Garrioch: Rangers Interested in Volchenkov?

According to Bruce Garrioch, the Rangers are one of the teams showing interest in soon to be unrestricted free agent Anton Volchenkov. Volchenkov has been a hot topic so far this offseason, and was covered here in our Scouting the Market series. Volchenkov turned down a reported five-year $20 million deal after the Olympics from the Senators, ensuring that the highly sought after defenseman will hit the open market. Volchenkov has been linked to the Washington Capitals, but those rumors have been refuted.

Let’s play a game of which defenseman would you take?

Player A: 6’1, 226 lbs. 28 years old, 7 year veteran. Physical, shot blocker, stay at home defenseman. Averages 15 points per season, GVT of 4.7 (4.2 DGVT). Averages 65 GP/season. Will command at least $5 million/season for five years.

Player B: 6’1, 210 lbs. 28 years old, 6 year veteran. Physical, shot blocker, stay at home defenseman with a little offense. Averages 22 points per season, GVT of 4.3 (5.1 DGVT). Played a full 82 games for four of six seasons. Will command roughly $500,000-$1 million less than Player A for one or two fewer seasons.

Which defenseman do you want?

I think we can agree that Player B brings more value for the dollar, which is what the salary cap era is all about. If you said Player A, you said Anton Volchenkov. If you said Player B, you said Zbynek Michalek. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, when looking for bang for your buck, Zbynek Michalek makes more sense than Anton Volchenkov. They have the same style of play, Michalek contributes more on the blue line, and is much more durable. The slight difference in GVT is negligible, but it’s worth noting that again Michalek has the better defensive GVT.

So the Rangers can be interested in Anton Volchenkov all they want, but they will not have the cap room for him. On the other hand, Michalek should certainly be an intriguing option, and worth more than just a kicking of the tires. Of course, Dan Girardi is an even cheaper option with almost identical numbers (6.8 GVT, 5.0 DGVT), but he isn’t as physical as the other two. Girardi, of course, will cost significantly less than both Michalek and Volchenkov.

Rangers Close to Signing Mats Zuccarello-Aasen

According to Larry Brooks, the Rangers are close to announcing the signing of Mats Zuccarello-Aasen at the conclusion of the World Championship tournament. The Rangers and MZA will be agreeing to a two-year deal that will pay the Swiss Norwegian forward the entry-level deal maximum salary of $900,000. While $900,000 is the maximum base salary a player with an entry-level deal can make, bonuses are not included in that number. It is unknown whether MZA’s deal will include bonuses.

Rangers Talking to Zherdev

In what may come to many as a surprise, the Rangers are currently in talks with Nik Zherdev regarding a return to the NHL. Genadi Boguslavski of the Sovetsky Sport broke this via Twitter, and states that the Rangers have begun talks with the enigmatic winger to return to the NHL. Let’s chalk this one up as a rumor for now.

Zherdev, who led the Rangers in scoring with a line of 23-35-58 in the 2008-2009 season, fell out of favor with fans after his disappearing act in the last month of the season and the playoffs against Washington. The Rangers, who are currently extremely thin on RW, offered Zherdev $3.25 million in the offseason, with Zherdev wanting closer to $4.5 million. An arbitrator awarded Zherdev the medium, at $3.9 million, to which the Rangers walked away, making him an unrestricted free agent. With no market for him, Zherdev reportedly attempted to return to the Rangers for the original $3.25 million, but the Rangers turned him away. Zherdev then bolted for the KHL.

Zherdev would provide some nice complimentary scoring for Marian Gaborik, and would give the Rangers a very nice 1-2 punch on the RW. It would also take some of the pressure off of Gaborik, who seemed to be the only consistent scorer on the Rangers this past season. At the right length and price, the Rangers, and their fans, should welcome back Zherdev. It is highly unlikely, considering how the negotiations went in 2009, that Zherdev gets a multi-year deal. Market value puts him right around the $3 million -$3.5 million range, but with little negotiating power on his side, it is highly possible that Zherdev signs for under that amount.

Update 2:55pm: Steve Zipay is tweeting that the Rangers have denied this rumor.

Reason to be Excited?

Resulting from the exit interviews held today and from a very candid 48 minute Tortorella intervew session Andrew Gross commented on this which should excite Rangers fans not named Mrs Redden:

There seems little doubt that the first player Tortorella wants to “weed out” is Wade Redden, though Tortorella did not say that himself. Just a bit of speculation but when asked specifically about Redden, Tortorella said it wasn’t right or fair to talk about individual players. Yet he essentially talked about most of the other players on the team on an individual basis. And it sounds like Redden was given a loud and clear message in his exit interview. Redden has four seasons left on his six-year, $39 million deal and with Marc Staal due a new contract that may run around $4 million per season, there’s been plenty of speculation that it makes sense for the Rangers to send Redden to Hartford to clear the cap space, though they’d still be paying the salary.

