On one of the most anti-climactic deadline days in recent memory, Rangers GM Glen Sather decided, surprisingly, not to jump into the fray and only pulled off two minor transactions before today’s league imposed 3 PM cutoff. Sather added the veteran depth defenseman they had lacked since the start of the season when they acquired journeyman Anders Eriksson from Phoenix for AHL goalie Miika Wiikman and a 2011 7th round draft pick.
Eriksson, 35, is a veteran of 14 NHL seasons. The 6-3, 224 lb. defenseman played 12 games for the Coyotes this season registering 3 assists. In 564 career games, Eriksson has compiled 22 goals and 152 assists. It is unclear whether he will be assigned to Hartford or will stay with the club at the NHL level should recently waived Enver Lisin or Aaron Voros be sent down.
The Rangers also swapped minor leaguers, trading LW Jordan Owens, who had 6 goals and 13 assists in 50 games for Hartford this season, to Detroit for C Kris Newbury. Newbury, 28, had 11 goals and 22 assists for Grand Rapids of the AHL this season. The 5-10, 205 lb. pivot has played in 48 career NHL contests registering 4 goals, 3 assists and 64 penalty minutes in those games.
While Sather’s decision to stand pat was met with mixed reaction from media and fans, I believe that it was the wrong move by the embattled GM. The Rangers, most everyone would agree, are not Stanley Cup contenders as currently constituted. The team has a shot at making the playoffs if they can pull off a late season surge but to expect anything more than a first round exit from this club (if they get in at all) is purely wishful thinking. While I applaud Glen Sather for realizing that this team is more than one or two players away from a long postseason run and not sacrificing any of his valuable young assets or draft picks to bring in a rental player or two today, there were still some moves that were begging to be made prior to the deadline. With teams like Pittsburgh, Washington, Philadelphia, Vancouver and Phoenix all looking to gain an advantage as the playoffs near, Sather owed it to his organization to shop impending UFA’s Vinny Prospal, Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to see if he could gain any valuable assets in return. With Carolina sniper Ray Whitney off the market, Prospal might have been a very attractive option (especially considering his low cap number) for many teams and might have garnered a first round pick in return based on other deals we’ve witnessed as of late. Sather knowing his team isn’t built for a deep run should have been looking to collect assets for next season and beyond instead of sitting on his hands and hoping for a miracle run come the postseason.
Sather has made some good moves as of late, getting rid of the ridiculous contract of Ales Kotalik and waiving Enver Lisin and Aaron Voros to gain some much needed cap space are two examples, but the moves that he needed to make the most for the future of this franchise seemed to never be a part of his deadline day plans. Sather may surprise everyone and use his cap room this summer in free agency to land a big fish up front like Illya Kovalchuk or Alexander Frolov, both players the Rangers desperately need to take some of the scoring burden off Marian Gaborik. He may even be able to pull off a trade for a bruising defenseman and in the process unload a few more of his albatross contracts. Sather has hung around for a long time by making those kind of moves and buying himself another year in the corner office but today, by holding on to hope and being blind to the reality of his team’s situation, he may have finally given the ownership of the Blueshirts an irrefutable reason as to why he shouldn’t be running this team next season. Unfortunately for the fans, the owners seem to be just as blind as their appointed emperor.
Ryan Callahan scored twice to lead the Rangers to a 4-1 win.
The Rangers began their post Olympic push for the playoffs, minus injured stars Marian Gaborik and Michael Del Zotto, by disposing of the Ottawa Senators 4-1 at Scotia Bank Place tonight. After falling behind 1-0, the Blueshirts roared back with a 4 goal second period keyed by Ryan Callahan, who scored twice. Henrik Lundqvist was nearly flawless in goal making 24 saves to record his 25th win of the season.
Thumbs Up- Enver Lisin, who was put on waivers earlier in the day, had his best game in over a month and obviously used the situation as a motivational tool. Erik Christensen continued his strong play assisting on 2 goals and playing an impressive two way game. Brandon Dubinsky was a factor all over the ice, playing a physical contest and also scoring the go ahead goal during the second period offensive outburst. Chris Drury kept his recent string of inspiring play alive with another huge performance on the penalty kill. Corey Potter impressed with his steady play.
