By Alexander Monaghan
President 

Last night, the New York Rangers proved they can stand up to the so-called elite. Their 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins was broadcast on Versus for the entire country to see, putting the team in the spotlight for perhaps the first time since the mid-90s. While Versus, and NHL on NBC for that matter, have pushed the big-market Rangers on hockey viewers for years, this instances is one of the few where the team deserved the honor. Then again, last night was Sidney Crosby‘s fifth game of the season and any game he plays in remains the game to watch; somehow they chose an ISO cam on him over the coaching debuts of Dale Hunter and Kirk Muller.

Anyways, the win had it all. It had penalty kills, power plays, late surges, fights, Matt Cooke AND Sean Avery not to mention a few controversial goals. The end result was the Rangers coming away with a regulation win over a team that only sits three points above them with four games in hand. At the quarter point of the season, the Blueshirts have only 21 games in the books, tying the San Jose Sharks with the lowest games played in the League.

Following the victory, alternate captain Brad Richards stopped short of calling the team elite. See the video for yourself, courtesy of BlueShirts United.

Henrik Lundqvist‘s comments were more of the same. Yes, they acknowledge their current success but at the same time they know they still have another 61 games to play at this level in order to make the playoffs. That mentality is exactly what turned this team from an up-and-coming team to a playoff team last season and what will propel them into a true contender.

Let’s fast forward for a second. We just called the Rangers a team — a term you would not describe them during the pre-lockout era and you would cringe to say during the Jagr/Renney years. GM Glen Sather failed to create a ‘team’ which had players in their roles and featured a good mix of young and old. Nowadays, the team under fiery coach John Tortorella, has earned that distinction through and through.

Their captain Ryan Callahan is homegrown, as is the impressive young back-end of Dan Girardi, Michael Sauer, Michael Del Zotto and Marc Staal. Ryan McDonagh never played a game with another organization despite being a first rounder of the Montreal Canadiens. Offensive weapons Derek Stepan, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and rookie Carl Hagelin all were drafted and groomed in the system as well. Needless to say, the team also stole Lundqvist as the 205th overall pick in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

These homegrown skaters coupled with elite talent like Richards and Marian Gaborik have created a strong, winning environment on Broadway — one that has not existed since Mark Messier came from Edmonton.

Statistically, this team has been among the elite as well. Their goal plus-14 goal differential is higher than only the Pens, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings. Does that rank among the elite? Yes it doesn and it’s no mirage as they finished last year with an equally impressive plus-35 rating. In addition, they rank first in goals allowed with 44, leading those same Bruins by two tallies. And while their offense may be on the lower end of the pack, they’ve scored three-or-more goals in seven of 11 November contests.

Experts like Rob Vollman of Puck Prospectus labeled the Rangers as lucky due to a smattering of metrics. They claim Lundqvist’s save percentage is unsustainable and the team’s lack of offense will come back to hurt them. While that was true on November 15th, their corsi percentage — a ratio which measures the shot differentials — was 44.8 percent at the time and a better 46.9 percent over the past month. We understand there is still a need for improvement but it certainly is not 27th in the League anymore. A continuation of their added pressure will make the advanced stats align to their current play.

This team, as currently compiled passes the eye test. They’ve defeated tougher foes like the Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals in each their last three games. You can also add the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks to their resume. They have the star power and mix of grit, skill and make-up to be the next big team in this League. All they need now is some recognition.

Fans of the NHL are very aware of how a superstar player is performing throughout the year, whether it’s good or bad.  Fantasy hockey is becoming more and more popular with each season and social media even allows fans to follow their teams with up-to-the-minute information.  What you don’t often hear about is their off-ice activities – unless it is something negative.

The players of the National Hockey League have lives “off the ice”.  This week we look at the most popular New York Ranger, and arguably the best goaltender in the league right now, Henrik Lundqvist.

Most might have heard that Henrik, once a very eligible bachelor, has recently tied the knot.  In the second week of this past August, Lundqvist and now wife Therese Anderson were married in the Caribbean.

Although the information about his wedding may seem like common knowledge to most loyal followers, Did you know that Henrik is a part owner of a small restaurant in New York City called ‘Tiny’s’?  With no intention of actually making money on this endeavor, Lundqvist simply enjoys spending time here with friends and family sometimes after a home game.