Gross then added this:

We have some really good people here. We have some important decisions to make on some important positions beyond our core.”

This is where I asked about Redden.

“I don’t think it’s proper to speak about individual players,” Tortorella said.

So demoting, or getting rid of Wade Redden seems a very real possibility. Its necessary and is at least on the coaches radar. This needs to be embraced by Sather and Dolan if they want a successful team long term. What do you all think?

Gross has alot of very interesting stuff from the exit interviews 

Rangers Interested in Zherdev?

It seems that Nik Zherdev could be returning to the Rangers for next season. According to Laurie Carr of Beyond the Blueshirts, Rangers General Manager Glen Sather has spoken with Team Russia Assistant Coach Andrei Nazarov about three KHL players that the Rangers reportedly have interest in:

The Rangers do have three prospects who’s rights they currently own playing in the KHL — Ivan Baranka, Pavel Valentenko and Mikhail Pashnin — but Nazarov’s comment seems to suggest the players in question are players who’s rights the Rangers do not yet own.

The article’s author, Igor Larin, fuels speculation by including the the following (unsourced) note after Nazarov’s comment: “According to some reports, the president of the Rangers is interested in Nikolai Zherdev from Atlant.”

The Rangers offered Zherdev $3.25 million when last season ended, and Zherdev was looking for a salary in the neighborhood of $4.5 million. A neutral arbitrator settled in the middle, awarding Zherdev $3.9 million, a number that the Rangers walked away from, making Zherdev an unrestricted free agent. The Rangers read the market correctly on this one, as no one came near that asking price for the enigmatic winger. Eventually, the Zherdev came back to the Rangers, willing to play for $3.25 million, but the Rangers moved on and acquired Ales Kotalik. We all know how great that one turned out.

Zherdev is already rumored to be interested in coming back to the NHL for next season. So this is not that far fetched. With cap space severely limited, and the Rangers in desperate need of secondary scoring, a cheaper Nik Zherdev would be a good fit for this team at the right price. Considering what Zherdev has consistently put up in his career (25 goals, 60 points), a number around $3 million might work for both parties. While many fans won’t be thrilled to see this acquisition, people need to separate emotions from production. This is a great fit for the organization.

Brooks: Rangers Had Deal for Stamkos

I have no idea how I missed this one yesterday. According to Larry Brooks, the Rangers had a “hand-shake” deal in place for Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos last season. The 2008 first overall pick, Stamkos struggled last season, and many around the league were questioning if the rookie center was really ready for the NHL. Clearly, he has shown that he is ready with his breakout performance this year.

The Rangers were set to send two or three of Michael Del Zotto, Evgeny Grachev, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, and Dan Girardi. Considering it is Stamkos, I would assume it was three from that list, and that it would have included the two defensemen and a forward, considering Tampa’s lack of defensive strength. Would you have traded Del Zotto, Girardi, and one of Grachev/Callahan/Dubinsky for Stamkos? In short: hell yes. It’s too bad that both Oren Joules and Brian Lawton shot the deal down.

Girardi WITH Team

I have no internet, so I’m posting from my phone. Dan Girardi is with the team, and on the ice for the morning skate. The post below specifically stated “rumors” and never stated fact. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Girardi Not With Team

Rumors are abound that Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi will not be traveling with the Rangers to Ottawa to face the Senators tomorrow. It turns out that Corey Potter’s call up was not to replace an injured Michael Del Zotto, but to replace the soon to be dealt Girardi.

Although I have been calling for his trade, I never disliked Girardi. I just thought he had run his course with the team. Good luck wherever you wind up.

Jaromir Jagr?

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.

Cheechoo On Waivers; Fit For Rangers?

Former 50 goal scorer Jonathan Cheecoo has been placed on waivers by the Ottawa Senators today. While he is no longer the player he once was, he could provide some secondary scoring. He would,  at the very least, be an upgrade over Donald Brashear. Since our resident cap expert, Dave, is on vacation, I have no idea of the cap implications. But, could it work? Put him on the third or fourth line, hope he scores a couple goals? Maybe if he plays on a line with a top player (Gaborik) he could regain his scoring touch. A low-risk, high-reward move.