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Ask Your "What the Ek?" And could Scott Niedermayer be a Ranger? |
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Get your questions in. As always I will answer as many as possible over the next few days. No question is too dumb. No question is too difficult.
So we have all heard the rumours, and we have all sat back and been amazed at the patience shown by Anaheim as they wait for Scott and Teemu, two of the biggest cogs in last year's machine, to decide if they want to play a sport for one more year and get paid millions of dollars. And yes, it is frustrating, and at times baffling, when you consider both players are still at their peaks and both have another thirty or forty years on the planet to NOT play hockey.
And yes, I have learned, in just shy of forty years, that everything is indeed relative. So the money part is perhaps unfair...
Ok, so fast forward to yesterday...
I was talking to a friend who has been around this sport for longer than I have been by quite a bit, And he threw a theory out there that really got me thinking he may be onto something. Now he did not profess to have inside info. He just was using some knowledge and some common sense.
"What if," he said, "Scotty were to come back and say , 'I want to play, but I don't want to travel.' And what if Anaheim was to say, 'of course we would rather have you, but hey with all the good young kids we need to sign we really can't pay you, and yet we would love to have you as a chip rather than just see you retire. We could get great return on you to a team in the Atlantic division that doesn't travel nearly as much as we do. You could be closer to your kids and wife.' "
That is a scenario that no one has really talked about.
"Can you imagine Niedermayer on these Rangers?" he continued, "They would likely move Mark Staal + to get a legit shot at one or two Cups. Of course there are cap issues, but if you are the Rangers it doesn't matter. Send guys to the farm...And of course Scott will get to pick where he goes. He is a virtual free agent. He went out West to win a Cup with Rob, but being back in the East, where most of the games, even the playoff games, are an hour or two by plane or car, could possibly tip the scale to get him playing again. Listen, I know that he has said he wants to return to Anaheim, and he is a pro and should say this. But if it comes down to retirement or giving the Ducks a nice little severence package he will choose the latter."
Again, this is not a rumour. It is just a theory. However it makes far too much sense to not mention and it comes from a person who very much knows all the parties involved. I could absolutely see it happening. He could find a new birth in NY and play a few more years while being there for his family.
What are your thoughts?
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