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Views on Radulov, Schultz and Torts on Costas

June 5, 2012, 4:47 PM ET [196 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Alexander Radulov:

With Friday's news that Marian Gaborik has a torn labrum and rotator cuff, speculation as to who the Rangers could acquire was already running wild and I added several names in my prior blog. On Sunday, Larry Brooks threw out what I would call a medium level bombshell by reporting that GM Glen Sather had more than just "kicking the tires" conversation with Nashville GM David Poile about New York acquiring the mercurial talent of Alexander Radulov.

On the face of it, this is a deal that benefits both teams. Radulov has to a certain extent worn out his welcome in Music City. First, he signed with the KHL following a solid sophomore season with the Predators despite having a year left on his entry level contract.The deal was disputed by the Predators, who suspended Radulov for the season for leaving for Russia. He played four years with the KHL before deciding to come to the Predators, who lifted his suspension and allowed him to fulfil the last year of his contract by playing the final nine games of the season. How did Radulov repay Nashville? He was suspended/scratched for Games 3 and 4 of the second round against the Coyotes after having missed curfew the night before Game 2 in a rather celebrated incident. Those two incidents should be enough, but when you add in the fact that Radulov has an offer on the table from CSKA Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (for a rumored $7.76 million) and Nashville would probably prefer to deal his rights rather than lose him for nothing, it makes sense for the Predators to try and get something for him, even though he might be an RFA.

For the Rangers, as others have pointed out, the potential availability of a top-six forward as what might be a relatively reasonable price requires at worse performing the right due diligence. The talent in general plus the spectre of how long Gabby will be out added on to an offense that struggled mightily in the playoffs would at the surface almost makes this a no-brainer. However, as we all know nothing is that simple. The questions are numerous. Can his style mesh with that of the Rangers? How will he handle it when Torts dresses him down in private or in front of the team if his effort isn't there? Is he willing to stay on the straight and narrow, given that he couldn't do so in Nashville while this is the Big Apple? Will he be (my first thought here) another Nik Zherdev, million dollar arm, 10-cent head, whose skill and ability to score weren't enough to overshadow his flaws and lack of willingness to compete at level Torts requires?

As TPC, Wayne and others wrote in the comments, despite the flaws, this is still a risk worth taking, dependent on cost. As said, for all the talk about Torts' style, how quickly we forget the "safe is death" mantra. As Torts said on Costas (more on that later), despite all the scoring, he believes that Tampa Bay still was up there in blocked shots, meaning that the styles can be a hybrid (as Wayne wrote), without taking away from the other. Torts has shown the ability to adjust to talent while keeping basic framework, so why not here. TPC wrote, "He did say this off-season that the organization shouldn't shy away from players who don't necessary play "his style" The last two years he played that collapse down low, heavy shot blocking, and a lot of dump and chase on offense cause that was the type of roster he had. A lot of 3rd/4th liners. If they add more skill and speed, you will see him open it up more. Maybe actually allow them to skate the puck into the zone more and keep control of the puck. The foundation is set and now you could see that crazy mind of his go to work if they acquire more speed and skill." We all have said we would love Ryan or Nash or Parise (depending on your preference and cost associated with each), acquiring Radulov would still enable that to happen, and if one of those options did not pan out, you still have some who can help fill the gap left by Gaborik's absence. We should know something sooner rather than later as Radulov is suppose to let the leagues and teams know his decision on where to stay by the end of this week.

Justin Schultz:

The other name thrown about lately has been the possible acquisition of Schultz, who was a second round pick (43rd overall) of the Ducks in 2008. In late-May, Schultz withdrew from University of Wisconsin starting the 30-day window for him to sign with the Ducks or become a free agent available to sign with anyone on July 1. Similar to Nashville, Anaheim might want to get whatever they can for Schultz, rather than lose him completely, though there also rumors that the Ducks may go after the team that signs Schultz with tampering charges. Obviously, as has been discussed, the Rangers have interest in Schultz, given that they were able to get Tim Erixon on the relative cheap last year due to similar circumstances plus the presence of former Badgers, McDonagh and Stepan, on the current roster along with the desire to add even more talent to the blue line.

My discussion here won't center solely around Schulz's talent but more so the view of where he fits in and who should be moved. If Schultz is acquired, which s no given as Toronto has substantial interest and can pair him with Jake Gardiner, who was his former defensive partner in college, I have seen discussions of how Staal or MDZ or McIlrath should be moved to acquire a forward and make room for Schultz. My only caveat is can we all take a step back before we automatically pencil in Schultz into the top-four. Granted, at the college level his offensive talent was evident and expectation is that it should translate fairly rapidly to the NHL. However, as we have seen and discussed, defenseman's growth is not linear but very staggered with lots of peaks and valleys. Look at MDZ. His rookie year was excellent, sophomore, he landed back in the minors, and this year, until late in the playoff run, he took another step forward. Plus, as good as I think Schultz can be, the requirements in Torts system are wide-ranging and he needs to get stronger, so to expect to come in and automatically displace and fill the role of one of the other defensemen right off the bat might be unrealistic. Look at Matt Gilroy, another offensive minded d-man. Schultz is more talented, but Gilroy was widely regarded and he wasn't up to the task. Same with Erixon this past year, who needed the AHL seasoning to be ready. So my only concern is that everyone will expect Schultz, if he does end up in NY, to be another Brian Leetch off the bat, which is unfair.


Torts on Costas:

Unsure how many of you saw this after the game last night, but a few things struck me as interesting. (for full recap, see great job on the SNY Rangers Blog - http://www.snyrangersblog.com/2012/06/05/recap-john-tortorella-on-the-bob-costas-show/#more-78940)

1) As Carp pointed out, the talk of Torts' system and press conferences, which originally was supposed to deflect focus away from the team and allow them to concentrate on the task at hand, has taken on a life of their own. The interview should have been more on the team and less on the ancillary and off-ice components, yet, 85-90% of the conversation was on the post-game press conferences and why Torts handled them the way he did. Can we all drop this now especially since the season is over?

2) The only interesting piece on the aforementioned conversation on the press conferences was when Torts was asked if anyone got to him, which is why he became more expansive. His use of the word "really" by saying no one "really" got to him leads me to believe that someone did get to him, but he won't admit that publicly

3) Gaborik. Torts tried to clear the air on Gaborik and his post-season remarks about him by complimenting how hard Gaborik played during the year. The one interesting comment was when he said that he didn't know the extent Gabby's injury until after the season ended. I have to admit I find that hard to believe as Jim Ramsey had to have updated him and how and why would Torts not have known that Gaborik was taking painkilling injections to get through the games. Isn't it part of the coach's job to find out who is and the extent of how much that player is injured?

Going forward:

Wanted to get the readers' view how to handle the season review. Would you prefer it like Adam French did where he did a line by line recap/assessment of each player or prefer like I did last year when I did it alphabetically? Also, would you rather have me do that starting now or wait until the summer and just focus for now on any Rangers' news and lead up to the draft/free agency?
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