When he’s not playing hockey, practicing or spending time at Tiny’s, Henrik spends time with his friends and frequents charity events, helping raise money for the less fortunate including the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

It seems Henrik is loving his stay Manhattan.  There are many spots that he has been known to frequent including La Esquina in Nolita, The Gramercy Park Hotel’s Rose Bar and Club 1 Oak.  Henrik also likes stopping by Sean Avery’s place, Warren77, to show off his guitar playing skills for the crowd and possibly enjoy a Grey Goose and Red Bull or two.

It’s not all about NYC for Henrik though he splits time between his Manhattan penthouse and his place in Gothenburg,Sweden during the year.  He also has a place in South Beach,Miami but that is considered more of a vacation spot.

Henrik enjoys golf and playing with his Swedish band, Boxplay, back in his hometown and hopes to start a second band in New York. However, King Henrik can’t come up with a good name so for now that is on hold.

Right now Henrik is living the good life in the greatest city in the world and is quickly making a name for himself as one of the great starting goalies the city has ever seen.  While a Stanley Cup Championship might help him seal the deal, he will have to settle for Olympic gold.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

By Bridget Samuels from College Park, MD (IMG_8687.jpg) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/2.0)

Considering he finished the year with the Rangers before drawing out during the playoffs, Zuccarello was expected to improve during his second full season. Yet through his first three games he registered more PIM (2) than shots on goal (1). Even though he only took one of the team’s resounding 20 minor penalties over that span he clearly was part of the problem.

Andrew Gross of The Record argued that the 24-year-old needed more ice time to produce offensively, which could very well be right. He played primarily with Wojtek Wolski and Derek Stepan over the course of last season but earned more offensive minutes earlier in the year mainly because of the team’s myriad of injuries — Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky each went down for chunks of time while Alex Frolov and Vinny Prospal missed most of the season. His average TOI of 14:10 was behind only Erik Christensen, Chris Drury and Sean Avery. In other words, he mainly played the same third line role last year.

This year has been different. Due to general flat play and missing two, minute-eating defenseman — Marc Staal and Michael Sauer — this club is taking minor penalties with an alarming frequency, dwindling their even-strength minutes. Only Mike Rupp and Christensen have averaged less TOI which keeps him rusty over the course of the game. Despite getting almost two minutes a night of PP time, Zuccarello has only mustered across the loan shot on goal.

As currently constructed, this Ranger team is in trouble. Perhaps they received overachieving performances from their bottom lines. Maybe they are still recovering from a season where they registered more hits than anyone last year and blocked 1301 shots. One thing is for sure, Zuccarello’s role as an offensive player on a checking line is not effective in the current system. His replacement, minor league veteran Kris Newbury, can hit, take faceoffs and kill penalties which is more valuable to a team desperately trying to find their legs.

If this team can get their legs back, they might want to work Zuccarello into the lineup in situations that he can succeed in. As a former SEL veteran he does nobody good by watching from the press box — he needs to play. Nevertheless, if this team continues to play the way they have, he will be playing for a new organization next season, or earlier.

By David Strehle
NHL Hot Stove Managing Editor

The person alleged to have thrown a banana onto the ice surface at the John Labatt Centre, London, Ontario during last Thursday’s exhibition game between the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers has been arrested.

Simmonds beats Pearce in shootout. (Photo credit: Dave Chidley / Canadian Press)

It was announced today at an 11:45 a.m. press conference that Christopher Moorhouse, 26, has been charged with engaging in a prohibited act under the “Trespass to Property Act”.  If convicted, the maximum fine Moorhouse could face is $2,000.

The section it would appear that authorities charged Moorhouse may be in the “Trespass an offence” portion, under article 2(a).  In subsection (ii), it states ”engages in an activity on premises when the activity is prohibited under this Act.”

The banana was thrown in the path of Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds as he was skating toward the Detroit goal as the first shootout attempt of a tie game.

Simmonds, who is an African-Canadian, kept his wits, dodged the piece of fruit, and incredibly was able to score on Red Wings goalie Jordan Pearce.

After reviewing the incident, London Police Chief Brad Duncan found that the incident did not meet the threshold to be charged as a hate crime.

