Rangers Trade Aaron Voros and Ryan Hillier for Steve Eminger

The Rangers have made a trade today, sending Aaron “The People’s Champ” Voros and prospect Ryan Hillier to Anaheim in exchange for Steve Eminger. Voros, in the last year of his contract, had become expendable a long time ago, but the signing of Derek Boogaard made his exit from Broadway all but certain. In return, the Rangers get Eminger, a 27 year old defenseman, who is in the final year of a contract that will be a $1.125 million cap hit this season. The Rangers, believe it or not, take on more cap space in this deal than with Voros. Eminger is a solid blue liner who may not put up much offense, but will play decent defense. He had a 3.0 GVT last season with the Ducks.

This move could be another step in the plan of dumping Wade Redden in Hartford. With Eminger, the Rangers have six defensemen under contract, including Redden, but not including Marc Staal or Ryan McDonagh. This is a very interesting deal, because assuming that the Rangers sign Staal, that makes seven defensemen, and McDonagh. This just adds more fuel to the fire that the Rangers are seriously considering waiving Wade Redden.

Rangers Re-Sign Dan Girardi

Well, just hours after the post about what Dan Girardi (and Marc Staal) should be getting in a deal, the Rangers inked Dan Girardi to a four year contract for $13.3 million, which averages out to a $3.325 million cap hit. In the post below, I said that Girardi is going to get around $3 million, +/- $500,000, so I’m going to pat myself on the back for that one.

Girardi’s contract locks up a key cog on the Rangers blue line for four years, until Girardi turns 30. By signing Girardi to a multi-year contract, the Rangers avoid arbitration with Girardi, where he was sure to get this dollar amount for a single season. Also, by signing the multi-year deal, the Rangers keep Girardi under contract for three of his prime UFA years. This is a solid deal for Girardi, who gets a bad rap because of the Philly brain-fart. Girardi is easily a top-four defenseman on this team, and about 25 other NHL teams.

Now, just lock up Marc Staal please.

Ryan McDonagh Signs

The Rangers have officially signed touted prospect Ryan McDonagh out of the University of Wisconsin. McDonagh, a physical defensive defenseman, was acquired as a part of the Scott Gomez trade in June, 2009. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but expect something along the lines of the Derek Stepan deal.

Update: The cap numbers for McDonagh are in, via CapGeek. McDonagh signed a three year, entry level contract with a base salary of $875,000. McDonagh will also receive $425,000 in performance bonuses per year and $87,500 per year in signing bonuses. This total of $512,500 in bonuses puts McDonagh’s cap hit at $1.3 million per season.

Prust re-signs.

The Rangers have got their pest.

Brandon Pust, the sparkplug acquired from Calgary late in the season got his new deal, re-upping for 2 years at a fair price (for both sides) of 800k per year.
This is a good deal. The Rangers bring back a player who had success for them, who skated hard, showed unexpected offensive upside and became a fan favourite quickly. Prust will have different line mates next season with Artem Anisimov likely to have a bigger role and Shelly gone to you know where but Prust will be expected to continue to bring more hustle and heart to the bottom 6.

It also has to be said, Sather continues to have a solid off season if you block out the term on Boogaards deal. Try hard, I do.
So who will Prust play with? Personally a line including Dale Weise sounds appealing. Size, some ability and hustle would make it a solid 4th line.

Marc Staal next please Mr Sather.

Free Agency, Day Two

Just because July 1 has come and gone, doesn’t mean that free agency is over. Ilya Kovalchuk is still out there, as is Matt Lombardi, Lee Stempniak, and a few other mid-tier players. One guy that was taken off the UFA list today was Pavel Kubina, who signed a two-year deal with TB for $7.7 million ($4.2 million and $3.5 million). I’ll update this post throughout the day with signings that take place. Let’s hope the Rangers avoid any big(ger) contracts.

Also, ex-Ranger Jason Strudwick signed with Edmonton for a one year deal.

Update 1:05pm: After a lunch break, some activity in the NHL. Sheldon Souray was waived by Edmonton. He is due $4.5 million in salary for each of the next two years, but is a $5.4 million cap hit. The Oilers have no intentions of calling him up via re-entry waivers, they want to lose the entire salary.

