Right then guys, slightly off the Olympic topic….
If you’re like me, thanks to his time in NY you’ll have a soft spot for Jaromir Jagr, the big Czech.
Im sure many of you have read the THN column discussing the notion of Jagr coming back to the NHL. If he does, where do you think he’ll go? If he comes back should The Rangers be interested and can he still help them?
Right now, he’s playing at around a point per game pace in the KHL. He’s also apparently in supreme condition (according to ex Omsk coach Wayne Fleming…) For the record I think (at a reasonable price) he could be huge for the Rangers. He doesnt need to be the go-to-guy anymore thanks to Gaborik. He seems willing to take a small(er) salary to play so the Rangers should be interested.
I really like the idea of a second line featuring Avery and Jagr flanking perhaps Dubinsky. Finally some genuine secondary scoring?
I had a look in more depth at the idea at nasports.co.uk. Let me know what you think.
In some unsurprising news, Carp passes along a report that former Blueshirt Nik Zherdev is indeed heading home to Mother Russia to play in the KHL next year. The translated article doesn’t say much, but there’s enough there to get the point across that Nik will join Yulaev Salavat Ufa, a team that also features former Rangers Vlad Vorobiev (remember him?) and Dmitri Kalinen.
Update: Turns out he isn’t heading to the KHL, yet anyway. Via Beyond the Blueshirts, Zherdev’s agent basically denied the report.
I’m aware this is old news, but I’m in LA, with roughly zero internet access. So you’re going to have to bear with me while I’m late on this stuff.
The investigation over the Cherepanov tragedy is continuing, as prosecutors have reopened the case for investigation. The fact that this situation has been going on for so long, and has been so public, is just disturbing. If someone is to blame, then they deserve to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, just because it was a tragedy, doesn’t necessarily mean that someone is to blame. I don’t believe he was blood doping, but I don’t believe the KHL is covering this up either.
Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday, I was running around all day and didn’t have a change to put up a post.
In what should have been an expected move, Cablevision spun off the MSG Unit into its own entity. James Dolan will still be in charge of this unit, so no “reprieve” there. I put reprieve in quotes, because you really have to be careful what you wish for (see post below for details). This doesn’t mean much for the Rangers, it’s just a re-arrangement of the businesses themselves. I don’t know if there’s going to be a stock offering on the MSG Unit, I doubt it though.
Wow I ran off topic.
Anyway, the moral of the story here is that it doesn’t affect the Rangers at all.
Today is the long-awaited Nikolai Zherdev arbitration hearing. By the end of the day we should know what the Rangers will do with Zherdev. My guess, he gets awarded $3.85 million, the Rangers accept. As for the next step, I believe Zherdev will accept too, and Zherdev will at least be given a shot to prove his worth. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Zherdev involved in a deadline deal somewhere.
Oh, and for all of you wanting the 39 year old Sergei Zubov back in blue, sorry, but he signed with the KHL.
As per Blueshirt Banter, RFA Lauri Korpikoski, who was allegedly lowballed by Glen Sather, is considering a move to the KHL:
Timra is looking to replace Mika Pyorala, and may do so with Lauri Korpikoski. The article says the Rangers want to keep Korpikoski, but made him a lowball offer, and that he has allegedly received an offer from the KHL.
If I understand it right, the offer is $1.5M a year.
The article also says Korpi is good friends with former Ranger Jarkko Immonen
That’s the best I can do guys, but it doesn’t take a perfect translation to see this may not be good news.
The original article, located here, is in Swedish, so you have to take what the translator Jim at Blueshirt Banter used with a grain of salt.
That said, this is where Sather’s horrible trend of low balling RFAs really comes to bite us in the ass. But when you think about it, The Korpedo made $984,000 last season, and the qualifying offer is a 5% raise, which is roughly $1.03 million. Just give him the $1.1 or $1.2 million and keep him in Blue Slats.
Update 2:15pm: We can all sleep a little easier tonight knowing that Glen Sather did not sign Saku Koivu, as the pivot signed a deal with Anaheim for one-year, $3.25 million. That’s $3.25 million well-not-spent.
There is an awful lot going on today. Wow.
So much for my pipe dream of dealing Girardi for Jiri Hudler, as he is bolting for the KHL, signing a one-year/$2 million deal with the Dynamo Moscow.
My first reaction, only $2 million? Really? What was Detroit offering that they couldn’t pony up that cash, especially after losing Hossa and Samuelsson? He made $1.15 million last year, so this would almost be a 100% raise. Detroit is losing a lot of players, it will be interesting to see how they respond in the coming weeks, and in the upcoming season.
I really want to know what Detroit was offering in terms of their ridiculous long-term deals.
In other news, I’m sure you heard that Joe Sakic is retiring. As Stas put it earlier, he’s the last of the great 90’s captains to retire. Imagine what could have been if the Avs didn’t match the Rangers offer sheet in 1997. So long Joe, the Hall will be calling in a few years.