Duncan asked that the public not engage in any kind of vigilante justice, and to let the situation take the appropriate course through the courts.

Late Thursday night, player agent Scott Norton of Norton Sports had offered a $500 for information that led to the identity of and arrest of the person (or #RacistPig, as Norton has been referring to him on Twitter) responsible for the reprehensible act.  Several fans immediately jumped in and offered to add money to the reward, as well.

Norton was understandably very satisfied with the ultimate fruition of his efforts in a statement given to NHL Hot Stove:

“I am very excited that all of my efforts, along with others in London, were successful in providing information which led to the culprits apprehension and ultimate arrest,” the agent said.  ”Shows the good in people, #MMDM (“Make My Day Monday“), and the power of Twitter.” 

It is yet unknown if that reward will be claimed.

Simmonds, who battled with New York Ranger forward Sean Avery on Monday in a skirmish in which Avery accused Simmonds of using a homophobic slur, has to be ready to put the two incidents behind him and concentrate solely on hockey.

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at dstrehle@nhlhotstove.com.  You can also follow him on Twitter – @David_Strehle

By Alexander Monaghan
President

By kaatiya (2742468020077758815) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by /2.0)

The New York Rangers’ nine-year, $60 million investment tweaked his groin during yesterday’s intra-squad scrimmage and did not feel the need to push himself during Camp Torturella. Knowing fully well how much strain he would put on his groin during such a trying endurance test, Richards and John Tortorella have no problem keeping him off the ice while he recovers.

Tortorella sounds a bit more optimistic about his pivotal center, and getting him back on the ice. From Ranger Rants:

“It’s nothing really bad, just precautionary so we kept him off,” Tortorella added. “I think he’ll be able to skate tomorrow. Him and Rammer (trainer Jim Ramsey) talked to me after the scrimmage. I’m the one who told him to get off. He said he felt it. I’m not interested this early in camp, with the amount of work we have to do, to make that into an aggravation. I’d really like to get him into that next game.”

On Friday, the Rangers take on the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center; interesting to see whether Richards finds his way back into the lineup. More importantly, who will play on his left side? The first player to audition on the top line was Wojtek Wolski, who apparently impressed. After Wolski, Tortorella reunited Ruslan Fedotenko with Richards, starting the two veterans together. Nevertheless, Richards and Marian Gaborik will remain attached at the hip.

If Richards does miss some time, the team actually has kept a contingency plan. They decided to keep enigmatic forward Erik Christensen — who at times displays the talent level of a top liner, and at other times can’t be found on the ice with a GPS locator. While the team went out and signed Richards mainly because they needed a true number one, they have used Christensen in that spot before.

One thing that most importantly jumps out to us is this team has depth. If Marc Staal can’t suit up, Ryan McDonagh takes his place as the shutdown player. If Richards can’t play, look for Christensen. These options simply were not there last season when the team found Chad Kolarik, Kris Newbury, Jeremy Williams and Brodie Dupont donning the blue, red and white. The signing of Mike Rupp gives the team yet another option as does Sean Avery or Mats Zuccarello on the bench (or in the press box).

Richards will be fine, but if not, this team can still compete when the puck eventually drops.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

By Resolute (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-sa/3.0)

GM Glen Sather somehow managed to keep some money in the bank, failing to sign any marginal players like Aaron Voros, Patrick Rissmiller, Ales Kotalik or Wade Redden to bloated contracts. Instead, Sather filled a hole left by the untimely death of Derek Boogaard, in signing Mike Rupp and made his team exponentially better by inking the top unrestricted free agent in Brad Richards. In addition, Sather made yet another Sather-like trade, grabbing a high-potential player in Tim Erixon for a price fans were willing to pay — Roman Horak and two second rounder. Erixon, by all accounts, looked great in the rookie tournament and should challenge Michael Del Zotto amongst others for a roster spot, but we’ll return to that thought later.

For now, fans can remain happy that for all the positives, there have been very few negatives. Despite my two parts of foreboding, Sather managed to sign Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan without taking them to arbitration, and effectively shattering their psyches in the process. In fact, he now holds more leaders than most teams in a season that Henrik Lundqvist and company feels is theirs for the taking.

