Most teams depend on their #1 goalie to be the star, to carry them to the promised land, and no other goalie in the NHL has ever been more important to his team then Henrik Lundqvist. Now that he has a sprained blood vessel in his neck the team is taking things slowly with him. He is skating but his timetable is unknown. Best guess is early March. And then fans hope he can regain his form because his backup, Cam Talbot, has shown he can’t be a #1 goalie in the NHL. That’s no slight to him. He’s been exposed a bit and giving up 3 goals in playoff games gets you an early exit. I know, nobody is expecting him to be the playoff goalie but that could happen and the Rangers have to have a back up plan just in case.
At 20, Mackenzie Skapski should get another start or two. First place in the Metro is important but making sure the Rangers are covered between the pipes for the rest of the season is a greater concern. Let the kid play against some tougher teams and let’s see what he’s got. If he’s not ready, and chances are he isn’t. Then the club has to look to get a goalie, a just in case, break the glass in case of emergency guy. Maybe Jason LaBarbera. He's played for the Rangers, he's mentally tough and he's cap friendly at under a million bucks pro-rated. Anaheim doesn't need him. Trading a prospect for him is possible. Maybe Connor Allen.
After interviewing Gordie Clark yesterday for my XM show it’s clear that the Rangers really covet their prospects now more than ever. In the cap world it’s the one thing that can set you apart from your competition. Knowing that they’ve traded picks away to get Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis, don’t look for them to trade too many draft picks this time.
Although it’s early the 2013 draft could turn out to be one of the Rangers finest in the history of the franchise. Skapski (6th round), Anthony Duclair (3rd round), Pavel Buchnevich (3rd round, 5 picks before Duclair), Ryan Graves (4th round), Adam Tambellini (their first 3rd round pick). Right now they’re all trending up. It’s a rarity that a club can go 5-5 in a draft but to start in the third round like they did and to show great progress with 3 of these players already is commendable.
To me the Rangers getting a better face-off guy isn’t as much of a priority unless they were going to move a Mats Zuccarello to get one. So far his negotiations have been amicable. Not much has been leaked to the public so there’s a chance that it happens. But there’s also a chance that it doesn’t. If he isn’t signed by the end of the month I’m pretty sure he will be dealt. They won’t let him walk without an asset. He’s the one bargaining chip the Rangers may have at the deadline.