Many people probably didn’t even look up when reading that the St. Louis Blues resigned center Jay McClement to a three-year deal worth $4.35 million. I mean, who is Jay McClement? Well, McClement is a 26 year old 4th line center that averages 10-10-20 while playing most of his time on the penalty kill. John Davidson calls him “one of the best defensive forwards”.
Hmm. A 4th line center, who excels on the penalty kill, and doesn’t score much. Doesn’t that sound real familiar?
Sure, McClement scores more than Betts, but they are essentially the same player. Is Betts worth a $1.45 million cap hit? Definitely not, and if he asks for that, let him walk. But this definitely sets the market for someone like Betts. Betts could seemingly get a cool mil a year.
If the Rangers weren’t so cash strapped, a $1 million cap hit for Betts would be a reasonable hit. But now, I don’t know. I wonder if someone in Hartford –Jordan Owens? Greg Moore?– can fill that role?
In other news, Nik Zherdev has turned down an offer to play in the KHL:
Rangers forward Nik Zherdev, a restricted free agent, has turned down an offer from KHL club Salavat Yulayev Ufa and wants to play in New York next season.
This is nothing short of fantastic news, as it is incredibly important to keep Zherdev around next year.
I find it funny how as more important news comes, posts like this one gets pushed back to help spread things out a bit. It was initially slated to be posted around 5pm yesterday, but the Del Zotto news came, so it got pushed to now. There’s another post on Betts’ market value that got pushed back as well. But that’s not the point.
Tom Renney, who was fired by the Rangers this year, is a quality guy and definitely will be remembered by Ranger fans for helping to end the better part of a decade of futility. We figured he would get another coaching gig in the NHL, and he did, joining Pat Quinn behind the bench as an associate coach for the Oilers. Good for him. I, as all of you should, wish him the best.
In other news around the league:
- Bobby Holik retired. At least he won’t have many money problems.
- Victor Kozlov and Sergei Federov are headed to the KHL. Federov was probably one of the most fun players to watch while he was on the Wings. It seems a lot of the players “defecting” to the KHL are Russian-born players: Radulov, Kozlov, Federov,
Zherdev (?). I’m not saying anything, but it’s just an observation. Update 11:50pm: Zherdev turned down his KHL offer. More to come.
- Jim Balsille has finally submitted a formal bid to buy the Coyotes. This team needs to get out of Phoenix, it’s obvious no one in the desert cares about hockey (SHOCKER!). Another team in Ontario would be great for the league.
- Mike Keenan was fired. 1994 was his crowning achievement. I believe he is another who has seen this game pass him by. But you know what, he’s a legend in NY.
- Last, and sadly, Clint Smith passed away at 95. Smith was the last surviving member of the 1940 Stanley Cup championship team, and won two Lady-Byng’s during his career.
I love the rumors involving Jaromir Jagr to <.insert team here.>. Jagr is not coming to the Rangers, the Oilers, or the NHL. It’s just not happening, sorry to disappoint. He still has the rest of this season, and another season on his contract, plus an option for a third with the Omsk. Despite all the drama going on in the KHL right now, specifically with the Omsk, I don’t see Jagr leaving a possible $22+ million on the table.
More importantly, even if a team did manage to pry Jagr away from Russia, he would have to clear waivers in order to play in the NHL. Do you really think a team is going to let Jagr slip through waivers?
As for the Avery watch, Larry Brooks is reporting that Avery could be back within 10-14 days. I don’t think this should surprise anyone. I mean, he has to be on the roster by March 4 to be eligible for the playoffs.
Update: I’m going to be having a little fun with some Wordpress themes I found online. So the site may change appearance a few times as I play around. Don’t be alarmed. I’m incredibly bored at work.
Update2: I’m looking for a theme with a similar color scheme, but with two sidebars (left and right, not both right). Anyone have any suggestions?
The KHL has banned five team executives and doctors, four indefinitely, for their roles in the death of Alexei Cherepanov. Cherepanov, the clear cut #1 Ranger prospect and future top 6 winger, fell to the Rangers at #17 in the 2007 draft. The Rangers were hoping that a transfer agreement between the KHL and NHL could be reached by next year so they could bring Cherepanov over for the 2009-2010 season.
It has been made clear that Cherepanov, who was 19, suffered from a chronic heart problem. In the article by ESPN, the Avengard Omsk doctors knew about Alexei’s heart condition, but did not know the severity, and tried to treat it themselves, hence the “synthetic-doping”.
This is just one step in I guess what can be called justice for the Cherepanov family. Of the 5 banned, the former president and GM of the Omsk was included. This is a horrible stain on the KHL, which was looking for credibility to compete with the NHL.
Cherepanov was 19 years old, and because some team doctor thought he was a cardiologist, he’s dead. It’s horrible, and there should be criminal charges brought up.
KHL, Rumors, Signings | jurgenno88, 17 Feb 10 | 
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