Need One More for Fantasy Hockey

Just a quick note, someone had to drop the fantasy hockey league, we need one more player. If you’re interested, please email me at dave[at]blueseatblogs[dot]com.

Parenteau Reassigned/Waived

In rather unsurprising news, winger P.A. Parenteau was reassigned to Hartford this afternoon. Parenteau played will in his time with the Rangers, but unfortunately for him, there just isn’t a spot on this roster for him at the moment. This was not a financial decision either, as Parenteau is on a one-way contract, and will earn $500,000 regardless of where he plays.

Assuming he goes unclaimed through waivers, he will play top line minutes in Hartford, probably with Evgeny Grachev once the preseason ends, and await a call up in the event of an injury or someone’s game goes to hell. This is a bit of a risky decision, because if Parenteau puts up the same numbers in Hartford, he may be claimed on re-entry waivers should he be needed. He is a cheap player and could fulfill third line duties admirably on most teams. As for his status with the Rangers, he is just too far down on the depth chart to really be considered.

This cuts the roster to 24, 8 defensemen and 14 forwards. It’s safe to assume that two more players will be cut before the season begins. My guess is that Grachev and Michael Del Zotto will be what I’m going to call contract casualties. Del Zotto still has a year of eligibility left in the OHL, and Grachev will benefit from a year in the AHL. But you can guarantee that they will be on the roster for the last two preseason games to get as much experience as possible.

Hockey season is just nine days away, and it can’t come soon enough.

The Effect of Marian Gaborik

Before we begin, to all you English buffs, please clarify if the proper word to use here is affect or effect. I can never figure out which one to use. And yet, I’m not alone in this, as no one in the vicinity of my desk could figure it out either.

Anyway, let’s analyze one play from last night. Marian Gaborik picks up the puck around the left hash marks, skates with the bicuit up to the blueline, then doubles back, around the net to the right hash marks, while drawing the attention of pretty much all 20 Red Wings, and takes a quick glance to see Enver Lisin camped in front of the net. He then lasers a back-handed saucer pass right on Lisin’s tape who buries the opportunity. Not many players in the league are capable of pulling that off, and that is the effect (affect?) Marian Gaborik will have on the Rangers.

This one play illustrates the offensive potential of the Rangers, should Gaborik not rip his groin in half (that actually hurt to type, groin and rip should not be put in the same sentence, ever). Both benches, and the entire crowd was on the edge of their seats, waiting to see what Gaborik will do with the puck after eluding the entire Wings penalty kill unit. He doesn’t need a playmaking pivot to get him the puck, all he needs is to find the puck, he will make it all happen on his own.

Gaborik is the type of player the Rangers have been lacking since Jaromir Jagr left for Russia. Gaborik, like Jagr, can take control of the game, and doesn’t depend on line mates to get him the puck to do so. All those critics are right to question his health, but if he’s healthy, the Rangers will be a dangerous team. Gaborik alone can provide the primary scoring for the Rangers. Then you look at the likes of Chris Drury, Vinny Prospal, Ryan Callahan, Ales Kotalik, and Brandon Dubinsky, the Rangers have plenty of secondary scoring to compete.

If Gaborik stay healthy, the Rangers will surprise a lot of people. IF.

Preseason Game 5: Rangers vs. Red Wings

This weekend was a good weekend to get excited for the upcoming season: the Blueshirts looked strong in their 5-2 win over Boston on Saturday afternoon, and they finally re-signed RFA Brandon Dubinsky (ironically, just hours after Kessel was traded. Hmmm….). Tonight, the newly trimmed roster of 25 Rangers look to continue burying their opportunities against the Red Wings. Last time they met, the Wings scored four goals in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit and win 4-2.

As for the lineup tonight, Andrew Gross has the lines from practice:

Lines:
Kotalik-Drury-Lisin
Higgins-Prospal-Gaborik
Dubinsky (likely for Avery)-Anisimov-Callahan
Grachev-Boyle-Parenteau
(Brashear and Voros are on the ice as well).
Semenov-Gilroy
Del Zotto-Girardi
Sanguinetti-Redden
Rozsival-Staal

An update to this via his twitter: Dubinsky and Avery are scratches, and Aaron Voros will play on the line with Anisimov and Callahan. Avery collided with Callahan during practice and limped off, and Dubinsky probably isn’t in game shape yet.

The lines for the Red Wings, courtesy of MLive:

Franzen-Datsyuk-Holmstrom
Leino-Filppula-Ritola
Ryno-Emmerton-Maltby
Newbury-Abdelkader-Tatar

Kronwall-Stuart
Meech-Ericsson
Kindl-Delmore

Larsson
Cloutier

I’ll be at the game tonight, sect 415 row D. That’s what my tickets say, but the likelihood of my sitting there are slim to none, I’ll move down to the 300s, this game isn’t sold out. I’m really excited to see Gaborik make his Ranger debut. Enjoy the game.

Reputation Penalties and Sean Avery

The Rangers are going to get hurt by Sean Avery this year, not from his antics on or off the ice, but by his previous antics. Sure, there are going to be plenty of times that he takes penalties trying to get under the skin of the opposing team, but there will be plenty more calls comparable to what we saw in the preseason game against New Jersey. To quickly jog everyone’s memory, Avery collided with goalie Yann Danis, while he was being defended by defenseman Mike Mottau (I believe it was Mottau), and proceeded to get punched in the face by Mottau. The result of the play was a double minor for Avery, and no penalties for the Devils.

