By Joe Alianello
Many New York Ranger fans think the season has been over and done with for quite some time based on the team’s play three quarters of the way into the season. The NHL standings paint a different picture with the Rangers only one point out of playoff contention. I sometimes wonder if Ranger fans bother to watch other teams around the National Hockey League. If they were to, they would see almost every club has their own struggles and the Rangers aren’t as bad as many think.
The New York Rangers are a team that cannot score and that is where their problems are rooted. General Manager Glen Sather addressed that issue by acquiring Olli “Icy Hot” Jokinen from the Calgary Flames in exchange for struggling winger Christopher “don’t call me Chris” Higgins and Ales Kotalik. Not only did Sather shed salary on the remaining two years of Kotalik’s salary, but he received a center man in Jokinen who can effectively man the point and has the potential to light the lamp every time he hits the ice. Great move by Sather as Jokinen has already proven to be an effective player for the Rangers.
Heading into the March third trade deadline, Glen Sather must look to improve his hockey club. The team has a plethora of toughness up front with team favorite Aaron Voros and newly acquired tough guys Brandon Prust and Jody Shelley. Donald Brashear has been expelled to Hartford and I think this may help lift the dark cloud that was clearly over the team for some time. Brashear was a good soldier, but when a player feels as though he should play and the coach thinks otherwise it is never good for the team as a whole.
Brashear is a shadow of the player he once was, but at 38 it is difficult to fight player almost half your age and still compete at a high level. Sather made a mistake in signing Brashear, but had it gone well and liked management had planned things would have played out much differently in a positive fashion. Too bad Sather and company were watching Youtube clips of Brashear from the late 1990’s when they decided to target him on July 1 and handed him 2 year/2.8 million dollar deal. Good intentions just five years behind the curve.
As far as improving the club, I assure you Ranger fans, the backup goaltending position is not of concern to the Rangers upper brass. Head Coach John Torterella will ride Lundqvist as much as he can. Expect Chad Johnson to get 1-2 starts in the next 20 games. If the backup goalie situation was a priority you could have expected Dallas Stars goaltender Alex Auld to have been claimed when he was on waivers and finally cleared today. Considering the Rangers passed on a capable backup I do not believe it factors into their plans for improvement heading into the March third deadline.
Look for Sather to make two trades before the deadline. The first trade will be to acquire defenseman Sheldon Souray from the Edmonton Oilers. Although Souray is injured he could be ready within two weeks of when the NHL resumes play on March 1. Souray has struggled, but the Rangers could use his shot from the point and the toughness he brings on the backend.
I could see the deal involving Andrew Cogliano as well who the Rangers love as they believe he would be a perfect fit with Marian Gaborik despite his recent struggles. Can’t speculate who would have to go the other way, but think Dan Girardi and Artem Anisimov could both be real possibilities. Don’t buy into the rumors of Brandon Dubinsky being shopped he is part of the teams future plans.
As far as another player, the Rangers may look into acquiring expect Paul Kariya to be one of those guys who may catch the Rangers eye. The Rangers cannot add salary heading into the 2010-2011 campaign, but can definitely take an expiring contract or two. St.Louis has been shopping Kariya and defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo and the Rangers may want to take on both.
Michael Rozsival has always gotten a bad rap for his play. Truth is Rozsival can log big minutes and only gets a bad rap because of his salary. Rozsival is slated to make a total of $7 million in the final two years of his deal with a cap hit of $5 million in 10-11/11-12. A team like St. Louis will never spend to the cap so taking on a $5 million cap hit is a non issue as they are paying Roszival less than his cap number. The man running the show in St. Louis would most likely like a young winger and maybe a third or fourth rounder headed the other way to complete the deal. Deals are difficult to complete in the NHL, but with some finagling anything can happen.
I look forward to see what the Rangers do, come the March 3rd deadline as the Rangers are never quiet on deadline day.
With the proposed deals this is your New York Rangers after the March 3rd trade deadline
Prospal-Cogliano-Gaborik
Callahan-Jokinen-Dubinsky
Kariya-Drury-Avery
Prust/Shelley-Boyle-Voros
Figure Lisin and Chritensen are delt away in deals to St.Louis/Edmonton or elsewhere
Souray-Staal
Del Zotto-Colaicovo
Gilroy-Redden
Only time will tell with what the Rangers will do on March 3rd. Stay tuned, because heads are gonna roll.
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