Rangers Trade Bobby Sanguinetti To Carolina

In some unsurprising news, the Rangers have traded prospect Bobby Sanguinetti to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for a 2010 6th round pick (for who the Rangers pick, see the post below), and a 2011 2nd round pick (originally Washington’s pick). Sanguinetti had not only fallen on the depth chart behind other prospects, but had fallen out of favor with Rangers management, who had passed over him for the likes of Anders Ericsson when the Rnagers needed another defenseman.

This is a bit of a bad return for Sanguinetti, who was a former first round pick in 2006 (#21 overall). Sangs was taken ahead of Claude Giroux, Milan Lucic, Patrick Berglund, among others. I don’t know much on the 2011 draft class yet, but let’s hope it’s a deep top sixty.

Draft Day Two Coverage (Rangers Trade Bobby Sanguinetti)

Well, yesterday was interesting. The Rangers surprised everyone by picking Dylan McIlrath, but that was a solid pick, and many will realize this soon. As we enter Day Two of the draft, the Rangers hold picks in the 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th rounds. The draft will be covered on the NHL network. For you Twitter bugs, @NHL will be tweeting the picks as well. I will be posting any big NHL moves, and all Rangers moves and picks.

Rangers 2nd Round Pick: The Rangers have taken RW Christian Thomas of the Oshawa Generals with the 40th overall selection. Thomas is the son of former NHL player Steve Thomas. Christian put up 41 goals and 25 assists in 64 games in the OHL this year. He seems to have his dads scoring touch.

Update 1:55pm: The Kings used the 70th overall pick, acquired from the Rangers for Brian Boyle, to select Jordan Weal. Good pick for the Kings, bad deal for the Rangers.

Update 2:30pm: As per Larry Brooks, the Rangers have traded Bobby Sanguinetti to the Carolina Hurricanes. Picks are coming back. No word on what picks yet. Update: Rangers get 6th round pick this year and 2nd round pick next year. The 6th round pick this year is #157 overall.

Rangers 4th Round Pick: The Rangers have taken C Andrew Yogan of the Erie Otters of the OHL with their 4th round pick, #100 overall. Yogan put up a line of 25-30-55 with 97 PIMs in 63 GP. Yogan is 6’3, 202 lbs.

Rangers 5th Round Pick: The Rangers have taken Jason Wilson of the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL with their 5th round, #130 overall. Wilson put up a line of 17-18-35 with 101 PIMs in 46 GP. Wilson is 6’2, 205 lbs.

Rangers 6th Round Pick: As mentioned above, the Rangers have acquired a 6th round pick, #157 overall, as part of the deal for Bobby Sanguinetti. The Rangers used this pick to select RW Jesper Fasth of the Swedish Juniors. He put up a line of 23-26-49 in 37 GP. The 6’0 176 lb winger could be a real sleeper.

Rangers 7th Round Pick: The Rangers have taken RW Randy McNaught of the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL with their 7th round pick, #190 overall. McNaught is huge, at 6’4, 222 lbs, and put up a line of 6-6-12, with 131 PIMs in 59 GP.

That’s it for the Rangers. I will post a draft wrap up of my feelings on the draft later this week, as will the rest of the guys, as we prep for July 1 and free agency.

McIlrath Is A Solid Pick

Well that was a bit of a surprising pick for the Rangers, no? With players like Brandon Gormley, Cam Fowler, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Emerson Etem available, the Rangers shocked their fans, and many at the draft, by selecting tough guy Dylan McIlrath. I was at a wedding yesterday, but I got the news from a few texts (thanks guys), and many were pissed at this move.

I have the luxury of not reacting until this morning, as I could not react last night (it’s impossible to get worked up over a draft at a wedding). The two gaping holes on the Rangers right now is scoring and physical defensemen. With players like Artem Anisimov, Evgeny Grachev, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, and Ethan Werek already emerging as the top prospects in the system, the Rangers seem to be covered for the future with scoring.

Then you have to look at the defense. The Rangers have one of the best defenders in the league in Marc Staal. They have an up and coming star as an offensive defenseman in Michael Del Zotto. They have depth at both of those positions in Bobby Sanguinetti and Dan Girardi. What the Rangers truly lacked was a physical, mean, tough defenseman. In the system they have Ryan McDonagh, but that is really putting all your eggs into one basket.

Read more »

Draft Day 2010

Well, the day has arrived. The Rangers hold the #10 pick in the first round, and I personally will be happy if the Rangers select any of Brett Connolly, Nino Niederreiter, Ryan Johansen, Derek Forbort, Emerson Etem, Jeff Skinner, Alex Burmistrov, or Vladimir Tarasenko. With a bunch of first round picks available (Islanders – 5th, Panthers – 3rd or 15th, Atlanta – 7th, among others), the Rangers may trade up to get their man, which is believed to be either Niedrreiter or Tarasenko. If both are gone, then expect the Rangers to stand pat and select the best available player. The Rangers also have picks in the 2nd round (40th overall), 4th round (100th overall), 5th round (130th overall), and 7th round (190th overall). The Rangers traded their 3rd round pick (70th overall) to the Los Angeles Kings for Brian Boyle, and their 6th round (160th overall) pick to the Islanders for Jyri Niemi.

