Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Sather Talks Torts, Vigneault, Stepan, Boyle, Staal and Richards

August 23, 2013, 3:40 PM ET [59 Comments]
Jan Levine
New York Rangers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Glen Sather was a guest on Edmonton Sports Radio 1260 yesterday and was fairly expansive and pointed when discussing various players, the former and current coach. If you haven't listened to the whole interview , it's well worth the 17:45 to do so.

The key headlines, as others have pointed out are:
1) Sather denied that the players came to him asking for Torts to be fired
2) Derek Stepan will get a bridge deal
3) Brian Boyle is drawing interest from several teams
4) Marc Staal is 100%
5) A reason why Brad Richards struggled

On Torts, the exact quote from Sather is: " It is not true the players came to me. I wouldn't allow a player come to me and tell me we don't like the coach." Of course, this would not be news unless it was in direct contrast to what John Tortorella said in a recent interview where he indicated that the players in exit interviews did not say anything to him. Adding that "you hope you develop people to be men, and I thought we were there. I guess it went through a third part instead of face-to-face…" This may be just be a case of Sather trying to have him and the organization move on, but Torts obviously disagrees with that view and Rangers-Canucks contests just got a lot more interesting. One other point that Sather made is that just because is fired doesn't mean he didn't do a good job or is not a good coach, as there are times when organizations need change. He believes that under Alain Vigneault the Rangers will be better and able to roam more offensively.

Stepan. Sather's said: "Derek is in one of those positions where he's coming off an entry level contract. What we've done historically with all the players we've signed is we've put them into that gap contract where they have two years then after the first year then you negotiate an extention of that contract. That's pretty much what we're going to do with Derek. I'm not going to give him a long term contract at this stage. He's a good player. He's a smart player. He's a good team guy. There's certainly nothing wrong with him. But you got to wait a little while before you get the big bucks."

Stepan is in a position where he has little wiggle room. He was unable to take the team to arbitration, unlike Ryan McDonagh, and therefore could not force Sather's hand that way. He could go two others routes besides signing a bridge deal with the Rangers, like what Ryan O'Reilly did. He could hold out and/or sign an offer sheet elsewhere, which in essence would tie the Rangers hands and force them to make a call. Of course, part of that is predicated on team's signing other players to offer sheets, which has become rarer and rarer these days. One would think given the cap bandwidths for picks to be lost when signing someone to an offer sheet (based on the picks required for an RFA, going above $5,046,585 would not be surprising.$ 3,364,392 $ 5,046,585 2014 1st round pick, 2014 3rd round pick and $ 5,046,586 $ 6,728,781 2014 1st round pick, 2014 2nd round pick, 2014 3rd round pick) and how Stepan, Henrique, Hodgson, Kadri and Johansson could be first/second centers on several teams, yet have barely drawn a whiff of interest, my view that there is unspoken collusion, like in baseball years ago, seems to have more weight behind it.

The decision to give Stepan a bridge contract is not surprising. They broke the mold on McDonagh but the team view was that he was special case and deserved it because he is a top-pair d-man, who potentially could be a Norris Trophy winner. As Glen said, while Stepan may have already exceeded what we thought he would produce, he has not done it long-term, nor has he really excelled in the playoffs. I had written in the past, I could see a short-term deal with Stepan getting more during the year, which would allow the Rangers to manage the cap and something the team did with Lundqvist before he signed his six-year deal. That way, both sides get what they want, albeit in different timeframes
.

Boyle - "Sather acknowledged that teams have been calling about Brian Boyle's services, but he's not anxious to trade him as it could be something he regrets." This is something we have discussed a lot. Boyle is not a player who uses his size effectively most of the time, but that is something we are used. He is a finesse 6-foot-7 player, but as we have seen, when he gets more physical, as he did the first three games against Ottawa two years ago before the injury and at times versus Washington, his production rises. The key for Vigneault will be to tap into that style of play more often, which in turn will make Boyle even more valuable. If Stepan signs a reasonable deal, $1.7 million for a quality third/fourth line center winger, who can kill penalties and take draws is not unreasonable. In addition, with the likelihood that Ryan Callahan and Carl Hagelin may miss the first month of the season and Stepan's contract situation still up in the air, Boyle will be needed early on, so why deal him now?

Staal - Sather said Staal is 100% healthy and fully recovered from the eye injury. That is a paraphrasing because he said Staal is 100% and dealt with a difficult eye injury. We basically put the two statements together to make a whole, whereby the 100% recovered should include the eye injury, even though not explicitly said. Sather did highlight that he was invited to the Canadian Olympic team camp, which is another indication of his value and progress made.

Richards: Sather said: "Richards spent the summer negotiating the new CBA and that hurt his training. He was behind 1st day of camp, but he'll bounce back." He better. A good portion of the Rangers' success this year may be riding on if Richards can return even to 2011-12 form. The team limited their options this offseason by not buying him out. It's a reasonable but not good excuse that he was not in shape because as a professional athlete that is something you control and is a requirement of your position, by not doing so, he let the team and fan base down. The cross-hairs and bullseye will be squarely on Richards this year with no allowance for excuses.
Join the Discussion: » 59 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Jan Levine
» Rangers face Avalanche as Ryan Lindgren returns to the lineup
» Rangers clinch playoff berth with barn burner 6-5 OT win over the Flyers
» Rangers face Flyers with chance to clinch playoff berth
» Rangers rally twice to defeat Panthers 4-3 in a shootout
» Rangers ride hat trick from Panarin and play of Quick to 5-2 win over B’s