@pld459666
You seem like a pretty reasonable fan, what's the deal with seeing people not particularly into Miller or Lindgren these days? Could they potentially be available in a deal for an extended Hanifin?
To elaborate a bit more...
Lindgren has a lot of miles on him already, and NYR fans are worried that he could be another Staal/Girardi type of contract for the Rangers. He's a real heart and soul guy and the team plays better overall with him in the lineup. Beyond that, he's a good team culture guy. Teammates are always talking him up. Less size than Staal, but decent skating and he's fearless.
Fox helps elevates Lindgren's game, where I otherwise think Lindgren would be a good matchup second pairing d-man. D-men tend to peak a bit later on average, so I think there's that gamble of if he's already at his ceiling, and he may be.
Some of the advanced charts are a bit ugly this year, as they show Fox playing significantly better without Lindgren, and he takes an absolute beating night in and night out. Love him, and a lot of NYR fans do, but I think the hope was always that ultimately Miller would develop to be a first pairing guy alongside Fox and Lindgren would be able to scale back a bit.
Speaking of Miller, he's not playing up to form this year. The new system may play a role, but a lot of the Rangers D has had a tough time this year. Miller also had a game or two off for personal reasons, so there is (needless) speculation there. He looks off from last year--just not reading the plays as well, skating isn't as agile and quick.
Personally, I wouldn't want to trade either of them if we're aiming for a playoff run, but if I had to move one, it would probably be Lindgren because of the potential Miller still has and I think his style may age a bit better and be a bit more rare than Lindgren's. RD is strong for the Rangers. LD has good players, but none are the top-pairing types.
Rangers D overall is a bit of a mystery bag on any given night. Fox is a #1, but Lindgren is probably a #4 as a more complementary guy. Trouba and Miller are good top-4 guys, but neither are at their best right now. I'm high on Schneider and think he could step up to a top-4 role. Gustaffson has been a great surprise.