With the team beginning the season in Sweden and all-but-guaranteed to play in the Winter Classic, the Rangers once again will be making headlines. Whether or not they are able to reach their goal, or are even competitors to the Western Conference powerhouses, remain a question that will be shortly answered. For now, most of the honess will fall on the newly appointed…

CAPTAIN CALLAHAN

By Keith Allison (originally posted to Flickr as 00091065) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)

It also showed that Callahan would do everything possible to win a game — including block a 100 MPH slapshot with less-than-a-minute left, even if it cost him the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs.

Callahan learned a great deal from Drury. He learned to be even-keeled when the time called for it. He learned to give into his emotions with the rest of the team. Now, with the team using his heatbeat as a metronome they should continue to keep their head down, skate hard and play an honest game. When talking about Callahan, Tortorella found himself mixing together his team’s identity and his current captain’s. From Andrew Gross’s Ranger Rants:

In fact, Tortorella was talking about the identity the Rangers established last season a hard-working, blue-collar bunch. “Straight ahead” and “no nonsense” the coach said, before stopping himself and asking, “Who am I talking about? The hockey club or Cally?”

While Tortorella sounds proud of the home-grown Callahan, he acknowledges that giving him the C is just a formality. For a full year, possibly even longer, Callahan has been the team’s captain. Hopefully giving him a letter will help extend the Rochester native longer than his recently signed three-year pact.

Now that Callahan wears the C, opposed to the A, Tortorella appointed BroadwAy BrAd Richards the second alternate captain. Considering Marc Staal already held the other A, it only made sense to give the other title to an elder-statesman, “veteran” leader. Although Richards is new to the team, he, along with his gaudy contract, have earned the respect of the team’s veteran community — players like Rupp, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sean Avery and most importantly Marian Gaborik. The latter has a long road ahead this next season. Described as devastated, you can expect a lengthy…

GRIEVING PROCESS

By Bridget Samuels from College Park, MD (IMG_8730.jpg) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/2.0)

Devastation has been the word to describe Gaborik on numerous occasions. Gaborik played four seasons with Boogaard as a member of the Minnesota Wild but met him 10 years prior to the accidental overdose. He was one of the first to find out Boogy had passed, receiving a call from his agent in the middle of the night, in that fateful day in May. From Blueshirts United:

It was devastating news. I played with Boogey for a long time in Minny and then in New York. He was a great guy. We got along together great. We helped each other out on the ice and off the ice. We were very close. I tried to help him along in New York, and we had a very good relationship. It’s just very sad. We had a lot of good times together. He was a really easy going guy, really caring. We talked pretty much about everything. He’s just the type guy who would be there for you whenever you needed him.

Gaborik was instrumental in recruiting his good friend to the Rangers. You have to think that every time he puts on a Rangers sweater, or steps onto the team’s home ice, he will be thinking about his close friend. If already taking that news into account wasn’t enough, Gaborik lost his best friend overseas in Slovakian superstar Pavol Demitra.

The two players played two successful seasons in Minnesota before Demitra left for The Sedin Twins and the Vancouver Canucks. Last season, there were rumors Demitra would sign on with the Rangers but instead chose to play closer to home in the KHL. Numerous times the two paired together for their National Team; they clearly were close. Michael Russo of The Star Tribune once called them a pair of aces because the two Slovaks completed each other’s passes and sentences. Although their success never translated to a Stanley Cup, they clearly once had a dream of winning it together. A dream they can sadly no longer achieve.

As fans, we have all had our problems with Gaborik. Whether you felt he was loafing last season or is simply talent unfulfilled, all of those thoughts need to take a seat on the backburner for our continued support. Gaborik is family and has lost family, fans need to cheer for him every time he touches the puck this season and let him know how behind him we all can be.

ROOKIES LEAVE MIXED IMPRESSIONS

By Canada Hky (Own work) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses /by/3.0)

Right now much of the conversation remains tied to the Rangers defense. As an organizational strength with four homegrown players already with the big club, the team could see even more bright spots. At this season’s Traverse City Rookie Tournament, at least three future Rangers defenders have made headlines.

