As the third day of free agency begins, it’s hard to see how the Rangers have improved so far this summer.
GM Glen Sather has watched many of his depth players depart via free agency and has spent only $3.5 million total on a fourth-liner and a seventh defenseman.
But it’s a long offseason.
Entering the first day of free agency it was widely thought that the Rangers would seek to upgrade their offense and add a depth defender.
Instead, the Blueshirts added grit on July 1st while watching several of their own free agents depart for greener pastures.
Here’s what went down on Sunday.
***UPDATE: Schultz agreed to terms with Edmonton.
In the end, the Wisconsin connection just wasn’t enough.
New York made it to the final six in the Justin Schultz sweepstakes, but in the end the 21-year-old Badgers defenseman chose to play elsewhere. TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that Schultz won’t be joining the Rangers, meaning he’ll end up with Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, or Edmonton.
Right before free agency opens up another desperate general manager on another desperate team has once again made Glen Sather look good. While there’s no doubting the Flames acquisition of Dennis Wideman was a solid move, the contract given to him by Jay Feaster smacks of desperation and makes Ranger contracts like Marc Staal’s and in particular Dan Girardi’s look like excellent value.
There’s no doubt that Wideman has a little more offensive pop to his game than either Staal or Girardi but is Wideman worth a full no movement clause and close to $2m per year more? Absolutely not.
Clearly, this was a GM who needed to add talent to a club unwilling to start from scratch and stopping a player from reaching free agency where he could cash in, in a weak class. However, when you consider the solid two way play of both Ranger linchpin’s – and above all their minute munching, defensive abilities – Sather’s ability to lock down both to reasonable mid-length contracts shows the general manager is doing right.
We know the Rangers only had four picks in the 2012 NHL draft but the more you read across the internet-hockey-universe the more it seems the Rangers keep getting it right.
How much stock you place in the Hockey News is entirely up to you (some of their writers enjoy sensationalising at times) but going by the recent International scouting service (ISS) head’s column on their website it may appear the Rangers grabbed another draft steal with Calle Andersson’s selection in the fourth round.
Most people (myself included) know little of Andersson despite his solid year in Swedish juniors. What we do know is that he is known to be a potential powerplay quarterback with great size and solid ability and according to the above linked column has outperformed more highly touted draft picks including first rounder’s such as Hampus Lindholm who was drafted sixth overall by the Ducks this year.
Everyone assumes that Brandon Dubinsky will be the one ‘major’ piece to move if the Rangers acquire a high priced/elite forward through a means other than free agency. Non free agency acquisition likely means Rick Nash or Bobby Ryan. One of the major issues here is that Anaheim likely wants a cheaper piece than Dubinsky and Columbus wants a lot more in addition to Dubinsky.
The demands and desires of the clubs possessing the shiny new toys the Rangers crave mean there’s a chance that the Rangers might need to keep Dubinsky and move other pieces such as Derek Stepan or Artem Anisimov. Derek Stepan’s level of organisational security depends on how desperate Sather and co. are for the big time scorer they need. Only people internally truly know the answers.
We’ve already covered some of the more intriguing players that will be available via free agency, but it doesn’t appear likely that the big-ticket guys like Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will end up in New York. The 2012 free agent class is extremely thin, but at the draft last weekend GM Glen Sather confidently stated the team would still be “fairly aggressive” in free agency. So who else could the organization pursue on July 1st?
Today we’ll look at the forwards.
The Dinosaurs
Ray Whitney – Scares many off because of his age (40), but he actually seems to be getting more productive somehow. Wants to be paid, but doesn’t require a long-term commitment. Might make a lot of sense on a one- or two-year deal.
It’s a pretty good problem to have when one of the key reasons a stud defensive prospect could be hesitant to join your team is because he’s afraid he wouldn’t be able to supplant the club’s current top-four defensemen and play significant minutes.
But the Rangers are so stacked with Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Marc Staal and Michael Del Zotto that coveted 21-year-old unrestricted free agent Justin Schultz, who supposedly wants major responsibility from the start, may be unwilling to sign with New York.
We’ve already covered some of the more intriguing players that will be available via free agency, but it doesn’t appear likely that the big-ticket guys like Zach Parise and Ryan Suter will end up in New York. The 2012 free agent class is extremely thin, but at the draft last weekend GM Glen Sather confidently stated the team would still be “fairly aggressive” in free agency. So who else could the organization pursue on July 1st?
Yesterday we looked at the forwards; today we’ll examine the defensemen.
The Offensive Defensemen
Jason Garrison – Earned himself a huge payday with a surprise season. Rocket of a shot could appeal to the Rangers. Is this what Sather means when he says he’ll be “aggressive” in free agency?
The June 25th deadline has come and gone and as expected, Anaheim was unable to sign defenseman Justin Schultz to an Entry Level contract, meaning he’ll be a free agent on July 1st.
Schultz, 21, may actually be the most hotly pursued of all the free agents this summer because unlike Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, Schultz will be relatively affordable.
Schultz is in line to make a base salary of $925k (including his signing bonus) and would be eligible for up to $2.85 million in performance bonuses.
