Most NHL teams carry a spare forward for two reasons. The first is the most obvious: a spare body in case of injury. The second is to stir competition and force players to come to play game in and game out. It is John Tortorella’s style to keep a spare player around.

That spare player right now is Wolski, whether we like it or not. Wolski’s $3.8 million cap hit is not that appealing to many teams, but team control for his next contract might be –Wolski is a RFA.

For the next two weeks, Wolski will be playing with the CT Whale in what is likely an audition for a trade or a future NHL job. But with Christensen gone, the Rangers are less likely to just dump Wolski like they did with Christensen. Wolski fits the “spare forward” role well, meaning that he is not a prospect that the Rangers need to groom and he is not someone who appears to be a key cog in the immediate future of the organization.

Maybe Wolski should be calling Christensen and thanking him, because with Christensen gone, Wolski has that roster spot as the spare forward.  For now.

Stance

Biron utilizes a fairly standard stance set-up.  He has his feet a little more than shoulder width apart and balances his body weight well.  He seems to hold his body posture in a comfortable position, which allows him to have relatively little excess movement when he executes a save.

Crease movement/depth

Marty is actually one of the more “old school” goalies in the NHL (obviously, that distinction does to the other Marty).  He rarely uses butterfly slides to move around down low.  While he does execute the butterfly as a save technique, it’s not much of a movement vehicle for him.  He is a strong skater and relies much more on a standard up and down game for lateral mobility.

Benoit Allaire is a proponent of having his goalies play a little deeper in the net than your average keeper.  The logic behind this is that it takes less distance to travel laterally if you aren’t taking an angle from higher outside of the crease.  Since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, it is much easier to go from post to post than it is to load up your push foot and angle yourself from the top (or outside) the crease to the appropriate post.  What you sacrifice for this decrease in distance to cover is the angle to the shooter.  The closer you are to the shooter (assuming you are on your angle), the less net he can see behind you.  There is a point of diminishing returns, but usually < 6 inches or so outside the top of the crease will give you the optimal depth on the original shot.

Biron tends to take the middle road for approaching a shooter.  He doesn’t operate nearly as deep in the net as Hank does, but he tends to play deeper than your average goalie.  Because of his size (6’2”, 180 lbs) and his solid positioning, it is a beneficial style for him to play.

Equipment

Marty wears a modified Bauer One100 set.  This is the same model line that Hank has worn for the past couple of years.  Hank’s pads are actually the farthest thing from the stock line, so there is really no comparison between the two sets.  I won’t bore you guys with the politics of the equipment industry, but Marty’s pads utilize features from Bauer RX10 and older Itech models which give a more hybrid style despite what the graphics would have you believe.

Biron wears his pads tighter to the leg than most goalies do (the looser strap set-ups tend to promote easier pad rotation and butterfly recovery).  As infamously portrayed on 24/7, Marty wraps the ankles of his skates in a heavy amount of sock (clear) tape prior to taking the ice.  This serves to give him stiffer ankles and more control over the rotation of his pads and the stiffness in his skates when recovering.

The equipment a goalie wears should reflect the focal points of his style.  Marty seems to prioritize quiet and controlled movement, while not being particularly dependent on butterfly-style mobility.  His equipment set-up allows him to maximize that foundation.

Puck playing ability

Marty is a fairly gifted puck-handler.  While I wouldn’t classify him in the elite puck playing category with guys such as Martin Brodeur and Mike Smith, he is well above average.  He isn’t as rangy as those guys either.  He plays a pretty conservative brand of goal and his puck handling is no different.

He is extremely competent with the puck whether he is retrieving it from behind the net, or coming out a little higher to assist in longer passes.  He has a strong release and is accurate in his delivery.  Since he tends to err on the side of caution, his decision making prowess is very strong as well.  His solid vision on the ice helps maximize this strength of his game.

Exploitable weaknesses

Due to the current state of the NHL; the speed, the quick releases and strength of the shots, the hybrid goalie is going the way of the old-school stand up.  There simply isn’t time to execute a save, get up, move and execute another save.  Goalies are becoming more and more reliant on lateral movement once they have dropped into the butterfly.  Since Marty does not really utilize this technique, sometimes he can be a little slow getting to rebounds (as we saw on Zach Parise’s goal in the last game against the Devils).

