McDonagh tries to do too much sometimes. He had that breakout run in the finals etc and then started next year trying to do everything and be more of an offensive minded player than he is. He continues to have struggles finding the right balance for his game, seems like he goes through it every year. He's doing better at it now though and the hate he gets on here from people because he's not perfect is insane. He's the only defenseman on the team I can expect to go into a battle for the puck, take it away, make a move or three and get the puck to a teammate for a breakout. He gets zero credit for his ability to make those very difficult plays that no one, NO ONE, else on the team can make on any kind of consistent basis. People hate on him because he doesn't have an offensive defenseman's skill set but he pushes the puck up the ice and tries to make things happen and he STILL produces a good number of points. He's one of the better 1 on 1 defenders around. No credit for any of that. People just want to complain when he gets caught deep or something and not for the large number of things he does very well game in and game out.
I will concede he is mediocre in front of his own net, much like all Rangers defensemen. For some reason the coaches have never taught these guys to tie up sticks in front, who knows why.
At any rate, people keep expecting him to be perfect and when he's not they call him trash. It's despicable and when he's gone people are going to miss having a #1 D. Skjei isn't close to what McDonagh brings, not yet anyways.