Blake Parlett currently leads the tournament in scoring with five assists — tied with Columbus Blue Jackets prospect David Savard. The undrafted Parlett spent most of last season between the ECHL and the AHL but could see his stock raised significantly after such a strong showing. In both games he played above his current level, which could be expected considering his age. Nevertheless, his emergence reminds us Dan Girardi and how he ascended from undrafted Junior-level player into a steady defender.

On the other end of the spectrum, 2010 first round draft choice Dylan McIlrath received mixed reviews. While his skating appears much improved, his decision making and gap control left some mixed impressions. His current projection puts him back in the WHL for another season with a season or two in Connecticut in his future. A great attitude and willingness to improve make Rangers fans happy but knowing the team passed over Cam Fowler for a stay-at-home type defender remains a cause for concern. Nevertheless, head of scouting Gordie Clark and company hope he becomes more of a Tyler Myers-type than Hal Gill. The jury will remain out…

Running down the rest of the Traverse City squad, Tim Erixon looked great in his first game in Ranger-blue, scoring a goal off his big shot from the point. He will clearly compete for a spot during training camp.

Meanwhile, Carl Hagelin, Shane McColgan, Jonathan Audy-Machessault and Ryan Bourque all displayed their speed and skill up front. We all expected to see more from JT Miller and Christian Thomas, but the two top prospects have held their own despite showing their age. Considering they are also playing against graduated Juniors and AHL vets, growing pains were to be expected, although not preferable.

The 2-0 Rangers squad will play the Carolina Hurricanes in less than three hours– the game is televised on MSG for our local readers and possibly on the NHL Network for our out-of-state fans. The youngsters have outscored the opposition 11-4 and surely have an opportunity to take the tournament. Carolina already lost to the Dallas Stars’ kids 8-2 — a team the Rangers defeated 6-2 just two days ago. The rooks hope to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors and take home another Traverse City Trophy over the next two days.

–

If you have any comments or questions, you can email the author at amonaghan at nhlhotstove dot com. You can also follow him on Twitter – @NHLHotStove or check out his work as Editor-in-chief at DailyFaceoff.com

By Alexander Monaghan
President

By dubi@mindspring.comIrisKawling at en.wikipedia [CC-BY-SA-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5)

However, an arrest during the secondary buyout period  — which started on July 20th and runs through August 6th — certainly could hurt his chances of earning a spot, especially when he was rumored to be on the chopping block.

Last season, Avery posted three goals and 21 points — his lowest scoring output since his rookie season with the Detroit Red Wings. His offense suffered from what was believed to be a combination of ineffectiveness and a shorter leash from coach John Tortorella. His reputation as an agitator or energy player also took a hit as his overall game really became somewhat useless. While he generated offense on the third and fourth lines in the beginning of the season, he often disappeared when juggled between lines and found himself scratched towards the end of the year, and playoff even.

We understand that back in June, Larry Brooks of The New York Post reported Avery and Wojtek Wolski would not be bought out during this period. “The Post also has learned that the Rangers will not buy out either Wojtek Wolski or Sean Avery, each of whom ended the season with tenuous futures on Broadway.” Nevertheless, could his recent behavior coupled with rumors of on-ice racism be enough to excuse the Rangers into buying him out?

The correct answer is probably no, but it would make sense. The team already holds 13 NHL-ready forward with Mats Zuccarello and Dale Weiss AHL-tried and ready for duty. We know, or assume, Erik Christensen would be one of the players to be cut but could Avery now find his way out of Manhattan and in-turn the entire NHL?

According to Andrew Gross of The Record, a team spokesman explained, “we will discuss the matter with Sean and have no further comment at this time.” In the past, no news was bad news with Avery. The two sides reported close to nothing during his RFA negotiations and then even less when he turned UFA. If Tortorella and GM Glen Sather were already tired of this act, then an arrest most likely seals the deal for them.

Then again, this is more-than-likely something that gets goes away relatively quickly; much like Avery’s ice time.

Photo Credit: Keith Allison

Today, we take a look at the (thankfully) protected bunch.

Yesterday, four Rangers — Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Michael Sauer and Brandon Dubinsky — all filed for arbitration which eliminates other teams from signing them to an offer sheet. Arbitration, for those unfamiliar, pits your GM against your player so that an arbitrator can call a ruling fairly. Throughout Sather’s tenure, very few players actually filed but when they did, it ended relatively poorly. The tumultuous re-signing of Sean Avery gives us a great example of Sather’s wrath.

