Ranger Rants

Three signings

The biggest one being a two-way contract to ex-Avalanche center Tyler Arnason. No contract numbers yet.

Also, the Rangers re-signed Hartford (AHL) stalwart P.A. Parenteau and also signed AHL veteran Corey Locke.

The press releases are below.

Meanwhile, ex-Ranger and now ex-Red Wing Mikael Samuelsson signs a three-year deal with Vancouver. That would lead more credence to the notion that when agent Jay Grossman spoke with Rangers GM Glen Sather yesterday, it was in regards to veteran defenseman Sergei Zubov. Grossman represents both Zubov and Samuelsson.

Rangers sign Chappell

The Rangers just formally announced the signing of free agent forward Chris Chappell, who has been at the Madison Square Garden Training Center all week for the development camp.

He'll provide depth for Hartford (AHL) at this point but has shown a knack for scoring goals and has decent size. Perhaps he'll show something to John Tortorella during training camp.

The Rangers release is below.

Meanwhile, got sidetracked for a bit after the Marian Gaborik conference call to do some fill-in work on my old beat, the Jets. I'm back now and I'll have some more posts later on.

Gaborik 'excited'

And, really, who wouldn't be after getting a five-year deal worth $37.5 million which includes a limited movement clause after a season that consisted of 17 games because of groin, back and a hip surgery. Marian Gaborik, speaking on a conference call from Slovakia that introduced him as the newest Ranger, said he feels 100 percent healthy and believes he was able to prove that with his performance (13 goals, 10 assists) after returning for the end of last season with the Wild.

If Gaborik remains healthy - which still must be considered a big if given his track record, particularly over the past three seasons (48 games in 2006-07) - this should be a great move for the Rangers, who will marry Gaborik's elite goal-scoring ability with John Tortorella's aggressive, push-the-puck-up-the-ice brand of hockey.

There's little doubt the Rangers have finished retooling their roster but Gaborik needs a top-line center to play with. In the media room today, I was making a case for the Rangers pursuing Saku Koivu but the ex-Canadiens captain seems destined for parts West - Los Angeles, Anaheim, Minnesota?

Gaborik said the Rangers pursued him heavily the moment the free agent market opened. He added the Wild made no attempts once noon struck yesterday to retain him. Gaborik said he spoke to several players and ex-players about playing in New York, including current Rangers Chris Drury and Aaron Voros (his former teammate in Minnesota) and ex-Ranger and fellow Czech Martin Rucinsky.

Gaborik also laughed when I asked him whether he's spoken to goalie Henrik Lundqvist and whether Lundqvist is thrilled not to have to face Gaborik anymore. Gaborik scored a goal at the Garden last season and torched Lundqvist for five goals at St. Paul, Minn. in a 6-3 win on Dec. 20, 2007.

Day 4 of Development Camp

The prospects are off the ice following their fourth day, though coach John Tortorella left for his Florida home after Wednesday's session. After starting with two days of conditioning and skating tests, today marked the second day the players did actual hockey drills and scrimmaged some after the ice was re-sheeted.

Based on this week, it's looking like the Rangers had a good draft in 2008. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto (20th overall), center Derek Stepan (51st), left wing Evgeny Grachev (75th) and defenseman Tomas Kundratek have all stood out at different times for different reasons. Del Zotto displays that same poise that marks Marc Staal's game, though he needs to manage the puck better at times. That, no doubt, will come with age/experience. Stepan showed good anticipation in both the offensive and defensive zones. Grachev is just a fluid skater/shooter with obvious goal-scoring instincts. At the end of the session, with a group of players including this year's picks Chris Kreider and Ryan Bourque taking penalty shots on Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens, all but Grachev tried to impress with dipsy-does and other unnecessary moves. Grachev just skated in - repeatedly - and simply flicked puck after puck past Scrivens. Kundratek, paired the last two days with Del Zotto, showed good offensive instincts and an ability to move the puck, plus a hard shot. In one drill, though, Stepan beat Kundratek with a quick move then roofed a goal off the goalie's mask.

