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Why the Rangers don't need Saku Koivu

There has been some talk circulating that the Rangers should pursue Saku Koivu to be Marian Gaborik's pivot. Just as it's prudent to 'just say no to Redden(or drugs)' please for love of Wayne leave Koivu out of it. The Rangers do not need to pursue a number one center, just as last year they didn't need to pursue an aged Markus Naslund or even worse, well you know.

Larry Brooks got it right (for once) and one of my favorite Rangers beat writers Steve Zipay got it wrong. He doesn't seem to think Dubisnky is capable of centering Gabs and thinks it's a good idea to look at Koivu. C'mon Zip, I know you're better than that. Just for starters, Dubinsky was by far the Rangers most effective pivot for Jaromir Jagr as a rookie. Even with vets like Drury and Gomez on the roster, Dubinsky flourished with Jagr and complimented him beautifully. Fast forward one year and once again Dubinsky was the Rangers best option in the middle for their most talented winger, Nikolai Zherdev.

Dubinsky is a true power forward in the making. He spent much of last season lost in a horrible slump that lasted as long as it did mostly because he lost confidence and was trying too hard. Dubinsky once again stepped his game up though towards the end of the season and in the playoffs, rockin' the same kind of swagger that he displayed when he centered Jagr. There is no reason to go out and bring Saku Koivu or any other center to play alongside Gabs. It's a waste of cap space and is giving the finger to the Rangers new organizational philosophy of youth=success. Not only that, it's a piss poor waste of cap space (even more so than Brashear's contract). because Gabs doesn't need a play making center to put the pucks in the net. Dubinsky is the Rangers best option to play with Gabs as he can play the role of not only body guard, but he can clear the way and create space for him. Dubinsky is big and just fast enough to keep up with the Slovak Rocket and if any liberties are taken with him, Dubi would be more than willing to jump in and drop 'em. Although he should probably consult with Donald Brashear or possibly Kimbo Slice (same difference, both useless street fighters) over the summer b/c he hasn't quite gotten the fighting thing down yet. It is definitely a must that Gabs has somebody big playing with him, you don't want him breaking the first game of the season.

Sign a depth defenseman or two, trade Rozsival, somehow convince Jimmy Dolan to eat Redden's contract (not going to happen),and let the kids play.

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Ryan...

I can’t agree more. Actually I did agree in another post of mine lol. Anyway look at Koivu’s stats over his career dropping from 75 in 2006/07 to 56 in 2007/08 to 50 this past season. He is aging and getting slower. The guy has played his whole career in Montreal and for him to fall from their graces says something.
Dubinsky is more then ready to carry the load this season. It says something when a rookie comes into the league and is the only one capable of playing the a sure fire HHOFer like Jaromir Jagr and then the next season being able to keep up with Zherdev.

by b4mv01 on Jul 3, 2009 3:36 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

i agree as well

and wrote a huge long post about how we need to learn a little patience and not these “quick fixes” that end up in long term deals taking spots from out kids. koivu for a year is one thing, but 3 is ridiculous. the goal here should be have money coming off the cap next summer like rozi and redden so we can re-sign staal and girardi long term and then our kids will be ready to help us in small and then significant ways. Artem, Gilroy and another D man this year. Grachev, MDZ and maybe McDonagh in a year to go with another year of growth in experience for Staal, Girardi, Dubi and Cally. another bonus is if we save money now we could be looking at the youth movement, staal, girardi, dubi, cally locked up long term and maybe even another mercenary like Kovalchuck or Nash and then we are legit contenders not just making moves that wont make us real contenders. Sorry, but Koivu or Marleau are not going to win us a cup.

by mleetch352 on Jul 3, 2009 3:50 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

agreed

Our prospects are more than capable of making our team this year. Stick to the youth. Nice new site btw.

by rmc235 on Jul 3, 2009 4:26 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

is it possible...

that Redden gets better? He showed something good in the Caps series.. maybe with a Torts trainng camp… I want to see him start this season before shipping him to Hartford.

by scchask on Jul 3, 2009 5:08 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Presumably not

Maybe playing with Gaborik gets him a few more assits but thats it.
Redden is past his prime.

Lopez wants it away, and it's hit deep to left center, Andruw Jones on the run, this one has a chance... home run!!, Mike Piazza!, and the Mets lead 3 to 2!!
-Howie Rose
Gary Thorne=Simply the Best!

by The American Mr.Hockey on Jul 3, 2009 6:08 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Rick Nash Reupped 8/yr 7.8 per

Also a potential Holy Crap story for the blackhawks.

From TSN:
“Sources tell TSN the NHL and the NHLPA are investigating what might have been an enormous mistake by the Chicago Blackhawks.

Chicago tendered qualifying offers to several key players this week, including Kris Versteeg, Cam Barker, Ben Eager, Colin Fraser, Aaron Johnson and Troy Brouwer, however the investigation underway is to determiner whether the qualifying offers were filed correctly.

If not, there is the remote possibility the qualifying offers could be ruled invalid and the players listed above, conceivably, could be deemed unrestricted free agents because of the blunder.

There are few details, but one source says the players involved didn’t receive the necessary notification of the offers."

If this is true i would definitely try to sign Versteeg and Barker even if it means dumping Zherdev and Rozi (we all want him gone anyway). Versteeg is more consistent if somewhat less talented than Z, but a 23 year old with a somewhat similar game to cally would be a great pickup for this team and adding Barker who gives us another young 23 year old big d-man who is experienced and would only further allow us to deal one of our d-prospects for a forward prospect.

Staal-Girardi
Redden-Gilroy
Barker-d-prospect

That is a solid crew and in a year will be even better when MDZ should be ready, maybe McDonagh and hopefully redden gone.

by mleetch352 on Jul 3, 2009 8:50 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Yeah, Id take Versteeg

HA! Wow, How could Chicago be so incompotent?

Lopez wants it away, and it's hit deep to left center, Andruw Jones on the run, this one has a chance... home run!!, Mike Piazza!, and the Mets lead 3 to 2!!
-Howie Rose
Gary Thorne=Simply the Best!

by The American Mr.Hockey on Jul 3, 2009 9:38 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

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