Why Waiving Sean Avery Was The Right Decision For The New York Rangers
For some reason I cannot understand, Sean Avery has been a fan favorite in his time in New York. Despite his time in New York, then trip to Dallas, then trip to Hartford, then back to New York, then to Connecticut, and finally back to New York, throughout the entire way Avery has kept his own die-hard fans.
The Rangers ignored the die-hard Avery fans, however, and waived Avery on Friday. The news came as a shock to some, but it seemed destined to be after Avery was scratched in another set of consecutive games.
The Rangers made the correct decision in waiving Sean Avery, and here is why.
The Rangers don't need Avery- John Mitchell and Mike Rupp cost Sean Avery his job. Prior to Rupp returning, John Tortorella had to rely on Avery a bit for the "Rupp role" of defending the teammates and getting dirty goals, rather than solely relying on Brandon Prust for it.
Now that Rupp has returned, Avery is no longer needed for that role. Mitchell, on the other hand, has taken the last spot on the four lines by storm. When Wotjek Wolski returns, he will have to compete with Mitchell for that spot. Avery will not even get the chance.
John Tortorella still is not a Sean Avery fan- I never got the feeling that Tortorella got over Avery's antics. Tortorella is known to have blasted Avery when he was an analyst, and it still seems like Tortorella does not like the way Avery plays.
When the coach and a player cannot co-exist, the player does not belong on the team.
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Avery was a waste of a roster spot- Not to call anyone out, but one comment from the original Avery thread jumped out at me.Bad move. It might not make a huge difference, but I don’t see in the slightest why you would keep Rupp and/or EC over Avery.
It certainly seems that way, even I prefer Avery over Eric Christensen.
Going along with my last point, however, John Tortorella is more likely to play Rupp or Christensen over Avery. When the coach is as sure of his decision making as Tortorella is, there is little to no point to keeping Avery on the roster.
Unless one, or both, of Mitchell/Rupp got hurt, and Tortorella didn't see a replacement on the roster, Avery was not about to get back into the lineup.
Christensen and Rupp may play, but Sean Avery was not about to re-enter the lineup so fast.
The Rangers are in first place- Sure, you can throw stats at me that the Rangers have a better record with Sean Avery in the lineup, but the fact of the matter is that the Rangers are in first place, and you simply cannot attribute that to Sean Avery.
The Rangers have seen breakouts, comebacks, almost every type of improved season among their players. The blueshirts do not need Avery to win, and they proved that over the last stretch of games.
The waiving of Sean Avery does little to nothing to the Rangers in the long run.