Rangers Analysis: With season in disarray Sather has chances to make things right
by Joe Fortunato on Jan 28, 2010 12:00 PM EST
in Rangers Analysis
71 comments
So here we are again, another season spiraling down the tubes with a near suicidal fan base running to the cliffs to hurl themselves off. Now normally I would be on my high horse telling all of you to calm down and step away from the ledge, well not today.
This season is over. Throw in the towel, call the time of death, stick a fork in it they are done. This team can't score goals, they can't play defense and they consistently let down the few players that bring it night in and night out. But why highlight any of it here, you know the story and I know the story all too well.
There is no need to play the blame game, because no matter who you point the finger at there is no way to go back in time and fix it. John Tortorella shoulders blame, as does Glen Sather, the Rangers players themselves and don't forget James Dolan. What can be done though, is making a few smart moves, to help the Rangers for the future.
Join me after the jump to see how.
But in order for that to happen it is time for Glen Sather to admit his mistakes. It is time for Sather to drop the dead weight on this team to make room for the future. Especially since having them play night in and night out doesn't exactly seem to be working out. Chris Drury, Ales Kotalik and Michal Rozsival will be here for 2 more years, Wade Redden(who, like I have said, is playing solid hockey but his contract is simply too big) will be here for the next 4 years. If Sather can remove some (since he obviously can't move Drury) of those contracts he might be able to make room for trade deadline deals that build for the future. For example:
The Calgary Flames have been scouting the last four or five Rangers games, that is a fact. What is speculation on my part is the thought process that maybe the Flames are looking to part ways with Dion Phaneuf, who is apparently unhappy in Calgary. (By the way Sean Avery and Phaneuf wont be a problem, both are men and both are being paid millions of dollars, they can work things out I'm sure.)
And while Phaneuf might not be the answer to fixing this season--since too much damage may have been done already--it would allow the Rangers to have one of the best physical defenseman in the game on their roster who at the age of 24 already has 227 points. He already has a fair amount of playoff experience, 25 games worth, and has proven that he can play confident hockey in a pretty big market.
If you want to see another story on this you can take a peek over at our friends Metro Hockey who did a story on this. You can also check out DBMaven's fanpost on Garnet Exelby. Regardless, any way you look at it, the Rangers do have options, it just depends on the man making the calls.
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Great Post Joe
I think all of the fans realize that rock bottom has been hit and this team is not getting up. In a few weeks, this team will be sitting in 13th in the East, still not scoring goals.
While offense may be the problem, defense is where Glen Sather needs to start. The biggest, and most useless, contracts are on the blueline and at least one of them needs to be moved. I love Dion Phaneuf as a player, always have, even after he layed out Okposo and fell on his ass while being challenged to a fight. He is one of the best hitters in the game, and like you said, has much experience at such a young age.
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by Nick Montemagno on Jan 28, 2010 12:10 PM EST reply actions
i think its time to demote underachieving verterans( redden rosival kotalik)we needmake room for rookies and trade players with some value for draft picks or young players with reasonable contracts. THey can get some value for prospal and higgins so they should definetly take advantage of this. This teams year is done and Sather needs to realize his strategy of making a whole new team every offeseason isnt working.
ITS TIME TO REBUILD
Phaneuf and Avery on the same team?
by The Last Shall Become First on Jan 28, 2010 12:28 PM EST reply actions
u mean that metro hockey story that says we should give up staal to get dion? how does that really improve the overall state of this team? dion does clear the crease more and has a better shot but he is not better defensively. now if they want to salary dump him that is one thing, but not sure what actual players i would give up because this is one of those moves i fear that sather takes on a salary and sells picks/prospects only deepening the hole just to try and squeak in this year. the way i look at it is if calgary is so desperate to dump dion they will still be come the offseason. what was the offer for kovy again? cally, girardi, higgins or something like that?
I mentioned the story to show that
other people are talking about it. not that that article is the deal to make.
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by Joe Fortunato on Jan 28, 2010 1:52 PM EST up reply actions
How are we gonna get rid of our bad contracts? this will be extremely hard. Trades will almost certainly not work, buyouts are still expensive, but better then keeping the players here, but the best option in my opinion is to send as many as we can to Hartford
honestly the best option for me is to let these overpaid lazy ones who we cant trade continue to make the season tank and then dump them in the offseason.
yes. no one is going to take redden, drury cant be moved at all unless he agrees and a team wont take that salary anyway.
maybe kots or rozi can be moved in terms of contracts.
prospal, girardi, higgins should be movable now.
