Afterthoughts

Late-night drives give one plenty of time to think and there were several thoughts on the trip back from Washington after the Rangers' season ended with a 2-1 loss to the Capitals in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal at the Verizon Center.

No doubt, some were shared by the players/coaches/management after the seventh-seeded Rangers blew a 3-1 series lead to the second-seeded Capitals.

So, to steal from SI's Peter King, the following are some things I think I know.

1. The more things change, the more they stay the same: Wow, a 2-1 game in which the Rangers couldn't produce enough scoring chances late, who would have thought. Isn't that pretty much what we saw all season? Yes, John Tortorella brought a more aggressive brand of hockey to the Rangers. But, in the end, it was as effective, at least for this season, as re-shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. The ship still be sinkin'.

2. Hank must step up: The basis for any good hockey team is a great goaltender and the Rangers have a very good one in Henrik Lundqvist  The players and coaches believe Lundqvist is a guy who can win a Stanley Cup. The only reason the Rangers were in Game 7 was because of Lundqvist, who stole, at least, Games 2 and 4. But when the Rangers defense cracked, as it did in Games 5 and 6, Lundqvist needed to be even better. That's the responsibility of being a franchise goalie. Instead he wound up pulled from two straight games and alloweed nine goals on 34 shots. Not all were his fault. But enough were. Lundqvist is 27 now, no longer a young NHL goalie. Entering his fifth season in 2009-2010, he's entering the prime of his career. He set the bar pretty high his first four seasons. Now it must be set even higher.

3. Good signs: John Tortorella said before Game 7 it was going to be a learning expereince for him to see how players reacted. As disappointed as he is with the loss, he has to be thrilled with how the majority of his team responded last night. Honestly, I can't think of a Ranger who had a bad game last night. I picked on Wade Redden because I thought he was too passive on Sergei Federov's winner. Radio analyst Dave Maloney, whose opinion I couldn't respect more, believes Redden did the right things on that play so I will defer to that. But it wasn't so much the veterans - particularly Sean Avery - who impressed me. It was the unbelievably mature play the Rangers got last night from Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. Even Artem Anisimov, 20 and thrown into a Game 7 after being up for just one game during the regular season. was composed on the ice. If Bobby Sanguinetti, Mike Sauer and Michael Del Zotto can also develop into NHL regulars, the Rangers will have a very good core of 20-somethings.

4. The bad news: That said, and refer back to No. 1, the Rangers still don't have a finisher. Markus Naslund is not that guy anymore. Nikolai Zherdev should be that guy but showed just as much development this season with the Rangers as he did in four frustrating seasons for the Blue Jackets. Nik Antropov will likely get more money to go elsewhere and he didn't show enough in his month-plus with the Rangers to warrant the Rangers taxing their bad salary cap situation any further for him. Dubinsky, Callahan are already solid NHL players but neither will be a gamebreaker, their main skills lie elsewhere. Lauri Korpikoski has offensive potential and skates well but the jury's out on whether he'll be a top-line wing. Anisimov is a good two-way center who's probably best suited for a second line. And, of course, the main problem with the Rangers is that both their top centers, Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, are better suited for a second line as well. I'm sure none of this is breaking any news. Still, when you mull it over, it's somewhat remarkable that the team was constructed with such a gaping hole. Obviously, GM Glen Sather was betting on Zherdev developing here in New York.

5. Who goes: Don't think the Rangers re-sign Zherdev (who doesn't seem like a Torts' guy), Antropov, Derek Morris or Paul Mara (that one kills me because there's not a better guy in the dressing room plus he's a solid player and great team guy. But with the Rangers needing to save for Marc Staal's new deal, plus hampered by the Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden deals, Mara likely will be offered more elsewhere). I don't see Aaron Voros having a spot on next year's roster. I could see Colton Orr gone. The Rangers must re-sign Blair Betts, presuming he recovers from his broken orbital bone and concussion, but, in the process, they might not be able to afford Fredrik Sjostrom as well, though Torts really likes the guy.

6. Who stays: Young RFA's Callahan, Dubinsky and Korpikoski should be the Rangers first order of business. The Rangers, no doubt, would love to trade Gomez's salary - and Redden's for that matter, too. But there's not likely to be a market at that price for either, Gomez has five more years at $7.3 million per and Redden is also a killer with another five years at $6.5 million per.

