Lisin Doubtful, Higgins on Top Line

As per SNY Rangers blog, citing Steve Zipay, whom I can’t access anymore thanks to Newsday charging for online content (really?), winger Enver Lisin is doubtful for tonight’s game against Vancouver after taking a shot off the foot against Boston on Sunday. Replacing him on the top line alongside Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik is the struggling Chris Higgins.

This is probably a move that has two meanings: 1) although he didn’t score, Higgins played a solid game against Boston. This is could be some sort of recognition of that, in an attempt to 2) get him on the scoreboard. It is no surprise that fans’ patience has been a little thin with Higgins. We all penciled him in for 20 goals, and 15 games into the season, he is one of four goalless Rangers. When the other three are Aaron Voros, Donald Brashear, and Michal Rozsival, it’s a little bit disturbing to put Higgins in that company. But, there’s a solid chance that this will work, as he’s playing with the two Rangers that average more than a point per game.

Also making the trip out west was Dane Byers, who will likely be filling in for the injured Donald Brashear. The rumor is that he injured his hand fighting Colton Orr way back when. If he produces, both on offense and in overall toughness, something the Rangers have lacked, we may be seeing a lot more than initially anticipated.

Donald Brashear is Necessary

On July 1, when the news broke that the Rangers signed Donald Brashear, I was outraged. How could they sign they guy who decapitated Blair Betts? It was the clearest sign that the Rangers organization was in the midst of another huge roster turnover, and most fans were furious that it started with the hated winger. But then I started to really think about Brashear’s place on the team, and moves other teams in the conference made prior to the signing.

The biggest (literally) problem in the Atlantic Division right now is Chris Pronger. The Rangers were fortunate that they only needed to face him once or twice a season when he was in the West, but now they have to face him six times a year. He solidifies that Flyer blue line, and will provide an intimidating presence, especially the first time he lays out Marian Gaborik on the rush. So what would prevent him from taking a run at Gaborik? The looming presence of probably the most feared fighter in the game, Donald Brashear.

What about the Toronto Maple Leafs, who committed to ex-Ranger Colton Orr for four years? GM Brian Burke is on the record stating he wants his team to start hitting and fighting more. You can bet your house that Orr’s PIMS will increase next year, definitely eclipsing the 200 minute mark. Who will step up for the Rangers when Orr fulfills Burke’s wishes, and starts with one of the Rangers? Donald Brashear.

The Islanders? Brendan Witt. Devils? David Clarkson. Penguins? Eric Godard.

The East, and specifically the Atlantic Division, is filled with tough enforcers, who will mess with the Rangers high priced talent if not kept in check. Of all these enforcers, the most feared in the league is Donald Brashear, and now he’s a Ranger. He is no longer our problem, he is now the rest of the division’s problem. Having the threat of Brashear on the bench is much more effective than Orr on the ice. Remember, Brashear will be on the 4th line, and maybe getting five minutes a game with John Tortorella at the helm.

You don’t have to love the guy, but you should be cheering for him, he is a Ranger for the next two years. The first time you see Brashear knock out Pronger, he will win everyone over.

More Ranger Bashing

In more bashing of the Rangers moves this offseason, Adam Proteau of The Hockey News mentions the Rangers twice thrice in his Worst UFA Signings of 2009. Sure, Sather shelled out a ton of money this summer on Marian Gaborik (#2 on this list), who’s injuries are well documented and really seem to be the only argument everyone has against him. He gave questionable terms to Ales Kotalik (#4 on the list), but with Zherdev essentially gone, they needed to fill the void. Though, I do agree with Proteau on this one, and I have made it well known. He also gave two years to the 37 year old Donald Brashear (gets a dishonorable mention), ensuring that his $1.4 million cap hit will be there next year as well.