I don’t see us putting 10 million dollars in Hartford that we never plan on getting back. As much as I would like it I don’t see it happening. The ony way we see the realy bad contracts go is packaging them with players people actually want.
THe gomez trade worked out great… but most of the time Sather gives the store away.
sorry but if dolan can pay 90 mil a year on the knicks, well this year w luxury tax 100 mil on a team that wont make the playoffs he can afford to eat a contract or 2 in hartford.
it was like 115 mil, and 90 or so the last couple years without counting the luxury tax.
now i was only talking about dropping redden down as the rest i think can be traded possibly.
They sure canaford to send Redden down… but will they? I don’t expect to see it. Maybe the last year of his contract.
i didnt say i expected it, but you said they wouldnt send him down and getting nothing back for the money they pay him. all im saying is dolan has done it for years with the knicks. last year paid 21 mil to marbury not to play, paid curry the last year, this year and next year approx 30 mil, and plenty of other awful contracts he has eaten for the knicks.
Don't worry
The Rangers will put their real players on the ice after winter break. It always happens that way. 15-4-1 run I’m guessing. If it doesn’t happen, then re-post this.
"Jaromir Jagr.... it's a POWER PLAY GOAL!"
- Sam Rosen
"Marian Gaborik.... it's a POWER PLAY GOAL!"
-Sam Rosen
6+ million a year for…guy who never skates hard (you can just tell he’s not trying), can’t handle the puck, makes terrible decisions with the puck, won’t play physical (only time I see him do anything is during his time of the month…yeah, I went there), won’t cover anybody, and then goes “WTF” when his ass becomes a healthy scratch and is replaced with John friggin’ Doe from the AHL team. For this season and another 4 years. We’d have to add 2 top prospects along with Redden just for the other team to trade us their 65 year old handicapped bus driver with bad cataracts and irritable bowel syndrome.
Waivers, Benchings & Trades
Someone who is more into the logistics could help me out on this but…
Guys I wouldn’t move: Hank, Gabby, Avery, Callahan, Staal, Dubinsky, DZ, AA & Gilroy.
Help me move the rest.
I think you could trade the following and get something in return…
Prospal, Girardi, Higgins, Rozsival & Lisin
Guys you need to move one way or another (waived, packaged in a trade, etc…)
Redden, Brashear & Kotalik
Spare parts…
Boyle, Christensen, Drury
Almost forgot...
Add Voros to the Spare parts list.
by Mike_from_NNJ on Jan 28, 2010 1:56 PM EST up reply actions
If you go after Dion...
The reason Dion looks good is because we can possibly get rid of some under achievers but at the cost of some good players. i say we trade Gilroy, Kotalik and Sanguinetti with a 3rd round draft pick staight up for Dion. No Cally, or Staal because were not getting rid of Roszival so they’re getting good players.
The messed up part is we dont get rid of Higgins, Rozy or Redden but at the same time keep intact our young players who need another scorer thats it.
Higgins needs a change of scenery and i say send him back to Montreal where he was comfortable for anything that can skate. Like a Josh Gorges.
Then we pay our annual visit to Phoenix and trade PA Parenteau and Dan Girardi for Radim Vrbata for some extra scoring. I know you want to say it Louie for GM lol.
Except
You can’t fit Rozie, Redden and Phaneuf under the cap.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 28, 2010 2:27 PM EST up reply actions
Hey getting Staal his money wont be the problem because the trade deadline and Freeagency are very very far from eachother.
Except
Under your plan, Drury (7.5), Rozy (5m), Redden (6.5m) and Phaneuf (6.5), Henrik (6.875) and Gaborik (7.5) are all here.
That’s 39.875 on just 6 players. There’s no money left for Staal. There’s barely enough to fit the rest of the roster (if there even is, probably not)
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 28, 2010 2:35 PM EST up reply actions
Well
I would probably send Rozy down for the rest of the year and buy him out at Free agency time IF we cant trade him.
Buyout isn't going to help much
He’ll still count 2.1m next year and 3.1 the year after, and now you have to fill his roster spot as well. So say you fill it with Sangs. Now you’re paying $3m and $4m for that roster spot.
Sure, it saves $2m next year…still doesn’t help you sign Staal.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 28, 2010 2:42 PM EST up reply actions
mmm
good point then i say you keep him down or trade him but he cant stay with us and im trying to avoid trading Staal, or Duby.
Buyout
The buyout option is really for teams without a lot of extra cash. The buyout spreads the cap hit over extra years but it allows the team to walk away from part of what is owed to the player. Seeing as the Rangers are one of the wealthier teams in the league they can skip the buyout and go straight to demoting veteran players to Hartford to remove them from the cap while still paying the full remainder of the contract.
