Rangers Analysis: The curious case of Aaron Voros
It is a curious one indeed, the case of Aaron Voros; a case that has baffled experts for over a year. Well okay, maybe we here at the Banter aren't exactly "experts" but we're pretty damn close. And any way that you look at the situation the signing and usage of Aaron Voros has been curious at best.
It started with Voros signing a three year three million dollar contract last year, a contract that was supposed to bring the Rangers a tough guy to bolster a weak and small roster. In the beginning the relationship was beautiful. Voros--paired on the first line with Nik Zherdev and Brandon Dubinsky--scored 8 goals in 10 games (and lead the NHL in goals for a period of time, no I'm not kidding) and was seeing close to four minutes of power play time a game. His job was to plant himself in front of the net, bang home rebounds and take care of business when other teams were taking liberties. And he did all of that, for about 20 games.
Voros wouldn't score a goal the rest of the way, yet would still be awarded 2 minutes of power play time and about 14 minutes of ice time under Tom Renney. It wasn't until John Tortorella took the helm that Voros slowly started become that "extra player at practice" and the "emergency injury call-up if we don't feel like pulling a kid from Hartford" guy.
Join me after the jump for more.
Wanna know when his last goal was? November 28th, 2008; well over a year ago. Here is the clip in case you forgot what it looked like:
Under the Tortorella regime last year Voros was sent down, stayed with the team, brought back up and played sparingly in the end of the regular season and somehow managed to play 4 playoff games. When Aaron Voros made the cut after training camp this year many speculated that he would be in the regular rotation or even a full time starter. Tortorella himself admits that he "does not like having spare parts around." But that is exactly what Voros has become.
Currently it seems as though Tortorella doesn't even know Voros is on the team, seeing as how Voros has been a healthy scratch 11 games in a row. Voros has only played in 19 games this year, only recording one assist. When he does play he is seeing less than 5 minutes of ice time per game, and has not seen even a shift of power play or penalty kill minutes. (He is averaging 10 seconds of penalty kill minutes and 58 seconds of power play time but nearly all of that average came from a 2 game span, so it really doesn't count.)
What the Rangers are planning or are going to do with Voros is a mystery (maybe even to them). There has been massive speculation (here included) that Voros will be either waived or released in the coming weeks to shed some salary for the team. There has also been talk (albeit very little) of packaging him in a trade to a team that needs a bruiser or some life. (Don't expect him to be traded.)
So as you can see the case of Aaron Voros has been curious indeed. He really has rode the roller coaster, with the start of his Ranger career beginning as good as it can and now ending about as bad as it can. When Rangers management reassesses their roster (they should be doing it right now) speculation is that Voros won't make the cut. But he has proved us wrong before, and might prove us wrong again.
