Rangers looking at defensive dilemma when Neal Pionk returns

Regarding the Rangers, who reconvene for practice on Sunday:

1. It is unclear when Neal Pionk, sidelined for four of the past five games heading into the All-Star break with a lower-body issue, will be cleared to return. But when he is, coach David Quinn will face one of the trickiest lineup decisions of his brief tenure.

That is, does Pionk necessarily rejoin the lineup the moment he’s ready, and if so, who comes out? Tony DeAngelo? Adam McQuaid? Kevin Shattenkirk?

DeAngelo has taken the baton passed to him in Pionk’s absence and has run with it, not only playing the most consistently constructive hockey of his brief NHL career, but combining with Marc Staal to form the team’s most solid first pair yet, though we’re not quite talking Brian Leetch-Jeff Beukeboom. Not even Marek Malik-Michal Rozsival. But still, as they say about the one-eyed man in the land of the blind …

It’s a small sample size, of course. A teeny sample size, that too. But the fact is that in 102:33 of five-on-five, the Staal-DeAngelo tandem has a 52.3 Corsi rating, a 53.3 shot share and a plus-three (8/5) rating with a 34.5 offensive-zone start percentage per Naturalstattrick.com. Meanwhile, in 534:01, the Staal-Pionk pair has a 41.0 Corsi, a 41.0 shot share and a minus-five (19/24) with a 40.06 O-zone start number.

Now, these numbers are not dispositive. This column is not a slave to Corsi and the attendant numbers scraped off official game sheets replete with errors. There wouldn’t be a dozen pie charts here even if the format were friendly to such graphics. And the Rangers maintain their own analytical records, compiled by the coaching staff after reviewing video.

A week ago, though, Quinn told The Post the staff’s own numbers generally align with the information available in the public arena. This was a general observation, certainly not one about any defense pairing. But the truth is the numbers also align with the eye test. So would the coach break up the top pair that was intact through the three-game winning streak the Blueshirts will seek to extend on Tuesday when the Flyers come to the Garden?

It makes no sense for DeAngelo to sit either in a macro- or microanalysis of the situation. The Blueshirts are on a need-to-know basis on No. 77, who has driven offense while playing responsibly on the defensive side of the puck and who has behaved responsibly in all areas. This is the time to find out whether DeAngelo is a viable top-six option.

Sitting Shattenkirk is a non-starter. For not only is No. 22 playing his best hockey since November 2017 while both manning the first power-play unit and getting meaningful time killing penalties in Pionk’s absence, the Rangers need to showcase him in case other teams are interested in dealing for him.

Would Quinn scratch McQuaid, whose toughness and leadership the coach extols at every opportunity and whose presence on Brady Skjei’s right side has provided somewhat of a security blanket for No. 76? Would he sit McQuaid, when the Rangers need to pump up the pending free agent’s value on the trade market?

This will be a tricky call for Quinn, and injuries often resolve such situations, but at this moment there seems little reason to force Pionk back into the lineup.

2. The Rangers called up Boo Nieves one game too late. With 80 games the cutoff for unrestricted Group 6 free agency, Nieves has played a career total of 45, with 34 games remaining.

Thus, the Blueshirts need to either extend the center’s contract, move him by the deadline, or take the chance on allowing the Michigan product to go scot-free.

3. Financial considerations as they relate to Brendan Smith, who has rehabilitated himself after last year’s debacle, but has no future on the Blueshirts’ blueline while carrying a contract with a $4.35 million NHL cap hit for two more seasons:

see also

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A trade in which the Rangers pick up 50 percent of the deal would mean a $2,612,500 cap hit the next two years. Assignment to the AHL would mean a $3.275 million cap hit each of the next two years, the allowance increasing to $1.075 million for “buried” contracts. A buyout following this season would mean cap hits of $970,000, 833,000, $3,145,833, $1,145,833 and $1,145,833, respectively, for the next four years. Assignment to the Wolf Pack next year followed by a buyout would mean cap hits of $3.275 million, $2,783,33, $2,783,333 respectively for the next three years.

4. Signing Marian Gaborik to his five-year, $37.5 million contract on July 1, 2009 represents the greatest free-agency move in Blueshirts’ history. Not only did The Great Gabby record two 40-plus goal seasons in his four years in New York, but his subsequent 2013 deadline trade to Columbus netted Derek Brassard, whose trade to Ottawa after three years of commendable service yielded Mika Zibanejad and the second-rounder the Rangers used to move up to select K’Andre Miller last June.