Aside from this technical disadvantage, Marty is fairly structurally sound.  His five hole is the weakest of his traditional shooting locations, but by no means a glaring weakness.

The biggest knock against Marty is his consistency.  It really is the difference between a starting goalie in the NHL and a backup.  As a backup, Marty is ideal.  He is better than a traditional backup and has starting experience, but he was unable to put together consistent campaigns when given the keys to the car.  A good backup will stop the shots he needs to and once in a while some that he shouldn’t.  This is exactly what Biron brings to the backup role, and we are lucky to have him.

Summary

Marty has a very calm, stoic demeanor in the net, which, especially this year has helped calm a young defensive corps.  He is very much a “what you see is what you get” goaltender.  He has strong on-ice vision and good instincts.  He plays the angles well and makes himself big on perimeter shots.  He lacks some of the explosiveness laterally that elite goalies possess, but considering the role he has on the team, he is an extremely valuable asset in spelling Lundqvist when necessary.

The forwards on the powerplay have been relatively consistent. They are cycling the puck, they are getting decent shot opportunities, and they are creating open space. That part we can see. The problem is that those “shot opportunities” are few and far between. The reason being is that when the point men do not put the puck on net, the penalty killers can cheat a little bit and cut off passing/shooting lanes for the forwards.

Therein lies the issue: the point men are not shooting the puck. Brad Richards, Michael Del Zotto, Ryan McDonagh, and Dan Girardi need to start ripping shots on net from the point with the man advantage on a more regular basis.

Why? Because it will keep the penalty killers honest. Even if the shots aren’t the howitzers that Zdeno Chara and Shea Weber can rip, they are shots that will be on net that have a chance of going in. That in itself is enough to force at least some attention to be paid to the point men.

Another good aspect of shooting from the point? Rebounds. The Rangers have scored most of their goals this year from the dirty areas on the ice. Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik are crashing the net more and looking for those garbage goals.

Hockey Fundamentals 101: Shoot the puck low and hard from the point, generating rebounds, and crash the net.

That folks is what the Rangers are not doing on the powerplay. It’s a bit weird because they are doing it at even strength, but they seem to forget to do it while with the man advantage. I’m no coach, and I’m sure John Tortorella has said this ad nauseum to his team, but they appear to be too fancy with the puck while on the powerplay.

As RangerSmurf pointed out in the comments of a separate post, the Rangers are simply not getting the same number of shots on net that they got last year. The conversion rate (in shots per 60 minutes with the man advantage) is the same, meaning they are converting on the same percentage of shots taken, but they are taking significantly less shots. When they take less shots, they have less goals, hence the dip of almost 4% on their overall powerplay conversion rate.

With the Rangers, it’s simple. More shots equals more goals.

That leaves just Marian Gaborik, Derek Stepan, Ryan Callahan, and Brad Richards as the 20 goal guys this year. That’s simply not good enough.

In the month of January, the Rangers have played 11 games, with tomorrow night’s game in New Jersey capping the month. The Rangers have gone an impressive 8-3, but when you look at the underlying goals scored, it’s not that impressive. In those 11 games, the Rangers scored three goals 7 times, two goals once, one goal twice, and got shutout once. Not one time did the Rangers score more than three goals. This wasn’t an issue in December.

The problem is likely within the powerplay, as the Rangers have just one player with double-digit points with the man advantage (Richards). Only four other players (Gaborik, Callahan, Michael Del Zotto, Dan Girardi) have eight points or more when on the powerplay. Can you remember the last time they scored with the man advantage? I can’t.

But, the powerplay has looked good in recent games. They are moving around, moving the puck, and getting good chances. The problem is they aren’t finishing. A 14.1% powerplay conversion rate isn’t going to get them far.

However, there is room for optimism. With all the talk about regression to the mean for the Rangers, the powerplay falls in the exact opposite boat. The Rangers finished last season at 16.9% on the powerplay last season. That is almost three full percentage points higher than their 14.1% rate this year, with an upgraded unit (on paper at least). There is room for progression to the mean here.

Progression to the mean is hopefully something that can be triggered by some people moving more towards their career averages in points as the season goes along. Brad Richards is one that is struggling to meet his career average of approximately 70 points. Brandon Dubinsky has a career average of  approximately 40 points, and he –like Richards– is going to have to have a strong second half to get there.

