Trade for Short and Long Term

If you haven’t heard that the Rangers traded Ales Kotalik and Christopher Higgins for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust, then you probably are living under a rock. Regardless, this trade kills two birds with one stone. It attempts to address one hole on the Rangers, a need for more scoring. Jokinen is having a very weak season, but his potential as a point-per-game player is what makes him enticing. Jokinen’s best years were in Florida, where he was playing with a goal scorer in Nathan Horton. Horton and Jokinen’s old linemate, Jarome Iginla, play very different styles of hockey. Iginla is a power forward, and it appears that the style just did not mesh with Jokinen. In New York, Jokinen will probably be playing with Marian Gaborik, a player who’s style is more akin to that of Horton than that of Iginla. Who knows, maybe Jokinen meshes with Gaborik. Maybe he doesn’t. It’s a gamble, but a safe gamble.

The second bird here is that the Rangers have successfully cleared $3 million in cap space going into the 2010 offseason. This leaves the Rangers with a little over $10 million in cap space to fill up the rest of the roster (15 players signed for 2010-2011), whereas the Ranges only had $7 million prior to the trade (16 players signed). The cap space gained is more than likely going to Marc Staal, who is an RFA at the end of the year.

The cap problem is a problem that Glen Sather has brought on himself, but he has been able to rectify some of these mistakes via trade, which is a great strength of his. The Rangers still have cap problems, with two of these players being unmovable, but considering the hole he dug himeslf, Sather is doing a decent job of at least attempting to dig himself out. Chris Drury is not going anywhere, and neither is the $7 million cap hit. If Wade Redden goes anywhere, it’s to Hartford, because no team in their right mind is going to take him. Essentially, Redden is going nowhere. Michal Rozsival is the most tradeable asset, but it is unlikely he is dealt. Considering the Rangers are still rebuilding (and they are, most of these prospects are still 2-3 years away), you have to make the best of this bad cap situation.

When it comes to this trade, you have to look at it with these questions: Are the Rangers a better team after this trade? Are the Rangers in a better situation coming to this offseason, and future offseasons after this trade? The answer, to both these questions, is yes. Without a doubt, yes.