Counting Down to the Regular Season

It’s finally begun; the start of hockey season is here. The Rangers opened camp and played their first exhibition game losing to the Boston Bruins 2 – 1. Christopher Higgins recorded the lone Rangers goal and by all accounts has been very solid in camp. Other Rangers being mentioned in a positive light in the numerous stories I’ve read are: Matt Gilroy (who was paired with Marc Staal on defense with both players seeing time in all situations) Evgeni Grachev, Michael Del Zotto and Ales Kotalik.

I’ve been critical of Kotalik at least in terms of the contract given him but apparently he was cranking shots from the point on the PP yesterday. If he keeps that up and can play decent at even strength then the decision to sign him may pan out alright after all. Grachev and Del Zotto seem intent on making it tough to send either one down. Del Zotto was paired with Kotalik on the PP points and drew praise from Torts on his confidence and aggressive play offensively.

Moore to Re-join NYR?

In another item pertaining to the Blue Shirts, Eklund blogged today that the Rangers might be looking to bring back veteran Center Dominic Moore, perhaps on a tryout basis. I could see the Rangers doing worse things. Moore had a minor breakthrough season offensively last season recording a line of 13G – 32A -45Pts in 81 games split between Toronto and Buffalo. Unfortunately, Moore struggled upon his arrival in Buffalo only scoring 4 points in 18 games there. Considering his previous high in goals (9) and points (18) scored occurred in his first full NHL season of 2005-2006 and the fact that Moore is now 29, it is likely that last season was a bit of a fluke. Regardless, if Moore does eventually join the Rangers, he will provide some depth at the Center position whether he fills a spot on one of the top lines or plays some 4th line and kills penalties. On a side note, my 15 year-old daughter will be thrilled if Moore comes back as he was her favorite Ranger because she thought he was cute. Good thing we live in Southern California

Zherdev Comes Crawling Back?

Over a month after the Rangers walked away from his arbitration award and still without an NHL deal, Nik Zherdev’s agent contacted the team offering to accept the same offer the Rangers made when they qualified him; a 1 year contract worth $3.25 million according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post. Wisely the Rangers declined Zherdev’s overtures. Obviously Zherdev and his agent over-estimated Zherdev’s appeal on the open market.

The problem in Zherdev’s case and other players who go through the process of arbitration in the salary cap environment is the timing of the process. Zherdev’s award was announced on the 2nd of August and the Rangers rescinded their rights to him on the 4th. By that time, over a month had passed since the UFA market had opened for business and most teams had already spent their allotted cap space. Teams that did express interest in Zherdev had little cap space to offer him. According to TSN, Zherdev today signed a deal to play in the KHL for next season so we won’t be seeing him in an NHL arena this season.
Unfortunately, the deal with Columbus to acquire Zherdev and Fritsche for D Fedor Tyutin and D Christian Backman looks like a sever miscalculation as the Rangers are left with nothing to show for it. Fritsche was moved to Minnesota for D Erik Reitz who was then claimed by the Maple Leafs off of waivers. Tyutin has developed into a very good top 4 defenseman for the Blue Jackets in the mean time.

Good Riddance to the Heatley to NYR Rumor; Say Hello to the Kessel to NYR Rumors

Finally! Heatley got moved. Now I can not have to read the ridiculous rumors of Heatley to the Rangers. There was no way given the financial dynamics. The Rangers simply didn't have the cap space to add salary and the Sens didn't want to take on any of their bad contracts in exchange. All of those looking forward to a couple of rumor-free weeks before the start of the regular season will be sorely disappointed though as Ek is listing the Rangers as a possible destination for RFA Phil Kessel. That's not likely to happen either folks.

The reason that Kessel is currently unsigned is the Bruins have little cap space as it sits and Kessel wants $4 million or more a year on a new deal. Obviously the Rangers don't have the necessary space to take on that type of contract either so any move to acquire Kessel would have to be through trade. Again the Bruins don't have the cap room to take on the type of additional salary it would take for the Rangers to fit Kessel under the cap. A more likely landing spot for Kessel is Toronto as they have the cap space and a need for a dynamic offensive forward. The fact that the Leafs reacquired their own 3rd round draft pick has put them in a spot where they can submit an offer sheet and then meet the requirements in terms of picks in the event the Bruins didn't match. Makes more sense than the Rangers getting involved.