The Rangers are winning despite their offensive woes, where there is clearly room for improvement and room for the law of averages to take effect. If they continue to falter, then that weight on Henrik Lundqvist’s shoulders is going to get mighty heavy. There’s still two and a half months to get it right.

While the deadline is without a doubt a stressful time for General Managers who need to retool their rosters before the final playoff push, teams on the outside looking in are facing considerably more pressure internally. It is at these critical moments where a GM has to do everything in his power to get back the value his team needs before the media and fans start kicking down his door.

And it isn’t easy. You know your team is years away from contending. You know your marquee star is probably going to sign elsewhere this summer either for more money than you can offer him, or because he wants a chance to hoist the Cup. Finally, you know that you somehow have to sell the idea to your owner that hope and patience aren’t counterproductive to selling tickets and corporate partnerships.

So what is the GM of a “deadline seller” to do?

Control the message

The last thing any seller wants are rumors getting out that his star player is only interested in playing for a specific team. It pretty much kills his maximum return. The Brad Richards situation last season was a perfect example.

There were tidbits in the press that Richards wanted to come to New York to play for John Tortorella, or because he was friends with Avery, etc. All of a sudden Los Angeles and other teams were no longer dangling that first rounder they were initially offering. Why give up picks/prospects if you think there is a good chance Richie is going to end up in NY come July anyway?

Of course GM’s can plant nuggets in the press to boost a player’s appeal as well. Say Sather stays away from certain players, believing that they can’t be resigned in the offseason. Then all of sudden you’re hearing about how player X grew up a Rangers fan, has family in Westchester, a goomah in Howard Beach, etc.

That’s the seller controlling the message!

Increase Ice time

When a perennial losing team starts playing a third liner on their top power play unit in the days leading up to the deadline, it probably isn’t to win games.  Well, other than the Islanders it probably is to win games, but it’s also an effort to inflate that player’s value. You think Chris Kelly deserved the extra ice-time in his final days as a Senator? Um no.

GM’s with zero leverage have to manufacture ways to get available players’ stock up.  Even if it seems far fetched, there’s always a sucker willing to believe it. Or maybe you really did believe Frolov’s problem in LA was “he just didn’t fit the system!”

While the approaching deadline will certainly produce some perfunctory trade rumors, if you peel back the layers you may be able to figure out who is really available and who’s name is being dropped just so Canadian newsies can sell more papers.

Let’s begin Sather’s grade back in the summer. He brought in Brad Richards on an excellent cap hit taking advantage of a loop hole in the CBA that other GM’s have used. That the length of the contract therefore was excessive was an unfortunate necessity. Still, Richards was the right addition to this team at the right time.

Mike Rupp however received too much dollar and term in my opinion, even though he appears to be a solid addition to the close knit team and will go down in Rangers folk lore for the Winter Classic. Sather also brought back Steve Eminger which was also a solid move, especially given the injuries and the lack of a truly ready replacement in the minors.

Then there is the next potential robbery in Sather’s recent history. Tim Erixon was acquired from Calgary for some picks and Roman Horak. While Horak has had some initial impact with the Flames, Sather managed to prize Calgary’s best prospect off them for a kid that had little chance in NY (because of depth) and effectively got two first round talents this summer at the draft. Erixon has seen Rangers ice already and has made a solid start in Connecticut.

During the season Sather has made minor moves that have paid off handsomely. While his hand was forced somewhat, the additions of Jeff Woywitka and Anton Stralman have been fine depth moves and helped the team cope with a huge amount of man power lost on the blue line. In terms of Stralman Sather got a good deal at 900k pro rated.

If I was to nitpick at Sather I would ask him why Erik Christensen still remains with the club, however I suspect this has more to do with the coach wanting him here than Sather’s failure to deal with the deadweight.

Contract negotiations over the summer saw guys like Callahan and Anisimov get paid and Dubinsky get paid too much, but Sather still made sure the young core is intact. Also, Sather and Tortorella clearly are on the same page with this team’s direction and such inter-organisational harmony isn’t something this club has always had. Look at the results.