Use this as your post to discuss the draft. I have a wedding tonight, and will be unable to update the post. Jurgenno is in Ireland, and I haven’t had the chance to speak to Jeremy yet about updating this post. Hopefully, it will be updated with anything major. If not, then use the comments to post big updates and discuss.

7:51 EST: Jeremy here, holding down the draft fort. 4 picks in. Hall first, Seguin second, Florida takes Gudbrandon, and Columbus takes Johansen. Canucks made the first trade, acquiring D Keith Ballard from the Panthers for Steve Bernier, Michael Grabner, and this year’s 25th overall pick.

7:57 EST: Isles take Nino Neidereitter. Besides having an awesome name, that’s a hell of a pick.

8:15 EST: Tampa takes Connolly, Canes take Skinner. Rangers are two away.

8:20 EST: Atlanta takes Alex Burmistrov

8:25 EST: Minnesota takes Mikael Granlund. The Rangers are on the clock!

8:33 EST: Rangers take defenseman Dylan McIlrath, from Moose Jaw of the WHL. Here’s what TSN had to say about him:

Moose Jaw Warrior defenceman Dylan McIlrath is a big, physical, mean and tough defensive defenceman who is the unanimous choice of scouts surveyed by TSN as the “toughest player” in the entire draft. He had 19 fighting majors this season and didn’t lose too many, by all accounts. Say no more

Surprised they passed on Cam Fowler, but McIlrath is the crease clearing, 6-4 defenseman they don’t have. Not a bad pick.

11:38 EST: Flyers trade rights to Dan Hamhuis to Pittsburgh for a 3rd round pick. The rich get richer.

Scouting The Market: Shaone Morrisonn

Up next in Scouting The Market: Shaone Morrisonn. Read the other Scouting The Markets here.

Shaone Morrisonn is a 27 year old defenseman who has played the past couple years with the Capitals. Tough as nails, Morrisonn doesn’t provide much in the way of offense, but he’s a solid stay-at-home defenseman, who can be very physical. A reliable partner, he helped Mike Green flourish as a offensive force. Said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau:

Shaone Morrisonn deserves a lot of the credit for allowing Mike Green to do what he’s doing. Shaone is the constant security blanket back there.

Besides the fact that his family doesn’t know how to spell (I’m sorry, but really, Shaone? Really? Between him and Chone Figgins, there are just too many people who can’t spell Sean.I’ll accept Shawn. But Shaone? Chone? Child, please), he’s a pretty good player, who doesn’t get a lot of publicity. He’ll drop the gloves, and help in a scrum. He can be the crease clearing presence the Rangers currently don’t have. He’d also be a perfect pairing for Mike Del Zotto. He also hates Sideny Crosby. No, really. That’s a plus for any Rangers fan:

“Well, I don’t like him ’cause he’s on Pittsburgh,” Morrisonn said. “On a national stage, I’m not gonna comment. But you know, for our team, I definitely dislike the Penguins and Sidney Crosby.

Morrisonn made $1.975 million last year. He can expect to make about $2 million. If they sign Morrisonn, here’s what the D-pairs could look like:

Staal-Girardi

MDZ-Morrisonn

Redden-Rosival

It’s not a bad top four at all, and we all saw how well Rosival played towards to end of last year. The albatross is Redden, but he’s always going to be the albatross. Morrisonn represents a significant upgrade to the defense, and he comes pretty cheap. What are your thoughts on Morrisonn? If he signs, would you support a petition to change the spelling of his name? Let us know in the comments.

Memo to Sather: Avoid 2010 UFAs, Wait for 2011

With the signings of Patrick Marleau and Tomas Plekanec, the UFA market for 2010 went from thin to bare. There are very few big time UFA’s available, and each will certainly be overpaid this summer as a result. The summer of 2010 will be the summer to be a UFA, big contracts from teams with oodles of cap room await those who hit the market.

Maybe it is a blessing in disguise that the Rangers have no cap room to work with this summer. I found myself looking ahead to 2011, and I must say, it is one of the best free agent classes I have ever seen. The list includes Brad Richards, Chara, Jovanovski, Thornton, Lidstrom, Giguere, Semin, Markov, McCabe, Vokoun, Gagne, St. Louis, Patrice Bergeron, Connolly, Brewer, Kaberle, Bryzgalov, Mikko Koivu, Ehrhoff, Hejduk, and Backes.

That is one hell of a list. Currently, the Rangers have just 8 players committed to contract when the summer of 2011 hits, and $22 million in cap space to work with. With that many UFAs set to hit the free agency, it would be the ultimate buyers market, thus bringing prices way down. The top notch guys will get their money, but the aging veterans who put up consistent numbers will see their salary demands take a big hit. This class is comparable to the 2009 MLB free agent class, which featured Sabathia, Teixeira, etc.

