Rangers Analysis: With Drury and Dubinsky out, Rangers look for options

Dan Boyle doesn’t play for the Rangers. ;)

Also, Grachev isn’t a center anymore. He hasn’t played center since coming to North America.

A name to put on the list is Brody Dupont, who has been playing center and would be a good option for the limited minutes he’d get on the fourth line. Doesn’t have big numbers, but has been playing well in a defensive role in Hartford and is a responsible, two-way guy.

I don’t know whose career you’ve been watching, but Forsberg is most certainly a center.

I’d say signing Forsberg (coulda swore he was a center…)might make some sense (tho…I think the whole “how much” thing depends on Pete). Maybe that 700K gets er done? Doubt it….

I think they should bring up a youngin or 2. I don’t think there’s a move worth making that they should look into.

Dubi and Drury out is gonna hurt…its just gonna take someone else stepping up. Kotalik? Avery?

it was a filthy cheap shot by that punk glenncross i really don,t care for brashear but we need him in the lineup i think the rangers can,t afford forsberg so the only options are grachev ,parenteau alot of icetime for vinny now .boy this team is starting to get the mets injury hard luck gotta find a way to get by this …

The NHL will certainly be reviewing the tape of Glencross’ unnecessary and illegal hit on Drury – expect to see him get a several game suspension.

Presuming that Sather’s hat is fresh out of rabbits (not saying it is, just using that as a starting point), I’d guess that they’ll move Vinny Prospal to center the first line, and move either Lisin or Higgins up to the wing. Lisin looked pretty good with those guys in a couple of games, but Higgins would be my call based on how he’s played since scoring – he looks like what we expected him to look like. Move Artie up to center the 2nd Line between Avery and Callahan, put Lisin on the third line left of Boyle and Kotalik. Boyle especially looked good last night with his increased ice time, and he could be a pleasant surprise.
At that point, call up Locke and Parenteau for 4th Line duties with Byers.

The place where Drury will be most missed, I suspect, is the PK – but I doubt that they’ll drop from #1 to #30 in 2 weeks.

Of course, all of this is moot if there actually is a rabbit in that hat – and somehow Sather convinces Forsberg to sign for just under 2mm (remaining cap space plus 1mm when Voros is waived.)

why does everyone freak about the forsberg salary. remember it is prorated based on the number of days he is on the roster. even if they signed him today he probably wouldnt play for another 2-3 weeks which would put him at about 150 days on the roster so he could sign for about 2.5 mil w the 750K left and 900K left to pay voros. also if drury is out significantly you get LTIR injury replacement money based on dru’s salary.

New poster, long time lurker. (Like the radio show, by the way!).

Locke would be a nice sub for Dubi – strong playmaker who looks to distribute. Give him a shot and see how he goes. (Knock on wood.)

Parenteau – IMHO – seemed a bit hesitant to act independently, and spent far too much time standing still versus generating offense. Moreover, we’ll need him to kill penalties; not certain he can do that. Related, I’d be willing to give Grachev a go, but he’d likely be another Anisimov type of high skill sans forecheck. If he could finish, that would be another story.

I may stand alone, but this may be the time to give Avery more MIN, see what he can do replacing Drury. Otherwise – echoing Laurie – DuPont is a nice rental.

Last, I concur with Mleetch is seeing no downside to a Forsberg protated salary option. Also, let’s be honest with ourselves: Voros, Brashear and Roszival will not be on this roster indefinitely = more cap room. I also wouldn’t rule out Drury being on the chopping block since he has high trade value.

Please be kind to a n00b poster. :)

does anyone know how many concussions Dru has had in his career? with all these head injuries i worry that Dru might have his career cut short ala LaFontaine from cheap shots like that.

This could be a steal guys!!!!! If he is finally healthy he could have a huge effect on this lineup. I say they explore the possibilty and sign him. Plus hes a swede and could take less to play with Hank!!! I say a 1 mill dollar deal and try to move a lower tier player for cap rom.

Voros can go to the minors and if Brashear isnt going to play to do his job and fight after what happened last night might as well trade or dump him in the minors too and find out what we have in young players like byers for our 4th line.

Zip tweeted that a source told him Dubi has a broken hand and is out 3 weeks.

That seems light on the expectation of missed time because the bone healing should take that long and that says nothing about ability to do things like take faceoffs, but let’s hope the guess is right.