There were three things wrong with this play, but only one was a blatant bias against Avery. We have seen that any contact with the goalie, accidental or not, will earn you a penalty (Ryan Callahan bumped Tuuka Rask while being defended and was called for interference). So based on the consistency there, and only based on the consistency of the call, the penalty for goalie interference on Avery was the right call. You can argue that the ref didn’t see Mottau deliberately punching Avery in the face, and that’s a valid argument. If the ref doesn’t see it, you can’t call it (see: Betts, Blair). But then to slap on the two minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty is just throwing salt in the wound. I can understand one of these scenarios happening to any player in any game, that’s hockey. But to have all three happen to the same player on the same play just screams bias.

Sean Avery, rightfully so, has earned himself a reputation as a pest. But a reputation does not give the zebras an excuse to call more penalties on the winger. There were many times throughout the season last year, after the Rangers re-acquired Avery, that he was the victim of phantom calls. All a goalie needs to do is flop when Avery is near, and the penalty will be called. It doesn’t matter if Avery was tripped and subsequently slid into the net, Avery will get an interference penalty. It’s the unfortunate truth of the matter.

His reputation also does not give them an excuse to just look the other way when opposing players try to mug him at gunpoint on the ice. I, nor does any Ranger fan, know what it takes for Sean Avery to draw a penalty. Does someone need to swing a stick at him? What about attempted gang-rape at center ice? Sure, there’s a bit of an exaggeration there, but we know it’s not that far off. Last season, players were allowed to get piggy back rides from Avery without a whistle being blown, and that’s with very little exaggeration.

The fact here is that Sean Avery’s reputation is going to cost the Rangers some penalties. In a game where one powerplay can cost a team the game, reputation penalties are extremely costly, and just unfair. Let the man play, and call the real penalties, the ones where he trips someone, or hooks someone, or jumps off the bench too early. What the NHL is allowing to happen in the treatment of Sean Avery is not only unfair, but unprofessional. League officials (meaning Gary Bettman and his ilk) are looking the other way when it comes to the unfair treatment of Sean Avery, and it needs to stop. This is going to cost the Rangers games.

Rissmiller, Arnason Waived

According to TSN, the Rangers have placed forwards Patrick Rissmiller and Tyler Arnason on waivers today. If they go unclaimed, they will be sent to Hartford. This was expected, as they were a part of the initial roster cut, but were sticking around due to waiver issues.

Both have one-way contracts, so they will make their respective salaries ($1 million for Rissmiller and $700k for Arnason) while playing for the Wolfpack this year. Remember, one-way and two-way contracts have no bearing on waiver eligibility. Because both Rissmiller and Arnason would have to pass through waivers to get back to the Rangers, it is unlikely that they will see the Rangers this year. That’s just my two cents though.

Roster Cut to 25

The Rangers made their second round of cuts today, trimming the roster to 25 players. Most of the players sent to Hartford were expected, as goalies Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba, defensemen Corey Potter and Ilkka Heikkinen, and forward Paul Crowder were sent down after the win over the Bruins this afternoon.

The final roster will probably be around 22 players, which includes an extra forward and an extra defenseman (they have the cap room, believe it or not). My guess would be P.A. Parenteau, Evgeny Grachev, Bobby Sanguinetti are sent to Hartford. I think Michael Del Zotto has earned the right to prove that he can play at the NHL level, and he will have nine games when the season begins to prove he can before getting sent back to the OHL. Alexei Semenov will probably serve as the 7th defenseman.

As far as the forwards go, I think they are going to want Grachev to get 22 minutes a game in Hartford, as opposed to 12 minutes a game with the Rangers. As for Parenteau, he is probably the tough luck loser out of this, but will be the first call up when an injury. He is 26 years old now, he’s not a prospect anymore. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rangers trade him sometimes soon, he does has some value. That’s just me thinking ahead though.

It’s been an active weekend for the Rangers. We will get a good look at how the Rangers match up on Monday, when Marian Gaborik steps to the ice for the first time as a Ranger against the Red Wings.

Preseason Game 4: Rangers at Bruins

My bad, I completely forgot that the Rangers were playing in Boston this afternoon. It’s been a bit hectic today.

It’s 2-1 right now in the first. If you’re around, use this as your game thread.

Don’t forget to check the news below that Dubinsky finally signed, and the contractual terms and initial demands have been made public.

Update: Anisimov just made the team. Wow. What a move.

Dubinsky signs … finally

According to Andrew Gross, restricted free agent and holdout center Brandon Dubinsky has finally signed for $3.7M over two years. I guess rumors of him lowering his demands were greatly exaggerated. Obviously the Rangers caved in, so amazingly the holdout worked. Good for Brandon. He’ll make $1.7M this year and $2M next, putting his cap hit at a manageable $1.85M. “The only part that made me nervous was the thought that they might possibly trade me. I wanted to be here,” is the money quote, no pun intended.

The important thing now is that he will skate later today at the team’s practice facility. Dubinsky is a week behind the other guys, so he’s going to have to bust his tail to get ready for the season.

Update (Dave) 4:30:Some interesting numbers are starting to be made public. Steve Zipay is reporting that Dubinsky was initially requesting four years and $16 million.

The initial reports that Dubinsky was asking for $1.4 million were puzzling, as it seemed absurd that Sather would be haggling over that little money. This realization that Dubinsky wanted $4 million a year shows that it may just be about the money for him. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I wouldn’t stay too attached to him. He is not worth $4 million a year. This deal ($1.85 million cap hit) is just right.

Messier, Richter Win Lester Patrick Award

Ranger greats Mark Messier and Mike Richter are the 2009 recipients of the Lester Patrick Award, which is awarded for outstanding service to hockey in the US. The third recipient this year is Red Wings Senior Vice President Jim Devellano.