Just some notes about the contracts of Gaborik and Kotalik: They both signed at market value. I cannot stress market value enough. If you look at the contracts for comparable players, they all make that kind of money. And I’m talking about annual salary, not cap hit (or average annual salary). So omit the financial terms from your arguments for these two deals please. If you look at these two signings, each filled a void in the Rangers lineup. Gaborik filled the go-to game changer, and Kotalik is an attempt to fill the 2nd/3rd line RW spot that was vacated in the Nikolai Zherdev show.

Personally, I would swap Brashear and Kotalik on this list. If you look at the Brashear deal, he is making well above market value, is 37, and is signed for two years. Is the “Brashear-fear” worth the guaranteed $1.4 million cap hit? Maybe. But as of right now, I think he could have signed for less annually, and for one year.

Sather has done a fairly good job this year in managing the cap (so far) this offseason. Assuming Dubinsky signs for $1.75 million annually (high estimate), the Rangers will still have $1.2 million in cap room available, and that’s with a 13th forward (Voros in my scenario, could be Arnason though, which saves more cap room), and a 7th D (Potter/Sauer). Remember last year when the Rangers had no cap room and just one spare player?

Some optimism please?

Go see the Captain

Chris Drury was at a team event yesterday signing autographs and received several questions about his new teammates.  One question that stood out to me was when he was asked about new Rangers enforcer, Donald Brashear, and how the team would respond to him after he nearly decapitated Blair Betts during the playoffs last season.

I don’t think any guys will have a problem.  If anybody does, they can come see me

Its a little hard to capture what he really meant behind that statement when its written in a newspaper article.  In my opinion, I think Drury is finally (and hopefully) comfortable being this team’s leader.  There’s no more Shanny, no more Gomez.  There’s no question now as to who is the leader of the Blueshirts, and perhaps Drury now feels more sure of himself.

Gaborik: A Necessary Risk

We all know the argument against Gaborik: He’s never healthy. I get it, we all get it, he’s injury prone. Enough already.

How many goals did the Rangers score last season?

How many goals left the team when Antropov, Gomez and Naslund left?

They NEEDED to sign someone of his caliber, someone who can create from absolutely nothing. Yes, Cammalleri is a great goal scorer, but he needs someone to feed him the puck. Ironically, once Gomez was dealt, the Rangers didn’t have that clear cut guy to feed him the puck. The more I think about it, Cammy wouldn’t have worked out. Hossa? Not for 12 years. Tanguay? See Cammy. Havlat? Even when healthy, not a 50 goal guy.

The moral of the story is that they needed Gaborik. End of story.

Gaborik’s initial contract demands? 10 years, $75 million. He got exactly half that. $7.5 million is market value for a player of his caliber, and it’s not a huge long term commitment, it’s 5 years.

You can say all you want about giving him a one-year deal, but ask yourself this, do you really think that Marian Gaborik, the most talented player in this year’s class of free agents, would accept a one-year deal? He wouldn’t, so there’s no point in complaining about that.

The end result here is that you replace Scott Gomez’s contract with Marian Gaborik’s contract, but instead of overpaying for a 2nd line center forced into 1st line duty, you are paying market value for a top-10 player. I say the Rangers come out on top here.

Two more aspects that are being missed: 1) If anyone can whip Gaborik into shape so that he doesn’t get hurt, it’s John Tortorella. 2) Donald Brashear’s presence will prevent anyone, and I mean anyone, from taking liberties and cheap shots at Gaborik.

Glen Sather deserves an A for his moves so far this offseason. He turned nothing into gold with Gomez, and he used that cap space to get a top-10 player without over-committing. The only thing keeping him from getting an A+ is that I really, really hate Donald Brashear. I won’t boo him, but I don’t have to cheer for him.

So I ask you this, what would you rather have? Gomez at $7.357 million, or Gaborik at $7.5 million.

The answer is clear.

It’s Noon, Time for Fun

Well, the noon bell has rung, and free agency has begun.

I swear, I didn’t mean for that to rhyme.

Don’t miss the post below this one about Yours Truly contributing to Puck Prospectus.

