Hello everybody. I’ll be in New York in less than two weeks and it will feel odd. It will be the first summer time trip there and the first time outside of hockey season. No Rangers? Not right. I’m sure I’ll cope though. On to the musings
The Montreal Canadiens will be starting next season with Marc Bergevin and Michael Therrien at the helm of the storied franchise. I can’t help feeling that with the return of Therrien that club will be spinning its wheels for a year or two.
Speaking of Canadian teams, good move: the Bob Hartley appointment in Calgary. Bad move: Steve Tambellini getting a new deal in Edmonton. How does a general manager keep his club near the bottom of the league despite lottery pick after lottery pick and get rewarded with a new contract?
So the Rangers are linked heavily to Alexander Radulov. I can’t help thinking about Nikolai Zherdev when I think of Radulov: hugely talented on the ice, hugely problematic off it. If the Rangers get him he’ll cost a lot in dollars because he won’t sign anywhere for pittance. The cost to acquire may be minimal but the commitment to a big (but talented) risk will be significant – for whatever club snag him.
How weak is the free agent class of 2012?
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As per Carp, the Rangers have signed Jordan Owens. The 23 year-old winger played in Hartford last year, registering 12 goals and 37 points.
This is a pure Wolfpack signing, don’t expect this kid to ever make it to the Rangers.
As for more, well, relevant Rangers, Nikolai Zherdev is currently playing in the 2009 World Championships in Switzerland. In two games, he has an assist and is +2. He is playing with former whipping boy Ranger Dmitri Kalinin, who is 2-2-4 and +4 in 6 games. Also on the club is Alexander Radulov, who in 6 games is 3-3-6 and +5. Maybe Zherdev can help recruit Radulov back to the US and to the Rangers? I would love it.
Larry Brooks of the NY Post, in a recent article, thinks the Rangers should go after Marty St. Louis. St. Louis, 34, would be the go-to scorer that this team, and Tortorella, desperately needs to stand a chance in the playoffs. His cap hit is $5.25 million for the next two years, so the Rangers would have to move some salary over to Tampa for St. Louis.
Let’s run through this a bit. Tampa would want some solid prospects/young players in return for St. Louis. So they will definitely ask for Staal, which the Rangers will say no to. Next down the line is a combination (2 or 3) of the following: Dubinsky, Callahan, Girardi, Grachev, Del Zotto. Now, knowing Glen Sather, he would consider this. The deal would likely be Dubinsky, Del Zotto and Rozsival (the only movable contract to make room), and probably a draft pick (2nd-4th rounder) for St. Louis.
Three words come to mind when I think of that deal: GOOD GOD NO!!!!!! St. Louis is thirty-freakin-four! I could understand this deal if he were much younger. But trading away two or three solid young players, players that are under 25 and will probably be on the team for a long time to come, for two years of St. Louis is blasphemy. Yes, he would be the go-to guy for putting the puck in the net, but plugging that hole and opening up others with the departure of whoever goes to Tampa will probably put the Rangers in a worse-off spot. The thing with the Rangers is that they need the high profile scorer IN ADDITION TO the current team. Like it or not, this is not a Stanley Cup contending team, nor will it be next year, with St. Louis (and subsequently without whichever roster players are dealt). I will put into question Sather’s ability (well, further put into question) as a GM if he makes that kind of deal.
Side note: To all of you who want a major shakeup of the team, yes I agree. But the shakeup should be of the big name “stars” with the bloated contracts, not the young guys who we have all enjoyed watching develop before our eyes this year, or the guys that the Rangers have seen grow up in the minors/juniors.
Now, the article did mention something else that was worth noting, about the possibility of acquiring Alexander Radulov, bringing him back to the NHL after his one-year hiatus in the KHL:
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