Back in the Summer of 2007, Sather and Avery argued the latter’s worth over their mediated hearing. Avery began his career with the Rangers scoring eight goals and 20 points in only 28 games which helped to spark a struggling team. He re-invigorated their offense adding some grit, or sandpaper as his current coach calls it, by playing in all situations. For some reason Sather failed to realize any of these points and fought tooth-and-nail to drive his contract to $1.8 million opposed to the requested $2.1 million. The end result came to be $1.9 million, meaning Sather only ultimately saved $100-k yet ultimately lost Avery the following offseason due to statements like these.

From The New York Post, in 2007:

“Avery is not a mature player. He plays, at times, like an individual rather than a member of a team. This is sometimes referred to as an inability to see the ice, and in Avery’s case this seems to fit with his overall approach to the game.”

Not the type of words you say about a player you ultimately want to play on your team the following season. Team-leaders Brendan Shanahan, Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist all spoke on Avery’s behalf but Sather refused to acknowledge what he had. This mentality clearly hurt Avery enough to not re-sign the following season, choosing to sign with the Dallas Stars. When asked how he felt, the often out-spoken forward seemed to be at a loss for words. ”I have no idea what to say. I don’t know what this was about. I’m shocked,” Avery explained to the Post, again back in 2007.

Considering a good deal of Avery’s game were his intangibles, all four of the RFAs could be in trouble, especially since Sather likes to actually reference statistics during these proceedings. Dubinsky, Callahan, Sauer and Boyle all definitely deserve a raise but it remains to be seen how Sather will handle this. Does he try to low-ball them as usual? Would he even attempt to walk away from a deal? Well, that unfortunately is another option.

Back in the Summer of 2009, the Rangers and Sather walked away from an arbitration award from current leading-scorer Nikolay Zherdev. Despite playing in all 82 games that season and holding elite potential, Z was in fact not worth his salary in the eyes of management. Zherdev entered the proceedings requesting $4.5 million — a total ironically he never has been paid in the NHL — while the Rangers preferred to sign him exactly on his qualifying offer of $3.25 million. The arbitrator split the difference prompting Sather to walk away from his young player with some pleasant parting words for his player.

From ESPN.com:

“With the additions we’ve been able to make this summer, we feel we’ve been able to add scoring and offense from the wing position. Following the arbitration process and subsequent award given, we feel it is in our best interest to walk away and continue to explore all available options to improve our roster.”

By great additions, Sather spoke about free-agent bust Ales Kotalik and enigmatic forward Christopher Higgins — both of which were exiled in their first season in a blue shirt. As of this writing he only signed Mike Rupp and Brad Richards but let’s hope he does not use Rupp to argue about Boyle. Sather could even argue Richards replaced Dubinsky as the team’s most important scorer, which is true but not necessarily helping out the situation.

In addition to these three players avoiding the danger of an offer sheet, they should arrive at training camp on time. These three players should be considered vital to the budding young core so a continued development will certainly help their future. Two seasons ago, Dubinsky missing training camp certainly hampered his growth. See Patrick O’Sullivan for future reference.

As a fan or enthusiast of the team, the best-case scenario would result in Sather re-signing all of these three players before their hearing. Due to his stubborn nature we find this solution the least likely. Hopefully the captaincy will deter Callahan from actually leaving the New York in two seasons.

Today, Glen Sather and the New York Rangers inked top UFA center Brad Richards to a nine-year contract worth $60 million. The news, broken by TSN’s Darren Dreger, via Twitter, gives the team their number one pivot that their system truly lacked as he can not only play invaluable minutes but also man the point on the powerplay.

If Richards played on the Rangers last season, he would have led the team in scoring with his 28 goals and 77 points. More importantly, he continues to help shape his new team’s roster in a manner that allows their young and developing players to adapt to the NHL. No longer does Artem Anisimov need to play on the top line. No longer is Derek Stepan expected to be a top-line center in his second professional season playing hockey. These guys and the rest of the young prospects have time to develop — a boon to the roster whether the deal works out in the long run.