Thumbs Down- Jody Shelley was about as effective as Donald Brashear has been so far this season as he looked lost during a matchup that didn’t call for much physical play. Olli Jokinen had a pedestrian effort coming off a very strong showing in Vancouver. Dan Girardi, who has been the subject of numerous trade rumors, did nothing to make Glen Sather think twice about including him should the right deal come along before 3 PM tomorrow.
Three Stars
3- Sean Avery- “The Grate One” looked rested and ready following the break and was able to find his edge without going overboard. His hard work on the forecheck and his willingness to crash the net paid off early in the second period when he scored off a beautiful feed from Enver Lisin to give the Blueshirts a 3 goal cushion. A late scrum with Matt Cullen, which followed Cullen’s mistimed attempt at a body check and possible elbow to Avery’s head, finished Avery’s night a few minutes early but served notice that he is ready for what promises to be a rough and tumble run for the postseason.
2- Henrik Lundqvist- Lundvist led all Olympic netminders in Goals Against Average (1.34) and shutouts (2) and looked very solid between the pipes in his return to the Blueshirts. While the Senators did not mount the kind of offensive attack you would expect from a squad featuring Daniel Alfredsson, Jason Spezza and Alex Kovalev, Lundqvist made the few tough chances he had look effortless and was the biggest reason that the Rangers picked up two important points on the road.
1- Ryan Callahan- Callahan was all over the ice tonight and took over the game during a raucous second period in which he not only got the Rangers even with a beautiful rush and top shelf goal to start the onslaught at :22 of the frame but also giving the team a 2 goal lead by slipping a backhanded rebound past sprawling Senators backstop Brian Elliot at the 17 minute mark. Without Gaborik in the lineup, the Rangers needed someone to step up and lead the offensive and tonight Ryan Callahan made himself that person, showing once again why he wears the “A” and why he is one of the few “untouchables” on the squad as the trade deadline nears.
Michael Del Zotto returned to practice today for the first time since February 12th when he was injured as Evgeni Malkin’s skate sliced through his jersey and lacerated his chest. He had the 50 stitches that were used to close the wound removed about 20 minutes prior to practice and then stayed after practice for conditioning drills with assistant coach Mike Sullivan. It is still unclear as to whether Del Zotto will play Tuesday when the Rangers return to action against Ottawa. When he does return, Del Zotto will be wearing a protective pad that will be sewn into his jersey to protect the injured area during contact.
Henrik Lundqvist also returned to the ice this morning following his exit from the Olympic tournament in Vancouver. Lundqvist said he needed a couple of days to absorb and get over Sweden’s quarterfinal loss on Wednesday but is now ready to focus on the rest of the NHL season. “Today, I’m focused on the Rangers,” Lundqvist added. “I wanted a couple of days off. But it felt good coming into the rink today.”
Newly acquired backup goalie Alex Auld also was on the ice with his new team for the first time and spoke to reporters following his first practice. Auld said he was happy to be with the Rangers, especially considering the alternative was likely playing in the AHL. But he said he’s always liked New York and he’s excited by the chance to work with Rangers goalie coach Benoit Allaire and with Lundqvist. He also told Andrew Gross of Ranger Rants that he was ready to contribute in any way he is needed. “I want to keep an open mind,” said Auld, “I understand who the other guy is in net and how good he is. I understand his role and what he brings. I just want to help, however much that may be. I’ve found out through my career that if I’m worried about when I’m not in net, when I do play, it can be a distraction.”
The NHL trade freeze will be lifted at midnight tonight and the trade deadline is scheduled for March 3rd at 3pm. The Rangers haven’t made it clear as of yet whether they will be buyers or sellers over the coming days but either way, Rangers fans will be looking forward to watching Glen Sather and Co. attempt to pull the trigger on some deals and to watching their team begin another late season push for the postseason. Whatever happens, we’ll have all of it right here for you.
Jokinen licking his lips at the prospect of centering Gaborik?
TSN Canada is reporting that the Rangers are close to announcing a deal that would send forwards Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins to the Calgary Flames for C Olli Jokinen and F Brandon Prust.
Jokinen, 31, has 11 goals and 24 assists in 55 games with the Flames this season. He is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent following the season.
Prust, 25, is a rugged forward who has 1 goal and 4 assists in 24 games this season. He will also be a UFA at season’s end.