Also, Chris Higgins has found a home with Florida at $1.6 million for this season.

Update 1:12pm: BREAKING RANGERS NEWS: Rangers are negotiating with the Twitter Fail Whale. Rumors are that the Rangers are looking to sign the whale, to solve scoring woes, to a contract of about $6.5 million per year for 5 years.

Update 2:05pm: Mark Eaton to the Islanders for 2 years, $2.5 million per.

Update 2:30pm: Islanders are busy today, closing in on Milan Jurcina and ex-Ranger P.A. Parenteau. Both are one year deals. Jurcina gets $1 million, Parenteau $600,000.

Update 3:10pm: Wow, the Islanders really are busy. They are closing in on Alex Frolov.

Update 3:50pm: Nothing on Frolov, but the Isles make their 4th signing of the day, inking Zenon Konopka. If you just asked yourself who Zenon Konopka is, you’re not alone.

Update: 4:00pm: Nikolai Kulemin gets his extension with Toronto, two years – $2.35 million. Al Montoya re-upps with Phoenix. Holy first round bust Batman!

Update: 4:30pm: Brandon Prust resigns with the Rangers. Details yet to be announced. 800k per for 2 years. Solid move.

Update: 4:45pm: Matthew Lombardi signs with Nashville for 3 years @ 3.5m per. 2 things here; 3.5m is a fair price and Nashville SPEND money? wow.

Free Agency Day 1

Here’s my take on day 1 of the most nervous part of the hockey season for Rangers fans.

Glen Sather actually did OK. I love the Biron signing. I still think, despite recent sub par years (but he was on the Isles…) he has starter potential and when you can get a guy that can start for under $1m a year im ok with that. Look at it this way: If Lundqvist went down with an injury last year mass hystreria would have broken out. If that happens this season, while it would be terrible news, all would not be lost as Biron can certainly hold a fort. I’m willing to call this the best 1-2 in the league.

Erik Christensen and Vinny Prospal. Both players signed deals that dont hurt the cap and if they produce like they did this past season both still fall into the bargain category. Alot of people thought EC was gone when he turned down the initial offer but he did well to come back. He has a unique shot in NY at making something of his career and The Rangers (for the time being) need him. It’s a marriage of convenience. Prospal re-upped retains leadership, provides continuity and (critical) offense for the relatively small price of 2m – no complaints here.

Big Bad Derek. Ah yes, Boooooogaard. I was distraught – like many Rangers fans - at first but Dave is right, the $ is not the issue. I would love to hear Sather justify the term however. This was his only mistake of the day. I will say this for Sather; his words were very clear when discussing this signing.

“There were too many times last year when I saw guys scraping snow into Henrik’s face…won’t see that happen any longer”

You have to like Sather coming out and being open (a rarity) about this move. Specifically the ‘wont see this happen any longer’ pleased me. If Boogaard pummels a few Atlantic foes (unlike Brashear) then we’ll be ok with it. The term still hurts though, thankfully he’s under 35.

Beyond July 1st. I genuinely believe Sather still intends to add and maybe something significant. You cannot rule him out of the Kovalchuk stakes due to his past crimes against the salary cap and The Rangers were apparently in discussions with Alex Frolov which shows maybe Sather is still keen on adding offense. Anything Sather does now must be at the right price. Personally im ok with guys like Grachev staying in the AHL a little longer and maturing there, if the right guy at the right price is brought in.

Personally here’s how July 2nd would go down for me in an ideal world; we hear of progress on deals for Staal, Girardi and Prust and Sather adds another piece of offense on a short term deal. Frolov 2 years? why not. Final thing; via the wonderful world of twitter I was intrigued to read Sather’s comment on Kreider being ‘ready to make the jump’. Maybe he won’t be back in college…..

Rangers Sign Derek Boogaard, Martin Biron, Erik Christensen, Vinny Prospal on Day One

Day One of free agency started off with a bang for the Rangers, as they inked a backup goalie in Martin Biron to a two year deal worth $875,000 per year, and re-signed center Erik Christen to a two-year deal worth $975,000 per year. In Biron, the Rangers get a capable backup goaltender that can potentially start 20 games next season. If the Rangers manage to get capable backup goaltending from Biron for the two years, consider this to be a bargain. This, of course, is a huge IF. In Christensen, the Rangers get a top-12 forward who, if he plays well enough to earn first line time, is an extreme bargain. If not, he’s just a cheap second or third line guy. There is nothing wrong with that.

