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New York Rangers Blogger •
About to start Day 3 of free agency and the question on nearly every Rangers fans mind is: are we better off than where we were after the season ended? If we going to grade Glen Sather on what was done so far, which is likely unfair given there are still moves to be made, but hey, we are crazy Rangers fans and need to put a letter or number next to everything, for now, you would have to say Incomplete.
The goal heading into the off-season was to build a team in the mold of the style of play desired by coach John Tortorella. Faster, more aggressive, physical, tougher and maybe younger. In addition, a big forward, physical d-man and power play point man would be nice as well. The moves so far by GM Glen Sather have accomplished some of that but there are still lots of holes to be filled.
Pre-Day 1 saw the trade of Scott Gomez to Montreal for Chris Higgins and Ryan McDonagh. That accomplished the goal of freeing up more cap room to be a player in free agency, brought back someone with a bit more grit and physical play and removed our top center. However, it moved someone who underachieved under two coaches; never seemed to mesh with any wingers he was paired with; and, wasn’t in the condition required to play under Torts. On the surface, this deal is a clear thumbs-up for the Rangers.
The Rangers headed into free agency now with money and a slightly improved team, where will Slats go. Immediately both Sedins were off the board, but that’s okay, we didn’t expect either one or both here. Mattias Ohlund to Tampa, no biggie, expected him there to tutor Victor Hedman and not really what we needed. Colton Orr to Toronto. Ah, darn. For some reason despite his playing with his heart on his sleeve and willingness to step up in weight class, Torts never seemed to like Orr, benching him down the stretch of the Capitals series. There goes our enforcer, so another need.
First big sniper goes when Marian Hossa lands in Chicago. The length of the contract, 12 years, and $62 million, likely took us out of the running, but lots of fish left. Mike Knuble to Washington for two years, $5.8 million. Glen, where were you buddy? I realize that Knuble is 37, but he is in good shape, has played in New York so knows what it takes to succeed here, a solid top-six forward which we need at a relatively reasonable salary and he goes to a conference rival. Damn, that’s one guy I really wanted and think we screwed up not getting.
Next comes the move that nearly every Rangers fan has an issue with: signing Donald Brashear. First of all, why are you giving him a two-year deal? Second, how well will it play in the locker room when Brashear, who cheap-shotted Blair Betts, breaking his orbital bone, walks in? Yes, I realize it’s a business and so will the team, but I can’t there being warm fuzzies going around. That said, Torts and Sather view Brashear as someone who is a better skater and can be used in multiple situations as opposed to Orr.
The day continued and Niedermayer and Cole re-signed with their respective teams, no surprise, Spacek went to Montreal for three years, a bit surprising for a 35+ player, Gill to Montreal, how will being away for the Penguins’ style expose his lack of foot speed, and then Cammalleri to Montreal. Rangers could have definitely used him, but was he a product of playing with Iginla, is six-million per too much and he is a smallish center, so no dice. The big mistake was not signing Mike Kommisarek. New York desperately needs a physical d-man who can clear the crease and bang bodies. Toronto signed him for a relatively reasonable four years, $22.5 million and for those who say he is overrated, remember he led the Canadians in blocked shots and hits last season. If we make the playoffs and get pushed around on the back line, we point to this day and non-acquisition as the reason.
It looked like the Rangers were not going to add the sniper they needed and Heatley appeared headed to Edmonton. All of a sudden, boom, Darren Dreger twitters, Gaborik, five years, $27.5 million. Woo, hoo, there is, the sniper we need, at a reasonable price as at that number it was Gaborik and Higgins for Gomez, clear thumbs up. Au contraire, mon fraire, literally a minute or two later, it comes out, five years, $37.5 million. Well, now it’s not so good. Sather paid an injury prone – he has played more than 65 games once in the past five years, moving from the more freestyling Western to the physical Eastern conference and coming off January hip surgery. That said, he exploded for 18 points in the last 11 games after he game back and gives the Rangers the gamebreaker they have lacked and one needed to win in the current NHL.
The day concluded with a few more interesting moves: Gionta to Montreal, reuniting him with Gomez but leaving Canadians as the reincarnation of the Rangers’ smurfs and Chris Neil, who the Rangers seemed to have locked up, heading back to Ottawa and saving Chris Drury more heartache. One small move, that may come back to bite the Rangers in the butt, was letting Fredrik Sjostrom walk to Phoenix for a reasonable 1.5 million over two years. Losing him takes away a key penalty kill component and may be a penny wise, pound foolish transaction. Lastly, Martin Havlat went to Minnesota, but once we got Gaborik, there was no way we were adding another injury prone forward at a high dollar amount.