Sather’s overall grade will be decided by the deadline. If this team looks like it will be in contention down the stretch it will be interesting to see whether Sather is aggressive in adding pieces for a run and what he has to give up to do so. So far, Sather has had a good year (again) and his grade gets a hike because of his Winter Classic guarantee. Keep up the good work Glen. No more Wade Redden’s please. A-

At this point I don’t want to beat a dead horse. I will say this; back in late October/early November we put up poll asking our readers if they thought Torts was the right man for the job and a little more than 50% said no. We are running a new poll (to your right) asking our readers their opinions of Tortorella post-24/7 and the results are staggering. Less than 5% think he’s a bad coach. Fifty percent to five percent. Wow.

The Good:

It’s not unique, but I am a proponent of Tortorella’s system. The 2-1-2 forechecking, the commitment to back pressure, dump & chase when a play isn’t there, getting defensemen involved in the OZ…it’s all part of his team concept and it is the right template given the makeup of this roster. A lot of other coaches use these strategies, but revert to trapping when they have the lead. Torts tells his guys to “not to let up” and “we’re going to keep coming at them.” It makes for exciting hockey and so far it is producing offense and wins.

Speaking of offense, so far this season our team is scoring almost three goals a game. When Tom Renney was let go, we were scoring just 2.4 goals a game. Obviously having our talent perform up to expectations has helped, but Torts positions his players deeper in the zone than Renney did, he is also great at making in-game adjustments, and it is paying off without sacrificing defense.

Much of the criticism from his bashers pre-24/7 focused around unfair treatment of his players. However, this was defeated thanks to HBO. Throughout those four episodes we saw motivational criticism directed at our star players as much as our grinders. Most of the time the tough love worked. We also saw him praise our defensemen on multiple occasions.

Where He Can Improve:

One reason why some of the fans didn’t see his strengths had to do with slanted media coverage. Obviously NYR beat writers aren’t going to go out of their way to write positive stuff about the guy when he’s constantly short with them. However, now that public opinion is on his side, he needs to do a better job of handling the media. Ultimately it doesn’t change our record, but it may one day influence his job status if we start losing again.

I’m sure some will point to our power play as an area that needs improvement, it does, but the problem isn’t in the formation, it’s in the execution. Pretty much every good coach in the NHL has presided over an efficient power play and an inefficient one at some point or another. Unless you have the Sedin twins, or Mike Green patrolling your blueline, there isn’t much consistency around the league. As young guys like Michael Del Zotto, Ryan McDonagh, Artem Anisimov, & Derek Stepan mature offensively, I believe their power play IQ will only get better. But that’s a post for another time…

Grade: A- 

*In case you missed it. We also wrote report cards for our bottom six forwards, top six forwards, defense, & goalies.

Marian Gaborik. In December we discussed the possibility of whether Gaborik was the league’s best right wing this season. That kind of says it all about the year he’s having. On pace to establish a new career high in goals, Gaborik is flirting with the magical 50 mark. Despite occasional stretches without production he’s been remarkably consistent and blew past his subpar 10/11 season goal total with less than half the season gone. Gaborik is the Rangers best offensive talent and he’s showing it. Fully healthy, he looks explosive; the sky’s the limit this season. A+

Ryan Callahan. The most underrated captain in the league? The best player in the league no one ever talks about? The Rangers captain does it all. He’s 4^th in the league in hits, was on course for a 30 goal season and gives 100% every single shift. Seven power play goals, three game winners and a short-hander suggest Callahan produces in every scenario. If there was any kind of criticism of Callahan it may be that he’s taken a few too many penalties this season but that would be nitpicking in a brilliant season for the best Rangers captain in several seasons. A+

Brandon Dubinsky. This is a tough grade because it depends what your expectations are for the talented Alaskan. Dubinsky has had a pretty rough first half even though he’s clearly improved recently. The bottom line however is that for a player making around $4m annually, counted on to be an offensive contributor, a physical leader on a blue collar team then 5 goals and 21 points do not cut it. Nor does the 6% shooting percentage or the meagre 76 shots. Luckily for Dubinsky, the team has great depth and have coped without consistent production from him. Slowly turning his year around, it’s almost like a new addition making the Rangers potentially even more dangerous. C-