Higgins was acquired by the Blueshirts this past offseason in the Scott Gomez trade with Montreal and the Long Island native has never really looked comfortable playing with his hometown club. Kotalik, who was another offseason acquisition of GM Glen Sather, never found his place on the ice and after a hot start has spent most of his time in the rafters over the last month instead of on the ice during games. Higgins is a UFA at season’s end and Kotalik still has two years remaining on the 3 year, 9 million dollar pact he signed over the summer.
Analysis: While it’s easy to call for Glen Sather’s head based on this team’s uneven and uninspired play this season and an obviously mismatched roster he put together, Rangers fans must admit that the man knows how to pull off a trade. If this deal goes through, The Rangers will acquire a proven scorer in Jokinen and a physical presence (who can fill the void that Donald Brashear hasn’t been able to) in Brandon Prust while subtracting a player in Higgins, who obviously had trouble with playing on this stage and also removing six million dollars off the books over the next two seasons by shedding the enigmatic Kotalik. This is a great move for the Rangers from every angle and if Jokinen prospers while he’s on Broadway, the Blueshirts will have the first crack at him in free agency once the season ends. I have to think, while the fans won’t be happy until the “W”’s come more frequently for this club, that this move will make more than a few of them smile and that the attendance at the upcoming “Fire Sather” rally may have just been thinned out a little by the wily old general manager.
The Rangers were shut out for the second straight game and Henrik Lundqvist was pulled after surrendering 4 goals as the Canadiens hammered the Blueshirts 6-0 in Montreal.
John Tortorella doesn’t have much to say to the media after watching his team get embarrased by the Canadiens Saturday night.
This team obviously has some problems that “more practice time” and “studying game tape” are not going to fix. There is NO secondary scoring after Marian Gaborik. Some of the younger forwards (Anisimov, Lisin) are obviously struggling and are not finishing. No one is scared of this team and as witnessed in Philly, opponents feel they can take shots at anyone without fear of reprisal. This club, as it’s constituted right now, may be strong enough to slip into the playoffs but is no threat to the Capitals, Penguins, Devils, Flyers or any other top team in the East. Glen Sather needs to open his eyes and see this team is BROKEN and it’s time to start selling and get ready for next year. Wade Redden should have a one way ticket to Hartford waiting for him when he returns to New York. Vinny Prospal, Christopher Higgins, Donald Brashear, Ales Kotalik and Aaron Voros should be sent postage paid to any club that is willing to have them and their salaries. This organization needs to move on immediately, bring up some kids (Grachev, Locke, Sanguinetti) and see what they can do and get ready for the draft. If Glen Sather can’t see this (or more likely, he sees it but won’t do anything about it) then it is time to finally pull the plug on him and bring in someone who will.
The biggest problem for the Rangers this season has been creating offense beyond the scoring of Marian Gaborik. The team showed a flash of getting past this last game as they exploded for six goals against the Canadiens. It would be way premature to think that the club’s season long scoring woes have been solved by the fact that they are now a healthy team having returned Vinny Prospal from injury and having added Erik Christensen (who has been a pleasant surprise so far offensively) to the mix but it does look like they are moving in the right direction.
Over the last few days, there have been many reports of the Rangers’ interest in players under contract with other clubs. Names like defenseman Sheldon Souray of Edmonton, center Peter Mueller of Phoenix and Tampa Bay’s star pivot Vinny Lecavalier have all been mentioned as possible (and in Lecavalier’s case, probably unattainable) targets for Glen Sather and Co. While all of these players have had lackluster years, each of them could be impact players should they be moved by their current clubs and would still bring a bounty of young players or picks in return. This is probably not the best move for the Blueshirts at this time as they have been able to build a strong core with their young assets and surrendering any of them for these players might turn out to be a huge setback for the future in the name of winning now.
Earlier today, TSN reported that the Minnesota Wild have placed veteran winger and former Ranger Petr Sykora on waivers. The 33-year old has had an injury-riddled season since signing a one year, $1.6 million dollar contract with the Wild as an unrestricted free agent last summer. In 14 games, he has compiled two goals and one assist but has missed a total of 29 games with groin and concussion issues. If Sykora is not claimed, Minnesota can send him to the minors or place him on re-entry waivers where he could be claimed at half the price of his contract. Sykora had 16 goals and 15 assists in 40 games with the Rangers during the 2005-2006 season.
