But I think with our relationship, he comes and talks to me a little more freely than other people,” Quinn said. “People talk about communication, but that’s life. I don’t care what you’re doing, you have to talk to people and take input. At the end of the day, I make the final decision, but I’m certainly curious as to what the players think.”

It seems like Quinn is initially going to start Shattenkirk on a pair with Brendan Smith, a veteran player who can be a stout defender. That could allow Shattenkirk to be more aggressive offensively, which might help him regain some of the confidence he lost last year when he was guarding against further injury to his knee.

At least during training camp and preseason games, Quinn has seen him improve.

“He’s getting better for sure. He’s moving better, he’s more decisive,” Quinn said. “I think it’s the lack of confidence last year with his knee, I think he’s still recovering from that mentally. Physically, I think he’s 100 percent.”

Shattenkirk agreed with that sentiment, saying that he has been nothing but encouraged with the way his knee has reacted in training camp. He played both games of the back-to-back to end the preseason schedule. That was followed by three of Quinn’s signature hard practices, which Shattenkirk said might have been a first in terms of a five-day workload.

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“The way it’s reacted has been pretty comforting, knowing how hard we’ve been going,” he said. “I think as far as pushing the limits, playing back-to-back games, all those things are little boxes you have to check off. So far so good.”

There might be an occasional maintenance day for Shattenkirk during the season, but right now he’s just happy he’s healthy and ready to prove he’s not the player he was at this time last year.

“I think the way that this whole camp has been going, and obviously getting the new coaching staff in here, everyone [is] feeling like they’re starting clean slate,” he said. “I feel like I’m doing that as well.”