Also on my like list: Matt Gilroy (though that's hard to judge since the soon-to-be-25-year-old is so much more mature than the others) and Finnish defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen, who will be 25 in November and would seem likely to start the season at Hartford (AHL). Heikkinen has a hard blast from the point and a quick wrist shot.

Staal invited to Team Canada camp (Update)

UPDATE: Right wing Nik Antropov signs a four-year $16 million deal with the Atlanta Thrashers. Also, wrapping up Day 4 of the development camp. Will have a few thoughts about it as soon as I can, plus the gist of conversations with new Rangers Christopher Higgins and Brian Boyle.

ORIGINAL POST: Loyal readers of this blog know I don't like patting myself on the back (well, not too often). But yesterday, when I suggested Rangers defenseman Marc Staal would get an invite to the Team Canada evaluation camp, I was shot down, told there were too many solid Canadian defensemen who would get invites before Staal.

So I'm chuckling now.

Here's the complete list.

Based on the competition among the 16 defensemen, I'm not saying Staal is a lock to make the team. But this does speak to Staal's rapidly rising game and reputation within the hockey world.

Sather's conference call (Updated)

UPDATE: Left wing Fredrik Sjostrom, who did not receive a qualifying offer from the Rangers, making him an unrestricted free agent, signed a two-year deal with the Calgary Flames worth $1.5 million.

ORIGINAL POST: Rangers GM Glen Sather just concluded a conference call regarding his signings today of right wing Marian Gaborik and left wing/enforcer Donald Brashear.

The quick hits: Sather said the Rangers are convinced Gaborik has put last season's awful injury parade behind him, saying they've spoken to the doctors, etc. and pointing to Gaborik having no issues as he returned for the final 17 games with the Wild last season. Sather said both Mario Lemieux and Michal Rozsival had similar hip surgeries and were able to return fine. He also said while he was juggling a lot of deals, the Rangers were never in it for Marian Hossa because of the length of contract Hossa was seeking.

And the money question. I asked Sather whether he believed he had a top-line center in the organization now or if he had to acquire one. There was somewhat of a long pause and sigh before Sather answered.

"I wouldn't say we don't have one," Sather said. "Dubinsky is capable of being a No. 1 center. If we get a chance to get another player, we're going to do it."

Gaborik to the Rangers (Update)

It's official, Marian Gaborik has signed a five-year deal worth $37.5 million (about $7.5 million against the cap) with the Rangers.

If healthy, the former Wild right wing is exactly the type of offensive finisher the Rangers need.

Details as they are available.

UPDATE: Whew on Chris Neil, who stays with the Senators for four years, $8 million.

Numbers on Neil

Per TSN, the Rangers have offered the rugged right wing four years with an average of about $2.3 million per season.

Neil, also offered a contract by the Maple Leafs and Oilers, is expected to make his decision soon.

I'm with you guys on this one - I don't see the need for Brashear and Neil. Frankly, I would have taken Neil over Brashear but since Brashear came earlier today, I would have backed off this one. Between Brashear's $1.4 million and the $2.3 million for Neil, that would be a good chunk of the $4 million in cap space the Rangers got back when Markus Naslund retired.

And they still need scoring.

In fairness, though, it's still early in this process and I don't want to rush to judge the Rangers' moves until I see the complete picture.

Next up? (Update)

UPDATE: TSN reporting the Rangers are the only team with a four-year offer out for Chris Neil, with other interested teams offering three years.

ORIGINAL POST: Are the Rangers, who desperately need scoring and would like some size, overcompensating with toughness. Sounds like they're in the mix for Ottawa right wing Chris Neil, who would bring not many points but plenty of penalty minutes.

Personally, I'd rather see the money spent on some goals at this point.

Your new enforcer (Update)

The Rangers have signed veteran heavyweight Donald Brashear, last seen knocking soon-to-be-ex-Ranger center Blair Betts out of the first-round playoff series against the Capitals.

Brashear is one of the most feared fighters in the NHL.

More details coming.

UPDATE: Brashear's deal is a two-year deal worth $2.8 million (less money overall but $400,000 more per season than Colton Orr got in Toronto).

Also, Brashear's old team, the Capitals, gets ex-Flyer (and ex-Ranger) right wing Mike Knuble.