The team recalled F Dale Weise to replace Locke. Weise, 21, has recorded 28 goals and 21 assists for 49 points, along with 114 penalty minutes and a plus-nine rating in 73 contests with Hartford (AHL) this season. Weise currently ranks second on the team in points, goals and shots (177), third in plus/minus, tied for fourth in power play goals (four), fifth in penalty minutes and ranks seventh in assists. He is also tied for the AHL lead with five shorthanded goals and fourth with seven game winning goals, while his 28 goals this season rank 13th in the league.

For the official release on both moves click here.

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.

In other news, The Rangers placed Donald Brashear on waivers today. The disgruntled forward had asked for a trade after being unhappy with his lack of playing time this season.

The Rangers also sent G Chad Johnson and D Corey Potter to Hartford and recalled G Matt Zaba.

In other news, Chad Johnson was back at practice today for the Rangers after starting two games and making three appearances for Hartford (AHL) this weekend. Tortorella said he was unsure when Johnson would get another chance to start.

Erik Christensen and Donald Brashear are expected to be healthy scratches tomorrow night.

Aaron Voros joins the party with his first goal of the season.

All the Rangers coaches were hoping for following their impressive 6-2 win over the Canadiens on Sunday was a repeat of the effort the team gave during that victory. Not only did they receive the same effort but the players took it to another level as they jumped on the Lightning early and controlled play from start to finish during a dominant 8-2 dismantling of the visiting Tampa Bay club.

After a fight between Aaron Voros and Tampa’s Zenon Konopka off the game’s opening faceoff really got the crowd going, Brandon Dubinsky continued his inspired play of late and got the scoring started when he cleaned up a rebound in front of Antero Nittymaki to give the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead. The Rangers controlled play for the rest of the period with their strong forechecking and used tallies by Vinny Prospal and the resurgent Chris Drury to take a 3-1 lead after one period.

Dan Girardi and Enver Lisin would extend the lead to 5-1 in the second period and chase Nittymaki from between the pipes. Alex Tanguay would score on the power play late in the period to keep the Lightning withing striking distance but Henrik Lundqvist would shut the door the rest of the way.

Marc Staal, Aaron Voros (on the power play) and Christopher Higgins would put a nice bow on the blowout with third period tallies and gave the Rangers their second straight game with at least 6 goals. It still may be too early to call the Rangers’ season long offensive struggles solved but these two performances are definitely a promising step in the right direction.

Thumbs Up- Brian Boyle, Sean Avery and Erik Christensen were amongst the few Rangers who didn’t score a goal tonight but continued their energetic play that has been the catalyst on many of the offensive opportunities the team has cashed in on over the last two contests. Ryan Callahan and Chris Drury once again excelled on the penalty kill. Vinny Prospal seems to have fully recovered from his injury and was a factor tonight with a goal and an assist.

Thumbs Down- It was hard to find any negatives with tonight’s performance but the only thing that stood out to me was Artem Anisimov’s inability to get anything going offensively. I’m sure if he keeps up the work ethic he has shown so far during the first half of the year, he will find a way to break through but this is a situation that might bear watching especially if Evgeny Grachev should begin to put up numbers in Hartford.

Three Stars- 3-Henrik Lundqvist- “The King” was very strong early when the game was still anybody’s contest. His big saves during the first period gave the Rangers the confidence to continue to attack offensively. Another impressive performance from Lundqvist, who is finally getting the support he deserves from his forwards.

2- Aaron Voros- The toughest thing to do is come to the arena each night knowing that you might not be in the lineup the next game, even if you have a good outing that night. Aaron Voros has had to deal with this situation and be ready to contribute when called upon all season and up to this point his results have been hit and miss. Tonight, it was a big hit for Voros as he got the crowd involved early with a fight, was a physical presence throughout, drew a late penalty by being smart and even contributed a garbage time goal (after being rewarded with power play time by John Tortorella for his drawing the man advantage). This was Voros’ best game since early last season and i’m willing to wager he has earned another start in the Blueshirts’ next contest.

1- Marian Gaborik- For most of the year, Gaborik has been the Rangers focal point on offense and only consistent goal scorer. Tonight, he was the team’s playmaker with assists on 4 of the Rangers first 6 goals. Gaborik has to love this new found offensive output from his teammates as it takes the pressure off him to have to carry the club each time they hit the ice. He showed this evening that he is just as comfortable being a support player as being the team’s biggest star.

The Rangers will try to continue their explosive run when they visit the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday at 7 PM.

Could Sykora be headed for an encore on Broadway?

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.

Sanguinetti didn’t make much of an impact during his second short stint with the Blueshirts and definitely looks like more seasoning is needed before he is given another shot to stick. Heikkinen had some impressive moments during his seven games on Broadway but also looks like he could use a little more experience before he returns to the big club.

For the official release on the moves, click here

Gilroy headed to AHL.

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.