The downside to demotion is twofold, once you send the player to Hartford, you are burning money on him (though this won’t be a problem for Jimmy Dolan) also, if the player actually shows a pulse (very doubtful in the cases of Rozival and Redden) you really cannot bring them back to the NHL since they need to be exposed to re-entry waivers (think of the Sean Avery situation when he returned to the Rangers)
I imagine if Rozival or Kotalik gets the boot to Hartford they will immediately ask to be loaned to a KHL team (this will keep them off the Rangers cap as well) to revive their floundering careers. I doubt Redden would want to go the KHL.
Last thing, Brashear, the Rangers are stuck with him. He was over 35 years old when he signed his multi-year (2 year) contract, there is no way at all to get any cap relief … unless a miracle takes place and someone trades for him.
pretty sure the waiver process is on the way down to hartford, not on the way back up.
Also, if a team claims the player from waivers, then the rangers are on the hook for 1/2 the salary (see Dallas/Avery). I’m not sure what this means to the cap situation, but how annoying would it be to pay for R&R to play for another team?
by bleed'n blue on Jan 30, 2010 7:58 PM EST up reply actions
I m not sure montreal would be interested in Higgins though….his contract is up at the end of the season so either way he will be gone
I would take Gilroy off the no trade list and replace him with AA. MDZ is clearly the keeper out of the two of them. I also would hold on to PA . Redden has got to be waived….but in reality, I see Rozi going in any Dion trade. Hell waive Redden and free up more space for the offseason……imagine that happens and Sather pulls a rabbit out of his ass named Kovalchuk?
The funny part is
If anyone will give Kovalchuk the crazy contract he wants in FA, it is Sather.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 28, 2010 2:31 PM EST up reply actions
I think the Rangers need Phaneuf. He is a big physical defensive presence we’ve lacked since Beuk retired. A defensive core of Staal, Phaneuf, MDZ, throw in Heik, Sangs, Potter, Gilroy if they are not traded……and there is hope. I’m sure they will not re sign Girardi since he is playing soft, he will be a chip to betraded…….but adding a guy like Mara would not be a bad thing. There are plenty of guys like him on the cheap. I’d be surprised if kotalik, girardi, rozi and prospal(who I think we should keep) are here after the deadline.
I really don’t see how adding another staggering contract like Phaneuf’s solves our problem of having to much money tied up in to few players. I like the idea of attempting to get rid of Kotalik and either Redden or Rozsival, but adding another enormous contract to the mix at this point doesn’t make sense.
Here's how it helps:
Phaneuf is 24 and effective.
Redden is 32 and ineffective.
Since the salaries are the same, it’s a wash.
Similar to shedding Gomez’s money to sign Gaborik.
Camp Tortorella - Where Vomit is a Mainstay
by George E. Ays on Jan 28, 2010 2:44 PM EST up reply actions
Thank you for answering in such a condescending way smurf. It’s not a wash because the rangers gave away Gomez for a top prospect and then signed Gaborik which only cost money and cap space. Phaneuf is gonna cost the rangers a top prospect and a roster player in addition to his cap hit. The rangers should be building from within and creating as much space as possible not trading for a French malcontent who’s having a crap season.
by KingHenrik on Jan 28, 2010 4:35 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
Kots, Gilroy, Rozi, Callahan for Jokinen (expiring), dion. they get upside in gilroy and cally, pp w kots and rozi has less hit and 2 years less on his deal than dion. that’s all im giving. rangers lose cally which sucks, but they get a physical d-man dump kots and rozi’s salaries and get cap space by bringing in olli for 2 months. hell make a 3 team where olli goes elsewhere and calgary gets picks or something for all i care, but if the rangers dont get rid of at least one big salary there should be no deal at all.
Rozi at 5.5, Kots at 3 mil, Gilroy at 1.7? and Cally at 2ish for Phaneuf’s 6.5 (can exclude expiring Joki’s). So they’d be taking on an extra 6 mill in cap hit for next season, after that just Kot’s 3 mil for 1 season. Good long term, but would hurt them next season.
like i said they wouldnt do it probably, and frankly i dont care about them and there cap problems. basically it allows them to accelerate the phaneuf contract forward 2 years.
rozi is actually 5 (salary only 4 and 3 mil the next 2), cally is 2.3 i believe. in total i believe it is 12.05 going to calgary and 12 coming back (6.5 after this year).
for the rangers they clear out 5.5 mil for next year so they can re-up staal easy, let kids come up and save some money for down the line (they wont). next year have a d of staal, dion, mdz, sangs, heik/mcdonagh, and probably redden cause i dont see them dumping him.
trade prospal to boston for toronto’s 2nd, finish the bottom 5 this year. if they cant get seguin or hall, take Nino and hope that ryan johansen (nino’s teammate, 6’ 3" 188lb center), tyler toffoli (6’ 0" 180lb rw) or some russians like stanislav galiev (6’ 1" 177lb center), maxim kitsyn (6’ 2" 194lb LW) fall to early 2nd, even jarred tinordi (big physical d-man 6’ 5" 205lb) would be a great pick. 3 of those guys and we add real talent (and size) to our system.