Sykora is a high energy player and a proven sniper who could give the Rangers a short term spark and not cost the team the assets it would take to bring in a bigger name. While Sykora’s current run of injuries could be cause for concern, it might be worth the risk if the team could get him at half salary on re-entry waivers (like the way they re-acquired Sean Avery from Dallas last season). The fact that the Rangers have yet to demote Wade Redden and his suffocating cap hit to Hartford to open up cap room signals that Sather believes this team does not need a huge move at the deadline (Lecavalier, Illya Kovalchuk, Dion Phaneuf) to make a playoff run but even he can see that this team needs another proven scorer. Taking a flier on Sykora would possibly provide that scorer without mortgaging the future.
This is it. The lowest point for a franchise that has seen many of them since they finally reached the pinnacle of their sport back in 1994. The Rangers have now become the NHL’s most watched prime time soap opera. The intriguing characters in this amateur disaster epic are plentiful. A GM whose glory days are far behind him. A head coach, whose terrific rants full of sound bytes are now falling on deaf ears throughout his dysfunctional dressing room. A team captain, whose once glorified ability to come through during the most clutch of situations has all but vanished leaving fans scratching their heads trying to remember his last tally of any kind on the scoresheets. A superstar sniper, whose light shines brighter than those on the marquees of the storied playhouses of the city whose imagination he has captured with his stunning play. The pair of overpriced, underperforming defensemen with albatross contracts that weigh down not only expectations they will never be able to fill but also an entire franchise desperate for cap space. The Rangers have become the hockey world’s version of a car wreck and everyone is watching this beautiful disaster waiting to see what happens next.
The obvious answer to the question of how do we begin to fix this “catastrophe on ice” begins and ends with GM Glen Sather. The man who has built this mismatched roster and sent this team spiraling into the depths of the Eastern Conference with his mind boggling signings and ill advised acquisitions. If the rumors circulating are to be believed, Sather may be on his way out of New York as soon as tomorrow morning if his team doesn’t win tonight against the rival Islanders in Uniondale. It’s hard to believe one win could save the job of a man who has single handedly crafted a terrible resume while controlling this franchise the last 9 seasons but stranger things (i.e. The Knicks complete collapse from respectability) have happened inside the walls of the Garden since the seemingly clueless Dolan family took over ownership.
Sather has steadfastly refused, even as his team has struggled and has fallen to last place in the division, to make the moves necessary to turn his franchise’s fortunes around because he is unwilling to admit his mistakes and take blame for his ineptness. He refuses to go to the Dolans and tell them that both Michal Roszival and Wade Redden need to be waived or sent to the minors so their obstructive pacts can finally be wiped off the books of a team desperate for cap space and a fresh start. He refuses to bring up future stars like Evgeny Grachev and Corey Locke and instead watches his coach dole out minutes to non performing big name players who are giving little or no effort on a nightly basis and could be doing that for an AHL club instead of for a storied franchise on the world’s biggest stage. He refuses to instruct his coach to sit players who he cannot find new homes for (due to the fact that no one around the league wants these wastes of space in their clubhouses) and to give more ice time to the few players who give 125% every play,every game and every night. The refusal to do any one of these things is reason enough to cut him loose but the refusal to do all of them makes this the easiest decision. Sather must go and it must be now if this club wants to have any chance of rising from it’s self imposed abyss.
Tonight, on Long Island, The Rangers will play what amounts to just another game in a long season full of the same but what it represents is much bigger. This is the chance for the players who have disappointed so greatly thus far to show the same emotion, the same energy and the same fire in the belly that allowed them to make it into this league in the first place. This is the chance for the head coach, who is widely recognized and respected for his fire and for his holding players accountable (no matter what the name on the back of their jersey reads) to regain control of his locker room and his troops before he follows his hopefully soon to be departed boss out of town. Most importantly, this is an opportunity for the powers that be in this franchise to prove to it’s forever loyal but ever impatient fan base that it understands the time for a change is way overdue and that they are dedicated to not only this season but to a future culture of heart, passion and success for all of those who don the red, white and blue sweater and for all who live and die with each drop of the puck. This is the tipping point. This is it. The time is now to make the change, change the culture and change the future. Let’s pray that those who make the decisions see the writing on the wall as clearly as we all do.