Anyway, the Sedins resigned with Vancouver. That happened before noon, but I wanted to put some space between posts. 5 years, $6.1 million per year, each.

Update 12:06pm: Rangers still interested in Heatley, as per Bob McKenzie.

Update 12:23pm: Mattias Ohlund to TB, 7 years, $3.75 million annually. This sets the market for defensemen. That’s a lot of years for Ohlund. I guess he will help transition Hedman. It’s a front loaded contract, with just $1 million annually for the final two years of the contract. Those two years were added to bring the cap hit down.

Update 12:45pm: Hossa going to Chicago is all but done.

Update 12:46pm: Dvorak resigned with Florida, 2 years, $1.7 million per.

Update 12:52pm: Lunch time, back in an hour. Enjoy the Havlat to CBJ rumor, and Biron to EDM rumor.

Update 2:00pm: Back from lunch. Orr to Toronto, 4 years, $4 million. Good for him.

Booth back to Florida, 6 years $25.5 million.

Hossa to Chicago, terms being finalized. 12 years, $5.2 million cap hit ($62 million, front loaded, $53 million in first 7 years $59.3 million in first 8 years).

Kane-Toews-Hossa. Yikes.

Kubina trade to Atl still being finalized.

I missed a lot in an hour.

Update 2:10pm: Craig Anderson to the Avs, 2 years, $3.8 million total. Ty Conklin to St. Louis, 2 years, $2.6 million.

Update 2:30pm: Dwayne Roloson to the Islanders, 2 years, $5 million. Guess DiPietro is worse off than initially thought. How’s that 15 year deal working out so far?

Update 2:45pm: Donald Brashear to the Rangers. Ugh. We let Orr go to replace him with Brashear? I feel dirty. Guess this means Blair Betts is gone.

2:55pm: Mike Knuble to Washington, two years, $2.8 million a year. Risky giving someone over 35 a multi year deal. Brashear gets $700,000 a year for two years.

Make that 2 years, $1.4 million per year. Why is Orr gone? He wanted less money. This makes no sense. Why? Someone? Bueller?

Update 3:05pm: You know, I’m a huge advocate of never booing someone on your team. But I may just break this for Brashear.

Scott Niedermayer to Anaheim, duh.

Update 3:30pm: Did I mention how much I abhor Donald Brashear?

Update 3:50pm: Jaroslav Spacek to Boston Montreal, 3 years $11.5 million. Ouch. I thought they were trying to resign Kessel? I butchered that one.

Rangers made an offer to Chris Neil. What is this? 3rd liner day? Get some scoring Slats.

Update 4:05pm: Khabibulin to Edmonton (4 years $15 million, Cole to Carolina.

Update 4:25pm: Brian Boucher back to Philly.

The Bulin signing to Edmonton clogs up some cap room for Heatley. I don’t know if they are still in the running for him now.

Update 4:35pm: Scott Clemmenson to Florida, 3 years, $3.6 million.

Update 4:40pm: The TSN feed just crapped out on me. Is this available elsewhere?

Ian Lapierreire (butchered that one) to Philly, 3 years, $3.5 million. How can they afford all this?

Update 4:50pm: Rangers no longer in the Heatley running. With Gomez gone, Dubinsky is a deal breaker.

Pittsburgh signed Mike Rupp (2 years, $825K per), Hal Gill to the Habs (2 years, $4.5 mil).

Rangers offer Chris Neil a four year deal. Who is going to score? What are you doing Sather? You are losing all that good faith you got when dealing Gomez.

Update 5:00pm Ok, five day weekend time. I’ll be back with you in about 90 minutes. In the mean time, I’m asking Mike Axisa to update this with any Ranger news (if he’s around). If not, well, I’ll be back soon.

Brashear Gets 6 Games

In all seriousness, Donald Brashear has been suspended 6 games for his part in the blindside hit on Betts (5 games) and provoking Colton Orr during warmups (1 game).

Good riddance. I hope he gets mugged. Douche.