7. The power play: Actually, I've wasted enough time this season berating, lampooning, criticizing and mocking the NHL's 29th-ranked unit. The first problem with Redden's deal is he's not a PP quarterback. The Rangers are probably praying Matt Gilroy can run the PP at the NHL level but there's also a good chance the Hobey Baker Award winner will start the season at Hartford (AHL).

We're still awaiting word on the schedule for the Rangers' break-up day. We know it's not today, presuming it's tomorrow but nothing official yet. We'll have more news as the Rangers set off for the summer. Plus, please check out tomorrow's Record/Herald News or online at northjersey.com for an analysis of what went wrong during the Rangers' seven-game loss to the Capitals and five key offseason questions.

Comments

[HowieFeltersnatch]

Andrew,

Thanks for all the whole hearted coverage you gave this year. You were in depth, in the know all of the time, and those times where circumstances didn't permit, you still found a way to keep us all updated. I'm actually proud to pass along your site to my friends and family, knowing that they get the best news and reports from you. Be proud of your contributions to the Ranger nation, and everything you did for the fans.

Here's hoping they get to move some guys, larger salaries *crosses fingers*, and get someone who can hit the net with force. Yanno, If cloning were legal, we'd have 4 Callahans on the team. :P

Looking forward to the summer break, and more updates,

Andrew "Howie Feltersnatch"

[JohnP]

Andrew,
Can NHL contract be re-negotiated to make them more afforable and tradeable like in other sports? Because as you stated with the Rozi(waste), Gomez (what a waste), Redden ( another waste) and Druy (wasteful) deals we are in deep do-do cap wise!

[Andrew Gross]

JohnP,

Theoretically, if a player was willing to renegotiate, it could be done but there's no reason for a player to do so in the NHL since the contracts are guaranteed. Since no contracts are guaranteed in the NFL, other than the upfront signing bonus (guaranteed money) it often behooves a player to renegotiate rather than get cut altogether. For instance, I don't think Wade Redden is going to walk away from $6.5 million per for the next five years even if the Rangers decided to just send him to the AHL.

[JohnP]

Thanks Andrew I was afraid of that.

[DanNYC]

Isn't GIlroy's deal one way? I believe I remember reading that

[LI Joe]

Andrew - i'm pretty sure renegotiating is not allowed. only in the last year of a contract and that counts in the following year.

i would not be adverse to trading a draft pick to move a salary especially the redden one. but not to move a salary with only 1 year left like naslund. maybe there could be interest in rozy. most of the salaries are front loaded - for ex naslund had $ 5 mm this yr and only $ 3 mm next yr - which might matter (his cap hit is $ 4 mm each of the 2 yrs but a team that cares more about real $ and not cap $ might have interest.

no free agents should be signed unless for 1 year reasonable cost. should also let z, antro, morris, mara go unless mara can again be signed to 1 yr reasonable amt.

he can be sent down again like this yr, but most of the reporters were saying rissmiller is a 3 yr deal not a 1 yr deal despite what the cap sites say.

[bob]

MUST re-sign Betts? Wow, what are you smoking. With Korpikoski, Anisimov, Avery, Gomez, Naslund, Drury, Callahan, Dubinsky, etc. as proven PKers. Sjostrom and Betts need to be gone and replaced by more rugged and skilled players.

[Godwin]

Andrew,

Very well put summary of our upcoming off-season do's and dont's. I agree with you on most of your views. It will be a bad idea not re-signing Mara but we have a great group of young D up and coming. Plus we need to save some cash for Staal for next summer.

I wouldn't mind re-signing Zherdev under two conditions. One, it must be for a small amount of money (not more than $1mm), and two, for only one or two years. Then based on that we'll see how good he really is.

Not sure if this was brought up before (if so, I apologize) but if not, how does the whole "buying out" contracts thing work? How much of it remains on our cap for future years? I'd sure like to buy out a few of our contracts.

[Andrew Gross]

Gilroy's deal is a one-way but I still think he'll see time in Hartford.