Around the League: Marleau and Pavelski Re-sign in SJ

In a good move for the Rangers – to remove GM Sather’s natural temptation – the San Jose Sharks have re-signed core centers Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski. Each player received 4 year deals Marleau getting $6.9m while Pavelski got 4m. With these deals its easy to see why the club couldnt committ to goalie Evgeni Nabakov. Marleau is now in line to be one of a rare breed these days in sports: a one club guy. His entire career to this point has been with the Californians. The signing of Marleau also makes a very week forward free agent class that much more weaker. Buyers beware.

What this could do for The Rangers is force the team to expedite the youth movement we have discussed at BSB so often. With free agency being terribly weak at forward, the better options may very well be accommodating more ice time for Anisimov, playing Stepan on the big club and looking to Hartford etc. These re-signings in San Jose also make guys like Matt Lombardi bigger players in the open market and in a position to garner more $$$ than they are worth. Hopefully the Rangers dont throw too much money at any one free agent.

Hawks Gain Cap Room, Thrashers Add Scoring Depth

That was a doozy of a trade that went down last night, right? In case you missed it, the Blackhawks shipped Dustin Byfuglien (1 year, $3 million cap hit), Brent Sopel (1 year, $2.3 million cap hit), Ben Eager (RFA, $1 million cap hit), and prospect Akim Aliu to Atlanta in exchange for a first round pick (originally the Devils pick, 24th overall), a second round pick (54th overall), Marty Reasoner (1 year, $1.15 million), Joey Crabb (UFA, $600,000) and prospect Jeremy Morin.

This deal was a necessary evil for both teams, and both teams came out winners here. For the Hawks, they gain much needed cap space, while gaining two additional picks in the top 55, a legit prospect in Morin (first round pick in 2009), and a cheap depth forward in Reasoner. Losing Byfuglien hurts, but the cap space created will help them fill out their roster needs. Sopel was a depth defenseman, and at $2.3 million, was expendable. The Hawks still need to clear some cap space, and many expect Kris Versteeg to be the next guy on his way out. The Hawks are reluctant to trade Patrick Sharp, citing depth at center as something they want to keep.

As for Atlanta, they still have their own first round pick (7th overall), so they were dealing from a strength there. They also picked up veteran leadership in Sopel, and some scoring depth to add to Nik Antropov, Evander Kane, and Rich Peverley. Of course, the Thrashers have about $30 million in cap space to work with this offseason, so they can very quickly add to any needs this team has (there are a bunch). The Thrashers may not be a legitimate Cup contender yet, but in a weak Southeast, these moves may help them sneak into the playoffs next season.

Sather Generally Quiet Until Draft

With NHL teams wheeling and dealing as the NHL draft approaches, General Manager Glen Sather has remained relatively quiet. The only Rangers news was that Enver Lisin would not be tendered a qualifying offer of approximately $800,000, making him an unrestricted free agent as of July 1. With the news extravaganza that was yesterday, some are wondering why Sather has been this quiet.

The truth of the matter is that Sather is generally very quiet until draft day, then gets very busy between the draft and mid-July. In fact, I cannot recall many, if any, moves that were made by Sather in the post-lockout era that came before the draft. The Scott Gomez deal is the only significant move made by Sather pre-July 1, and that came on June 30.

Don’t worry, Sather is still breathing, he was in on the Arnott sweepstakes for a while, and we can only assume that he was in on Horton until he heard the asking price. However, with limited cap space and key RFA’s to sign, you can expect Sather to be quiet on most fronts. Marc Staal seems to be the priority, and his contract will dictate the rest of the Rangers offseason plans.

News Explosion!

Well, today was quite the active day in the NHL. Let’s see if we can recap it all:

• The Rangers 2010-2011 schedule was announced.
• The Penguins re-signed Matt Cooke. Glen Sather responded by claiming he won’t sign any free agent that wishes to avoid elbows to the head.
• Scott Niedermayer retired. He will be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
• Florida traded Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell to Boston for Dennis Wideman, the 15th pick in the 2010 draft, and a third round pick in the 2011 draft.
• Tom Renney was named Head Coach of the Edmonton Oilers, with Pat Quinn staying on as a Special Advisor.
• Dino Ciccarelli was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Good for him.
• Tomas Plekanec re-upped with the Montreal Canadiens to the tune of $6 million a year for 4 years.
• In Rangers news, the Rangers will not tender Enver Lisin a qualifying offer, making him a UFA on July 1.
• Last, but not least, the NHLPA voted to invoke a 5% raise on the salary cap for next season. The cap, which is tied to league revenues based on the middle of the season, will be somewhere between $58.5 million and $59 million for the 2010-2011 season. By invoking this raise, the current CBA has been extended until the end of the 2011-2012 season.

Whew! What a day!