Day 2: hopes are still high, moves to be made, but the day turned out to be light in terms of player movement. Nik Antrpov, who reportedly wanted five years and more than $25 million to stay with the Rangers, took $16.4 million over four years to go play with Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta. That move was clearly one done by the Thrashers to try and help convince Ilya to stay in the Peach state when his contract expires, but at that amount and the fact that he was a big forward, it may have behooved the Rangers to try and keep him.
We still need that physical or solid defensive defenseman as well as power play point man. One real good one, who seemed to be rising and getting better the last few years, left on the board in Rob Scuderi. New York was in it but he opted to head to LA for big money, which you can’t blame him for as it may be his one real chance to cash in. Two other solid d-man – Adrian Aucoin and Jordan Leopold - who didn’t really fit into the Rangers, signed and Chad Larose, a nice grit player with some offensive skills, re-signed in Carolina.
All in all a relatively quiet day but there was one possible key move that is not getting much play that could have a huge impact on the Rangers. Mikhail Grabovski, who in essence just finished his first NHL campaign and was an RFA signed a three-year, $8.7 million deal to stay in Toronto. You may ssay, so what, big deal, how does it impact us. The how is Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, Two key RFA, who now have a baseline to compare themselves to in terms of salary and who the rest of the league may now know what is required to sign them. I have been advocating taking the money saved for Markus Naslund’s retirement to sign Cally and Dubie, but that may not be enough. Callahan, who has salary arbitration rights coming off a 22-goal season, has a qualifier of $660,000 but is likely to sign at least a two-year deal in the neighborhood of $2.3 million per season.
Dubinsky may prove to be more difficult. As Larry Brooks wrote yesterday, coming off Entry Level, Dubinsky does not have arbitration rights. He received a qualifier of $698,500 the Rangers are not inclined to negotiate. The problem is someone else might. It would not be surprising for a Group II offer sheet in the $3 mil range to come across Dubie’s desk, then what? The Rangers were likely counting on him to be their top line center. Dubinsky was able to mesh with Jaromir Jagr two years ago and then Nikolai Zherdev last year. While he doesn’t have the foot speed to keep up with Gaborik, who does, he may be the best suited to fill that role as Anisimov and Grachev are likely too green at this point. Is a second round pick for the qualifying offer for Dubie enough to let him walk? Have the Rangers budgeted enough, as they say have, to sign Dubie at that amount and leave flexibility to grab other free agents? The Cally and Dubie situations are ones Sather should have resolved long ago, and by waiting, he has just painted himself and the team in a likely corner.
As we head into Day 3, the situation is the same, we still need a depth winger that can score, maybe one more center and a d-man - either physical or power play point. Who is left? Do you try and sign Alexei Kovalev for Round 3 in NY? What about an RFA offer for Versteeg or maybe a trade for Kessel? What about signing Jason Williams, Mikael Samuelsson, Ales Kotalik or Alex Tanguay (personal note, sign Samuelsson)? Maybe Travis Moen for depth and grit as a fourth liner? Do we bring back Betts or he is Edm bound? Do we really wanted Saku Koivu at his age, size and injury history? With Gaborik already there, you might as well have the Hospital for Special Surgery on retainer and speed dial. Are guys like Mike Comrie, Robert Lang and Brendan Morrison better than what we have? Do we even need another center with Anisimov and Grachev possibly ready and Gaborik having the skating ability to go coast to coast and create on his own? On defense – is it time to re-explore Paul Mara or Derek Morris or can, Ilkka Heikkinen, the 24-year-old Finnish free agent defenseman we signed for the Entry Level cap of $875,000, fill the role of physical d-man? Is the fixation with Sergei Zubov real? If healthy, (he and Gaborik share the same hip surgeon) he clearly is an upgrade as a power play point and would be a good addition at a reasonable price or do you move Rosie in a deal maybe for Brian Campbell, who fell off the second half of last year and is down the depth chart in Chicago, but is a pure power play point man and who can move the puck of the zone. But can you see spending $13.7 mil for two d-men not named Niedermayer and Pronger or J-Bo and Phaneuf? Sather has said he wanted to see the young guys get a chance, what happens over the next few weeks will show if that was pure bluster or if he was serious. What moves would you like to see happen? For me, sign Samuelsson, maybe Mara, get Dubie and Cally signed and then wait to see what filters out.