Bob, not smoking anything (PSA to kids, don't do drugs), just really like what Betts adds to the team on the PK. That's me. I'd bring back Sjoo and Bettsy. Wouldn't be shocked if Rangers see otherwise.

[bob]

too early to give up on Zherdev.

He led this team in scoring and is oozing with skill and talent.

He must get a chance to succeed--18 minutes a game and good linemates, not Sjostrom, Voros or Korpikoski. He has good size and is not very expensive. He is also much better defensively than most including Tortorella think.

Tortorella needs to work with him a bit. If they get rid of Zherdev then it means Tortorella is a coward, lazy, biased, and impatient.

[LI Joe]

godwin - re buyout

here is example

redden has 5 yrs and $ 6.5 mm per left
buyout is 2/3 of remaining contract spread over twice remaining years.

means 2/3 of $ 6.5 mm is approx $ 4.4 mm and 5 yrs left so 5 times $ 4.4 mm is approx $ 22 mm. since he has 5 yrs left two times that is 10 yrs. so buyout is $ 22 mm spread over 10 years or $ 2.2 mm per yr for 10 yrs as opposed to his contract of $ 6.5 mm for 5 years.

decent chance that in 2 or 3 yrs when cba ends teams will be allowed to buyout a guy with no cap hit. but the cap will likely be tighter with loopholes eliminated like contracts in ahl might very well count vs cap - or at least the high ticket ones will be. i fully expect the edmontons of the world to push for that.

[rangerfan911]

The number one problem is as follows:

The Rangers do not have a dominant offensive player ie. Malkin, Crosby, Ovech and now the Islanders have the 1st overall pick. That potentially makes 4 dominant players in our conferance alone.

Solution: Trade whatever it takes to obtain Kovalchuk. He is young, available and plays at an elite level. The team is then built around him.

Send Redden to the minors, so it does not effect the cap, trade Rozi, drury, nasland, gomez.

Keep Callahan, Dubinsky, Staal, Girardi and Zerdev and Henrik. Yes Zerdev with anisimov and gravchev this could be a line with kovalchuk. Anyone else is expendable.

Possible trade: Sang, 1st rd pick, drury/gomez for kovalchuk

[Godwin]

Thanks LI Joe!

I'm still trying to understand it... so if we do choose to buy out Redden this summer. The Rangers will need to include $2.2 mm per year for 10 years on our cap. Right?

Or do we take the cap hit of $4.4mm each year for 5 years?

[Ed Fulford]

Andrew,
Very good assessment. Although i honestly think if you can have zherdev back for one year at his qualifying offer(assuming no one tries to extend him an offer sheet) i do it. I would give Torts a year with him and if Zherdev still can't become the player his talents can make him then you seek a trade. Rozsival's contract is tradeable, and so is Gomez's, maybe Gomez's contract isnt attractive just yet, but it will be in a year or two. Heres the reason why, Sather structured both gomez and Rozsivals contracts by front loading them. basically meaning they will be making the most of their money in the first couple of years of the deal. So now you take a team like Atlanta, Pheonix, small market teams, who really need to get to the floor, yea Gomez's cap hit is 7 mil, but towards the end of the deal the team is actually paying less then that. I believe Roszivals contract was structured something like this 8-5-4-3=$20mil for 4 years=$5 mil cap hit. so a team like pheonix who wants to be at the cap floor can be, yet are really paying out less to the player. That is the reason why i can see a small market team taking chances on Gomez and Roszival. I dont think the return will be awesome, but i think we can get something respectable for both of them.

personally i let go of mara and morris. if we do trade rozy then I look at bringing in a guy like mike commodore for a year or two. Give chances next season to two of Sanguinetti, Del Zotto, Gilroy(to the commenter that said Gilroy has a one-way contract, all that means is that he gets paid 1.75 million regardless of whether he plays in the NHL or AHL, he can still be sent down without having to clear waivers), Potter, or Sauer.
Personally i would seriously take a look at bringing Antropov back only if he would take a pay cut for a season. If Grachev looks like he can hack it in the NHL then i give him a roster spot. If Antropov doesnt want to come back and we clear some cap room by trading Rozy/Gomez, i take a look at a Marty Havlat or Marian Gaborik, i know they have Health concerns throughout their careers but when they are healthy they are ppg players. and they can score. I would take 70 games a season from them for around 6 million as long as they score 30 goals a year.
Betts must be brought back, He is a premier penalty killer and he was one of our most consistent players night in and night out.