Derek Stepan. Please remember this kid is 21. He’s centering the top line on the NHL’s best team (points wise), is likely to comfortably surpass his rookie totals and doesn’t look out of place at all. Stepan was an eagerly anticipated prospect but I’m not sure many people thought he would be this good, this quickly. He still has some developing to do, like his shot selection, but when his contract expires he’ll likely be a lot better financially next time he signs on the dotted line. Stepan is scoring important goals (but not enough), playing a pivotal role in Gaborik’s bounce back year and is growing up right before our eyes. Rarely do you see Stepan make a bad decision and his passing ability is incredible, as we saw once again throughout the Coyotes win last night. A huge future lies ahead. B+

Artem Anisimov. The Russian is another player showing solid progression this year. Unfortunately he has cooled off lately; pointless in eight games. Anisimov has a tendency to be streaky, and he needs to score more goals but a lot of the work Anisimov has done this season has not shown up on the score board. He’s a nice fit on the top line with Gaborik and Stepan and has handled his move to the wing nicely. His play along the boards has improved immeasurably and don’t forget Anisimov is also still young at 23 and figures to have room to develop offensively. If his production ever catches up to his talent then he could be a monster. B-

Brad Richards. Like Dubinsky, critiquing Richards’ season so far depends on what your expectations were. If you judge Richards with the massive contract in mind or place much emphasis on the relatively small stretch where he wasn’t contributing offensively then it may not look that impressive. If you measure the impact his presence has had on the rest of the roster (depth), the clutch goal scoring or the way he has influenced players like Del Zotto then Richards has been a great addition and has had a fine beginning to his Rangers tenure. That said, one of the key reasons for his signing was to help fix the powerplay and he hasn’t managed to help turn it into a more effective unit.

Despite being on course for his first 30 goal season he’s also on course for his lowest points total since 08/09. Of course that total would have led the Rangers over the last few years but it’s a different measuring stick for an elite player. Richards’ faceoff results have been quite inconsistent this year too, much like his production. Richards has improved defensively as the year has developed which no doubt helps his game when not scoring. The best part of Richards’ year is that there should be more to come. Lined up with Callahan and Dubinsky, the Rangers now have two quality scoring lines. When was the last time they could say that? If Dubinsky really has turned his year around, expect more from Richards as a result too. B-

In case you missed it. We also wrote report cards for our bottom six forwards, defense, & goalies.

Before we get started, let me just reiterate these grades are based on these respective players executing their specific roles within our team concept.

Brian Boyle: Boyle has much improved at faceoffs this season (51.5% vs. 48.5%) and it’s a big reason why the Hagelin-Boyle-Mitchell line was out possessing the opposition. He’s gotten some flak for his offense being down, but he’s pretty much doing everything defensively you could ask from a third line center. He forechecks, he blocks shots, and he doesn’t turn the puck over. I would like to see him lay people out a little more often given his size.

With that said, we are going to need more scoring from our bottom six in the second half and beyond. Boyle is on pace for 4 goals and 16 points, which is down from last season’s 21 goals and 35 points. Icetime isn’t much of an excuse as his avg. icetime last season was 15 mins and change. This season he is skating 14 mins and change. Essentially he’s playing one less shift per game. Grade: B-

Ruslan Fedotenko: Feds has been one of the most reliable trenchmen in the game for the past 10 years. Every season he gives you steady corner play, second chance efforts, and 30 points give or take. Most of his strengths are often overlooked because he’s not a puck carrier or a fighter, but he is a strategic insertion in this lineup and he executes Tortorella’s puck pursuit system to a T. The only reason I didn’t grade him higher was because he played on the second line for a while and didn’t do too much with it. Grade: B

Carl Hagelin: Hagelin is a bottom six player this season, but he won’t be next season. He may not even be a bottom sixer by the end of this season thanks to his explosiveness, escapeability, and positional awareness. As he’s gained more experience, he has also gained more trust from his coach, which is evident in the increase in situations he is being utilized.

The question really is what is this kid’s ceiling? It’s hard to know at this point, but what really impresses me about Hagelin’s game is that his puck handling keeps up with his foot speed. Rico Fata could skate like the wind too, but he had no hands.

Many will write that Hagelin is too small or that he needs to bulk up. To which I say, BS! How many times have you seen him get pancaked and lose the puck? Grade: A

John Mitchell: While many of Avery’s supporters blame his current status on Rupp and Erik Christensen, Mitchell too deserves culpability. Of course Mitchell deserves a spot on this roster over Avery, so you won’t hear any complaints from me.