And if it doesn’t? Well, at this point that is a problem for a different team. At 31-years-old he will presumably play at this top level for at least three more seasons. The salary is reported to be front loaded for the first five seasons which give a decent short-term window for Richards to succeed in the Big Apple.

Furthermore, the signings the Rangers previously gaffed on (ie. Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Wade Redden, etc.) featured players coming from secondary roles into primary roles. While these veterans were able to succeed as top liners on their former teams, they featured a supporting cast that allowed them to do just that. Redden partnered with Zdeno Chara; Gomez just needed to feed his linemates enough for Martin Brodeur and their blue line to shut the opposition down; Drury was a product of his system, not his offensive prowess. Last season, by all accounts the Dallas Stars lived and died by Richards.

Next season John Tortorella can do just that. In the past it worked as Richards helped the Tampa Bay Lightning achieve the sport’s greatest trophy in the Stanley Cup. Tortorella did not need to use him on the top line since they already had Vincent Lecavalier but he used Richards as the quarterback on the powerplay — a position which he thrived in. Watching the Lightning topple the Calgary Flames and even earlier opponents, it seemed like every shot he took went in. Richards possesses that magical ability to slow down a game and make difficult plays look easy which is something Ranger fans likely do not remember.

Watching Jaromir Jagr dominate the ice was a treat, as was the Mark Messier era in the early 90s. Richards is not this player, but in turn an infusion of skill that should fit in between the enigmatic duo of Wojtek Wolski and Marian Gaborik. Simply put, if he cannot get them going, no one can which would speak more to Gaborik and Wolski than this established 70-80 point player. In addition, if they don’t work it would make more sense to build around Richards than streaky scorers with only one to three years remaining on their contracts.

We spoke earlier how the Rangers’ choice to re-sign Ruslan Fedotenko gave them two solid lines. While those lines likely would be considered a second and fourth line at the NHL level, they can now settle into just that if Richards clicks with Gaborik. It pushes either Anisimov or Stepan into a third line role, presumably playing with Sean Avery, Mats Zuccarello or the newly signed Mike Rupp which gives a nice mix of two-way play, skill and grit. Moreover, it gives the Rangers just so many options; options they did not have when their blue collar team could not overcome the Washington Capitals in the last season’s playoffs.

By Alexander Monaghan
President

Not a great day to be a Pittsburgh Penguins fan.

Earlier today, the team officially announced they would not get into a bidding war for their former captain Jaromir Jagr and then re-signed Tyler Kennedy. The majority of reactions praised GM Ray Shero for locking up a main cog in last season’s system to a short-term contract. However, everything would go downhill from there. Jagr would sign with Atlantic Division rival Philadelphia Flyers followed by Max Talbot following suit. Less relevant but still painful, the New York Rangers took another one of their players, adding Mike Rupp to their roster.

In Rupp, the Rangers find an immediate replacement for the sadly deceased Derek Boogaard. Despite rostering tough guys like Brandon Prust and even Brian Boyle, the signing of this veteran adds an enforcer still capable of handling a regular shift. Last season, Rupp finished second on the Penguins with 12 fighting majors. Those totals tie Sean Avery‘s mark and finish just slightly behind the 18 posted by Brandon Prust.

Although 31-years-old, Rupp can still fill the back of the net as he sneakily potted 22 in his two years in Pittsburgh. It is likely that his slight uptick in shooting percentage could be responsible for his scoring binge but in all likelihood his Jack Adams Trophy winning coach Dan Blysma helped along his cause. In New York he will be coached by the stricter John Tortorella, who will make sure this veteran gets in game-ready condition and fits into their blue-collar mentality. If he cannot, the $1.5 million cap hit would likely be movable at some point in the tenure or, as we witnessed before, could be buried in the minors.

When free agency strikes, most Rangers fans remain cautiously optimistic. The veritably senile Glen Sather could draft an unknown in the first round or make completely nonsensical signings like Aaron Voros, Patrick Rissmiller, Wade Redden or Scott Gomez. Then again, sometimes he manages to strike gold. Sometimes. As far as free agent signings go, taking on a gritty veteran like Rupp for three years and $4.5 million could be the least of this team’s worries come next season.  While other teams around the Rangers get better, at least this team counteracts that with toughness.