The goal heading into the off-season was to build a team in the mold of the style of play desired by coach John Tortorella. Faster, more aggressive, physical, tougher and maybe younger. In addition, a big forward, physical d-man and power play point man would be nice as well. The moves so far by GM Glen Sather have accomplished some of that but there are still lots of holes to be filled.
Pre-Day 1 saw the trade of Scott Gomez to Montreal for Chris Higgins and Ryan McDonagh. That accomplished the goal of freeing up more cap room to be a player in free agency, brought back someone with a bit more grit and physical play and removed our top center. However, it moved someone who underachieved under two coaches; never seemed to mesh with any wingers he was paired with; and, wasn’t in the condition required to play under Torts. On the surface, this deal is a clear thumbs-up for the Rangers.
The Rangers headed into free agency now with money and a slightly improved team, where will Slats go. Immediately both Sedins were off the board, but that’s okay, we didn’t expect either one or both here. Mattias Ohlund to Tampa, no biggie, expected him there to tutor Victor Hedman and not really what we needed. Colton Orr to Toronto. Ah, darn. For some reason despite his playing with his heart on his sleeve and willingness to step up in weight class, Torts never seemed to like Orr, benching him down the stretch of the Capitals series. There goes our enforcer, so another need.
First big sniper goes when Marian Hossa lands in Chicago. The length of the contract, 12 years, and $62 million, likely took us out of the running, but lots of fish left. Mike Knuble to Washington for two years, $5.8 million. Glen, where were you buddy? I realize that Knuble is 37, but he is in good shape, has played in New York so knows what it takes to succeed here, a solid top-six forward which we need at a relatively reasonable salary and he goes to a conference rival. Damn, that’s one guy I really wanted and think we screwed up not getting.
Next comes the move that nearly every Rangers fan has an issue with: signing Donald Brashear. First of all, why are you giving him a two-year deal? Second, how well will it play in the locker room when Brashear, who cheap-shotted Blair Betts, breaking his orbital bone, walks in? Yes, I realize it’s a business and so will the team, but I can’t there being warm fuzzies going around. That said, Torts and Sather view Brashear as someone who is a better skater and can be used in multiple situations as opposed to Orr.
The day continued and Niedermayer and Cole re-signed with their respective teams, no surprise, Spacek went to Montreal for three years, a bit surprising for a 35+ player, Gill to Montreal, how will being away for the Penguins’ style expose his lack of foot speed, and then Cammalleri to Montreal. Rangers could have definitely used him, but was he a product of playing with Iginla, is six-million per too much and he is a smallish center, so no dice. The big mistake was not signing Mike Kommisarek. New York desperately needs a physical d-man who can clear the crease and bang bodies. Toronto signed him for a relatively reasonable four years, $22.5 million and for those who say he is overrated, remember he led the Canadians in blocked shots and hits last season. If we make the playoffs and get pushed around on the back line, we point to this day and non-acquisition as the reason.
It looked like the Rangers were not going to add the sniper they needed and Heatley appeared headed to Edmonton. All of a sudden, boom, Darren Dreger twitters, Gaborik, five years, $27.5 million. Woo, hoo, there is, the sniper we need, at a reasonable price as at that number it was Gaborik and Higgins for Gomez, clear thumbs up. Au contraire, mon fraire, literally a minute or two later, it comes out, five years, $37.5 million. Well, now it’s not so good. Sather paid an injury prone – he has played more than 65 games once in the past five years, moving from the more freestyling Western to the physical Eastern conference and coming off January hip surgery. That said, he exploded for 18 points in the last 11 games after he game back and gives the Rangers the gamebreaker they have lacked and one needed to win in the current NHL.
The day concluded with a few more interesting moves: Gionta to Montreal, reuniting him with Gomez but leaving Canadians as the reincarnation of the Rangers’ smurfs and Chris Neil, who the Rangers seemed to have locked up, heading back to Ottawa and saving Chris Drury more heartache. One small move, that may come back to bite the Rangers in the butt, was letting Fredrik Sjostrom walk to Phoenix for a reasonable 1.5 million over two years. Losing him takes away a key penalty kill component and may be a penny wise, pound foolish transaction. Lastly, Martin Havlat went to Minnesota, but once we got Gaborik, there was no way we were adding another injury prone forward at a high dollar amount.