Mitchell has been a possession monster for us, as he currently leads the team in relative corsi. He’s also been dynamite on the draw (FO 58.6%), he’s quick, and he plays gritty without taking dumb penalties. I’m not sure who scouted this guy in Toronto, but whoever it was deserves credit. Like a glove! Grade: B+

Brandon Prust:  He really is the essence of what fourth line hockey is all about. It’s not about the fighting. It’s the blocking of shots, the making the opposing defensemen pay on icings, protecting teammates, etc. Straight up enforcers are slowly becoming extinct and guys like Prust, who can actually skate, are taking over. Hopefully he stays healthy, as will need him when we make a run. I would like to see him improve on the forecheck, as I thought he was better in that regard last season. Grade: B

Mike Rupp: Many of our readers hated this signing and even I was on the fence, as I was skeptical about Rupp’s skating. But observing him since his return and seeing on 24/7 how Torts leaned on Rupp in the locker room revealed to me his importance to this hockey club.

Look, Rupp isn’t going to score 2 goals a game, he isn’t going to goad guys into fighting, and he isn’t ever going to replace Avery’s jersey sales. Still, fans should appreciate him for standing up for Del Zotto when he got sucker punched and for not letting Prust fight every heavyweight. They should also realize this guy can win faceoffs (54.5%), he’s plays an honest, hardworking game, and he’s not going to cost us with bad turnovers and bad penalties. Above all else, he’s coachable and he has a ring. Grade: B

Sean Avery, Erik Christensen, Wojtek Wolski:  I can’t grade them as they’ve barely played and I doubt they will see Garden ice unless someone gets injured. I will say this though, Christensen & Wolski both seem like good character guys and both have some skill. If they get their chance, they have to learn to play below the dots & along the boards. Producing only when the defense forgets about them isn’t going to cut it in this system. Grade: Whatever

*Here is Justin’s mid-season report for the goalies & Dave’s report for the defense. Stay tuned for reports on our top 6 forwards and our coaches.

Martin Biron- I’m normally a very tough grader when it comes to goalie performance but the Rangers tandem is really tying my hands for the midterm grades.  Marty has been a revelation in relief so far this season.  His 2.06 GAA and .922 save % are high quality for a starter, much less a backup.  His 8-2-0 record also bears out how well he has played behind Hank thus far.  He plays an incredibly calm style, with very little excess movement, which helps keep his defense calm in front of him.  He may not be the flashiest or the most athletic goalie in the league, but he is a rock back there.  At only 10 games started through almost the first half, it would benefit Torts to get Marty a little more time down the stretch run if only to make sure Hank is fresh for the playoffs.  Grade: A

Henrik Lundqvist- What more is there really to say about Henrik Lundqvist?  At 29 years old he is coming into his physical prime.  Goalies tend to mature late (not that Hank has been anything less than stellar his first six years, but those questioning his step forward this year seem to feel he is likely to regress to his career averages), which would explain the serious increase in almost all statistical categories.  It appears Hank is really putting it all together right as this team heads into it’s window to contend.  He currently sports a 1.89 GAA and a staggering .939 save percentage.  I generally tend not to put a ton of stock in either of these stats as they are very context specific, but wow.  Hank is the backbone of this team and with the way he has played in the first half, the sky is the limit for the King.  Grade: A+

I just wanted to make one final point about the pace that the Rangers’ keepers are on this year.  I have been reading quite a bit of conjecture about how they are likely to experience some regression between the pipes, and while it is certainly possible, I find it more likely the pace continues. Marty, even at 34, is not cut from the true backup cloth.  He still could start on a non-contending team, and bringing that ability and experience to a backup role has been tremendous for his production.  I don’t see an outlier here.  His stats at the end of the year may not be as shiny as they stand today, but I don’t foresee a substantial decline in the quality of his play.

As for Hank, his consistency is what has made him a top 5 NHL goalie the past few years.  It seems now he is ready to take a big step forward and couple that consistency with elite production.  While there are several goalies having fantastic years so far, it would not surprise me in the slightest if this year the King takes home some serious hardware.

*Here is Dave’s mid-season report for the defense & Suit’s report for our bottom six forwards. Stay tuned for reports on the top 6 forwards and our coaches.