We don’t need to spend another 6.5 million on somebody who’s not even close to being worth that much. We need a space clearing defensemen who will take care of Lundqvist’s porch. Hell I’d take Sutton or Witt from the Isles over most of what we have atm. Any money freed up if we get Redden off the book by waiving or buying out needs to be put towards a top-tier center (Dubi IS NOT IT). We don’t need another damn moneyhole on defense.
When our D plays remotely competent hockey and Lundqvist doesn’t let in soft shit, we give up 2 goals a game on average. We give up goals when other teams drive our net. How many of Carolina’s goals were when they had somebody parked in front? Why can they do that? Our D is about as soft as it gets. Get a couple cheaper D-men who are physical and don’t suck, and spend the money on goal scoring, and you have a team that will win when giving up 2 goals a game.
Phaneuf is a waste imo, trading cap space for cap space and guaranteeing we lose a decent roster player (because Calgary isn’t that stupid) for an occasional big hit at the blue line is absurd.
Jim Schoenfeld will be named the interim head coach for the rest of this season upon the firing of John Tortorella, which should be before the Olympic break.
"I’m in love with New York. I have a passion beyond words for it. Like Romeo and Juliet -- love at first sight. It is the most beautiful city in the world. I love the huge mingling of enormous amounts of people, races. The mixture of cruelty and innocence. New York is a piece of mythical reality."-Pier Paolo Pasolini
by Greg Caggiano on Jan 28, 2010 6:09 PM EST up reply actions
i dont really care if they change coaches…if sather is still there or one of his boys (ie Messier) is the one that replaces him nothing will change because Messier wont publicly correct sather’s mistakes. they need a brian burke type to throw out the junk.
any good rising gm candidates? like good asst gm’s now that are with clubs that either consistently win or have gone through a rebuilding?
Well, I would want Bob Hartley to take over as coach but if Messier is Sather’s replacement at GM, then the coaching job goes to Mike Keenan. Other than Messier, I don’t see who else is a possibility to take over, with Maloney gone. Unless Doug Risebrough, who is scouting for the Rangers, gets the job.
"I’m in love with New York. I have a passion beyond words for it. Like Romeo and Juliet -- love at first sight. It is the most beautiful city in the world. I love the huge mingling of enormous amounts of people, races. The mixture of cruelty and innocence. New York is a piece of mythical reality."-Pier Paolo Pasolini
by Greg Caggiano on Jan 28, 2010 7:22 PM EST up reply actions
what about someone like Kevin Cheveldayoff who admittedly is young and new to the NHL, but he ran an extremely successful franchise in the minors.
Dale Tallon who i think was unfairly demoted after doing a great job w Chicago.
Jim Nill-Detroit
any of those possible, or they will def stay in house?
It’s the Rangers…staying in-house is how they have operated for the last decade. I’m not guarantee anything, but I strongly believe that anyone hired will have worked for the Rangers in the past or currently is.
"I’m in love with New York. I have a passion beyond words for it. Like Romeo and Juliet -- love at first sight. It is the most beautiful city in the world. I love the huge mingling of enormous amounts of people, races. The mixture of cruelty and innocence. New York is a piece of mythical reality."-Pier Paolo Pasolini
by Greg Caggiano on Jan 28, 2010 10:01 PM EST up reply actions
Jess over at prospect park is thinking along the lines as i was in terms of bringing in Jim Nill to be the president, let him hire a gm and then a coach. He suggested Doug Armstrong who obviously has experience and a good track record as a gm. I also like his suggestion of Mike Eaves as a coach, though he did use Tony Granato as his first choice.
Is Chelios Still Available?
Chris Chelios may be the one thing that the Rangers need. I know he is almost 80 years old, but he can’t be any worse than Redden or Rozival
by The Last Shall Become First on Jan 28, 2010 6:02 PM EST reply actions
i love the possibilty of phaneaf ?
but at what cost to get him i would only give up stahl and kreider and i think that is to much ..
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