It was later in the day, around 4pm, when things in Rangerland got intense. After letting Jody Shelley go to the Flyers at $1.1 million over three years (which is almost double his salary), the Rangers signed tough-guy and monster Derek Boogaard to a ridiculous contract of 4 years at $1.65 million per year. On the surface, this deal looks absurd. But, if you dive deeper, Boogaard made $1.2 million last year, so this is a modest raise. The dollar amount per year really shouldn’t irk anyone. That length though is, well, horrible. I’m not in love with this signing, but it’s not the end of the world that Rangers fans are making it out to be. It’s not the worst signing in Rangers history, and I think that as long as people realize that it’s not his fault that Sather offered him four years, we will be OK with what he brings to the table.

In one of the last moves of the day, the Rangers re-signed Vinny Prospal to a 1 year deal worth $1 million base, with potential for $1.1 million in bonuses. These bonuses will be easily attained, and applied to next year’s salary cap. This was a fantastic deal by Sather, and kind of makes up for the questionable signing of Boogaard. The Rangers know what they get with Prospal. He’s this year’s version of Brendan Shanahan, except more tan.

Free Agent Frenzy! (Open Thread)

Well, today is the day. At noon EST, the free agency period will officially begin, and we all watch with bated breath to see what General Manager Glen Sather will do. Sather’s track record on July 1 post-lockout is, well, uh, bad. With news that Redden is almost certain to be waived unless he has a tremendous camp, that will give the Rangers an extra $6.5 million to play with come noon today. That also worries many of us. Most of the prime free agents are gone, but guys like Ilya Kovalchuk are still available, albeit to the disdain of Rangers fans.

Personally, I would like them to avoid any UFA defensemen on the market. There is incredible depth in the system, and signing any UFAs might make Ryan McDonagh avoid signing for this season. As for forwards, I would prefer the Rangers get someone like Pavol Demitra or Vinny Prospal for a year at a relatively cheap price as a stopgap for guys like Derek Stepan and Evgeny Grachev. For backup goalie, I would like to see Johan Hedberg. He’s competent, and a real Rangers killer.

I’ll be updating this until about 5pm EST, at which point I have to head out to play softball. At that point, either jurgenno or Jeremy will be updating. So stick around for all the big news. Rangers signings/news will be in bold.

Kicking things off was a trade that happened late last night, as Toronto acquired Kris Versteeg and the rights to Bill Sweatt from Chicago for Viktor Stalberg, Chris DiDomenico and Philippe Paradis.

Update 11:40am: Darren Dreger is saying that if he were a betting man, he would bet on Martin Biron to the Rangers.

Update 11:47am: Larry Brooks is reporting that Marty Biron will sign with the Rangers.

Update 11:50am: The Flyers have acquired Andres Meszaros from TB for a 2nd round pick.

Update 12:30pm: The Rangers have signed Martin Biron to a two year, $1.8million contract ($900,000 per). They have also come to terms with Erik Christensen at two years, $925,000 per. There are rumors of a NYR/CGY trade. Sergei Gonchar to Ottawa for 3 years, $5.5 million per year, at a 35+ contract.

Update 12:40pm: Alex Tanguay signs with CGY, 1/$1.7 million, NMC.

12:47pm: Anton Babchuk returns to Carolina for 1 year, $1.4 million.

12:51pm: Blues re-sign Alex Steen to a four year deal.

Update 1:02pm: TB re-signs Marty St. Louis to a four year extension at $22.5 million ($5.625m per). This will be a 35+ deal. Jesse Winchester re-signs with Ottawa for two years, $750,000.

Update 1:10pm: Paul Martin Zbynek Michalek signs with Pittsburgh at 5/$20 million ($4 million per). Crap.

Update 1:30pm: Missed this, but Braydon Coburn re-upped with Philly for 2/$3.2 million. How’s Alexei Zhitnik working for you Atlanta?