Day 2: hopes are still high, moves to be made, but the day turned out to be light in terms of player movement. Nik Antrpov, who reportedly wanted five years and more than $25 million to stay with the Rangers, took $16.4 million over four years to go play with Ilya Kovalchuk in Atlanta. That move was clearly one done by the Thrashers to try and help convince Ilya to stay in the Peach state when his contract expires, but at that amount and the fact that he was a big forward, it may have behooved the Rangers to try and keep him.
We still need that physical or solid defensive defenseman as well as power play point man. One real good one, who seemed to be rising and getting better the last few years, left on the board in Rob Scuderi. New York was in it but he opted to head to LA for big money, which you can’t blame him for as it may be his one real chance to cash in. Two other solid d-man – Adrian Aucoin and Jordan Leopold - who didn’t really fit into the Rangers, signed and Chad Larose, a nice grit player with some offensive skills, re-signed in Carolina.
All in all a relatively quiet day but there was one possible key move that is not getting much play that could have a huge impact on the Rangers. Mikhail Grabovski, who in essence just finished his first NHL campaign and was an RFA signed a three-year, $8.7 million deal to stay in Toronto. You may ssay, so what, big deal, how does it impact us. The how is Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky, Two key RFA, who now have a baseline to compare themselves to in terms of salary and who the rest of the league may now know what is required to sign them. I have been advocating taking the money saved for Markus Naslund’s retirement to sign Cally and Dubie, but that may not be enough. Callahan, who has salary arbitration rights coming off a 22-goal season, has a qualifier of $660,000 but is likely to sign at least a two-year deal in the neighborhood of $2.3 million per season.
Dubinsky may prove to be more difficult. As Larry Brooks wrote yesterday, coming off Entry Level, Dubinsky does not have arbitration rights. He received a qualifier of $698,500 the Rangers are not inclined to negotiate. The problem is someone else might. It would not be surprising for a Group II offer sheet in the $3 mil range to come across Dubie’s desk, then what? The Rangers were likely counting on him to be their top line center. Dubinsky was able to mesh with Jaromir Jagr two years ago and then Nikolai Zherdev last year. While he doesn’t have the foot speed to keep up with Gaborik, who does, he may be the best suited to fill that role as Anisimov and Grachev are likely too green at this point. Is a second round pick for the qualifying offer for Dubie enough to let him walk? Have the Rangers budgeted enough, as they say have, to sign Dubie at that amount and leave flexibility to grab other free agents? The Cally and Dubie situations are ones Sather should have resolved long ago, and by waiting, he has just painted himself and the team in a likely corner.
As we head into Day 3, the situation is the same, we still need a depth winger that can score, maybe one more center and a d-man - either physical or power play point. Who is left? Do you try and sign Alexei Kovalev for Round 3 in NY? What about an RFA offer for Versteeg or maybe a trade for Kessel? What about signing Jason Williams, Mikael Samuelsson, Ales Kotalik or Alex Tanguay (personal note, sign Samuelsson)? Maybe Travis Moen for depth and grit as a fourth liner? Do we bring back Betts or he is Edm bound? Do we really wanted Saku Koivu at his age, size and injury history? With Gaborik already there, you might as well have the Hospital for Special Surgery on retainer and speed dial. Are guys like Mike Comrie, Robert Lang and Brendan Morrison better than what we have? Do we even need another center with Anisimov and Grachev possibly ready and Gaborik having the skating ability to go coast to coast and create on his own? On defense – is it time to re-explore Paul Mara or Derek Morris or can, Ilkka Heikkinen, the 24-year-old Finnish free agent defenseman we signed for the Entry Level cap of $875,000, fill the role of physical d-man? Is the fixation with Sergei Zubov real? If healthy, (he and Gaborik share the same hip surgeon) he clearly is an upgrade as a power play point and would be a good addition at a reasonable price or do you move Rosie in a deal maybe for Brian Campbell, who fell off the second half of last year and is down the depth chart in Chicago, but is a pure power play point man and who can move the puck of the zone. But can you see spending $13.7 mil for two d-men not named Niedermayer and Pronger or J-Bo and Phaneuf? Sather has said he wanted to see the young guys get a chance, what happens over the next few weeks will show if that was pure bluster or if he was serious. What moves would you like to see happen? For me, sign Samuelsson, maybe Mara, get Dubie and Cally signed and then wait to see what filters out.
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