Earlier today, the Rangers made a surprising move when they sent rookie defenseman Matt Gilroy to the AHL. It was expected that Ilkka Heikkinen would be the odd man out with the return of Wade Redden from injury but the Blueshirts decided to keep the recent call up with the big club and send the impressive first year blue liner down for some work on his overall game.
According to assistant GM Jim Schoenfeld, Gilroy was demoted because the team felt that Gilroy’s game had been ” chinking down, in small increments, not just one thing, his entire game, all season.” Schoenfeld also added “Probably the biggest area of concern was winning one on one battles and closing checks out with strength or speed or guile”. When asked about how the team views Gilroy, Schoenfeld offered “We still have high expectations but some things can’t be overlooked unless you’re putting up big numbers and six points is not…It’s part of the process that a lot of first year players go through, they come into camp in tremendous condition and get a head start and then the league kind of catches up with some people.”
I understand this move from a growth standpoint for Gilroy but to say his game was suffering and that the “league has caught up to him” is a joke. Michal Roszival has been a distaster this season and looks like he is all but washed up at this point in his career but still gets ice time over a promising youngster like Gilroy due to his contract. The league has obviously “caught up” to fellow rookie Michael Del Zotto as well as evidenced by his declining numbers and recent invisibility on the power play but I don’t see the team sending him down to “get his game back”. This is another head scratching move by Sather (who sent Schoenfeld to address the media instead of answering questions himself, of course) in a long line of head scratching personnel moves during his tenure. Just a week ago, the team paired Heikkinen with Gilroy because of his versatility and steadiness playing either side and now his game is “chinking down”?. Another suspect move by Sather and Co.
In other moves, Chad Johnson was returned to Hartford and G Matt Zaba was called up to backup Henrik Lundqvist.
On a busy day for Glen Sather and Co., Stephen Valiquette’s career as a Ranger may have come to an end as the team waived the backup netminder for the purpose of sending him to Hartford for conditioning. If Valiquette clears waivers he will remain with the organization but chances are good that another team will take a flier on the veteran goalie. Impressive youngster Chad Johnson, whom the Rangers acquired at this year’s draft in a trade with Pittsburgh, was recalled from Hartford to replace Valiquette as the team’s primary backup to Henrik Lundqvist. Johnson has performed well this season posting a 10-6-1 record with a 2.10 GAA.
The Rangers followed these moves with a waiver claim, picking up veteran center Erik Christensen from the Anaheim Ducks. Christensen, 25, was a third round pick of the Penguins in 2002. He has 42 goals and 56 assists in 226 career games. This season for Anaheim, he had zero points in nine games. The 6-1, 203 lb. pivot had 18 goals for the Pens during the 2006-07 campaign. Christensen will give the Rangers added depth at the center position until Brandon Dubinsky returns from his injury.
Donald Brashear missed practice today and according to Coach Tortorella is “injured” and could be “out for a while”. Better news is the staus of Wade Redden whom Torts believes “is likely to play Saturday” when the Rangers return to action vs. the Sabres.
In Juniors news, Rangers prospects Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider and Ryan Bourque were all selected to the Team USA preliminary roster for the 2010 World Junior Championships. Rangers prospect Evgeny Grachev was expected to play for Russia at the WJC but reports are stating that the Blueshirts have told Russian officials that they are not prepared to let Grachev participate at this time. The Russians will file an appeal with the IIHF and I’m sure we will hear more about this situation over the coming days.
Here are the highlights from another terrible loss by the Rangers 8-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins. This poor performance by the Blueshirts has to be the low point of the season as John Tortorella seems to be without any answers for his team’s lack of effort on defense and inability to score.
Torts talks to reporters following the loss. It seems Enver Lisin and Ales Kotalik (who I believe is still giving 110% on every shift even though his results leave something to be desired) are in the doghouse with the coach. Maybe it’s time for Torts, Sather & Co. to send down some vets and bring up some kids (Evgeny Grachev, Dane Byers) who are hungry to get a chance with the big club. It seems to have worked with Parenteau, who should no doubt stay with the club once Brandon Dubinsky returns (but probably won’t as Sather will go with the bigger name and contract number).
The Rangers have a chance to put a stop to this tailspin and exact some revenge on Sidney Crosby and the Penguins when Pittsburgh visits the Garden on Monday night. Let’s hope for the good of the season and the future of this club and their coach, they show much more fire and fight than they have the last two nights.