Update 1:35pm: Alex Auld to Montreal, 1 year, $1 million. The Rangers saved $100,000 in cap room by signing Biron over Auld.

Update 1:38pm: Colby Armstrong to Toronto for three years $3 million per year (!!!), Antero Niittymaki to San Jose for $4 million a year for two years.

Update 1:40pm: Joel Perrault to Vancouver for 1 year, $510,000. Sean O’Donnell to the Flyers for one year, $1 million plus games played bonuses.

Update 1:50pm: Manny Malhotra to Vancouver for 3/$7.5M and a NTC.

Update 1:57pm: Derek Morris returns to Phoenix for 4/$11 million ($2.75 million per). That’s ridiculous.

Update 2:20pm: And I’m back after a quick conference call. Jody Shelley to PHI for 3 years, $1.1 million. Again, crap, but glad the Rangers didn’t give him that kind of money. Dan Ellis to TB on a two year deal, $1.5 million per.

Update 2:23pm: Joey Crabb to Toronto for two years.

Update 2:30pm: Paul Martin goes to the Penguins. So they lose Gonchar, and get Michalek and Martin. Crap.

Update 2:33pm: Larry Brooks is reporting that the Rangers are targeting Derek Boogaard.

Update 2:36pm: The Rangers have signed Derek Boogaard. Contract details coming. Rumored to be Deal is 4 years, $1.65 million. That’s an awful lot for someone like Boogaard. (Update: On second thought, it’s only a $400,000 raise on last year for him. Though 4 years is questionable. Boogaard is an absolute monster though.)

Update 3:00pm: Toni Lydman to Anaheim, 3 years, $9 million.

Update 3:25pm: After a quick coffee break, Ray Whitney to PHX for 2 years, $3 mil, 35+ contract.

Update 3:55pm: Devils sign Henrik Talinder, 4 years, $3.375 per.

Update 4:00pm: Edmonton signs Kurtis Foster, 2 years, $1.8 million. That’s a great signing by them.

Update 4:10pm: Dan Hamhuis to Vancouver, 6 years, $4.5 million.

Update 4:20pm: Anton Volchenkov is headed to the Devils on a whopping six-year deal, $25.5 million total, NTC.

Update 4:26pm: Jeff Tambellini signs with Vancouver.

Update 4:30pm: Olli Jokinen to Calgary for $3 million per for two years (BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!!!!!). Chris Mason to Atlanta for two years, $3.7 mil total.

Update 4:40pm: Andrew Ladd has been traded to Atlanta for Ivan Vishnevsky and a 2nd round pick.

Update 5:08pm: The Rangers are apparently talking with Alex Frolov.

Update 5:11pm: Sabres sign Jordan Leopold to a 3 year deal. Rangers are closing in on a deal with Vinny Prospal.

Update 5:18pm: The Rangers have re-signed Vinny Prospal, terms are en route. The deal is for $1 million base salary, with $1.1 million in incentives. It is a one year deal. This is a fantastic signing. Great contract.

Update 5:26pm: Johan Hedberg to the Devils, 1 year, $1.5 million (including bonuses), NTC.

Update 5:49pm: Anaheim signs Saku Koivu, 2 years, $2.5 million per, 35+ contract.

Update 6:25pm: Matt Cullen is signing with Minnesota.

Brashear, Voros, Rissmiller Waived

Several Twitter posts have said the Rangers waived Donald Brashear, Aaron Voros, and Patrick Rissmiller. There are rumors of them being bought out, but the only one that makes sense to buyout from a salary cap perspective would be Voros. Rissmiller hasn’t been with the team since he signed his contract, and a buyout would just add an unnecessary cap hit. A Brashear buyout won’t save any money, as he is on an over-35 contract. A Voros buyout would result in a $400,000 cap hit this season ($600,000 savings), and a $300,000 cap hit next season, when Voros would be off the books.

I do not believe these players were waived for potential buyouts, but waived to create cap room. Waiving Brashear saves the Rangers $100,000, and Voros saves the Rangers $1 million. Waiving Rissmiller is a technicality, as his salary has never counted against the Rangers cap hit. That’s $1.1 million saved by waiving them. It’s a simple matter of clearing cap space, much like what the Rangers did at the trade deadline.

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.