[LI Joe]

godwin it is the 10 years. if they try to do an avery with redden by waiving and bringing him back he would cost 1/2 his remaining contract so instead of $ 6.5 mm per yr for 5 yrs it would be $ 3.3 mm per yr for 5 yrs. or the buyout would be $ 2.2 mm per yr for 10 yrs. or they can do what they did with rissmiller and send him down to hartford with no cap hit only real $ hit - as long as they just keep him there. but they are unlikely to do that - also if they keep sending free agent signees to minors no free agent or their agent will ever look to the rangers again unless that's their only choice.

Ed F - very good post. agree with most everything except gaborik or havlat. i'm willing to go down a peg or 2 for a yr or 2 - just say no to free agents unless they are 1 yr and very reasonable cost. we have to get out of this cap hell and it may take a yr or 3 to do so. signing more free agents is just continuing a failed policy

[Godwin]

Thanks for the info LI Joe. I've been wondering about that buyout process for so long.

I also agree with you about free agent signings. Considering how screwed we are cap-wise for the next 5 years. I think Sather would be a complete moron if he signs any new free agents for more than 2 years unless its an absolute steal (for example, gaborik for 3-4 mil each year for 4+ years).

[PuckCentral.net]

The Rangers must bring back Orr. He is a top 3 fighter in the league & for those of you who think that it's no longer a part of the game (take a look back a few days ago when Brashear destroyed Betts...I have no doubt that doesn't happen w/ Orr on the ice).

The Rangers are a small team, they will get run all season long unless they have someone who can actually fight. Adding another Voros type player who can't fight will not help.

[Pete]

it would cost us a fortune in money and players to get kovalchuk and he is again a player who doesn't try all the time. no doubt he is insanely talented but he wont give that to you every night. and atlanta would want grachev for sure, sanguinetti has very little trade value right now and no one wants gomez. only way to get rid of gomez and redden is likely to put them in the minors. drury youd have to buy as he has a full no movement clause, but he'd be the one id buy out out of all of them b/c he really has no upside, gomez at least in theory could be better with a good winger but still probably untradeable with that contract...wouldnt be that surprised if the team doesnt change that much over the offseason. but for sure i would let morris, mara, antropov and probably zherdev go (unless he will sign for 1.5M)

[Sec67RowG]

Andrew, good stuff. Glad i discovered this site, albeit in February when the season was sinking. Some really good fan dialogue and, then there are people who think Betts and Sjostrom should be gone because they don't score, even though that's not what any NHL team's fourth line does.

To what you wrote Andrew, i don't blame Redden on Federov's goal, but he could have been playing him tighter. Federov had virtually the same rush down the ice at the 13:30 mark, a little further out towards the boards and he raced all the way in trying to beat Staal. Staal laid out and just got enough of the puck to drive Federov to bounce it off henrik's pads, though it went straight to AO who sent in a bullet Hank stopped. The interesting thing was watching the replay on the goal and seeing Federov in virtually the same position, stop on a dime on the rush and fire that shot past Hank--who the replay shows didn't even see it until it was past him. All credit to one of the best players of the last 20 years for a terrific play at a huge moment.

Our problem relating to the salary cap is it's hard to carve out any space for the youngsters in the organization to come up and play. no one wants Gomez or Redden in the next two years at their current prices. What value do they bring, and they aren't even veteran players who take younger ones under their wings. While overpaid, i'd keep Drury (also don't know who would trade for him at a Top 7 salary), he's a Steve Larmer type and he's only six career playoff GWG's behind Gretzky.

The real problem is d-men. Losing Mara would suck because you know he's one of the few teachers in the locker room. Staal has so much potential, Chris Pronger type potential, but needs a mentor the way Leetch had Greschner and Patrick. Mara isn't that because he lacks the offensive skills, but no one else on the blueline is either. Morris is whatever, but Roszival is a different player without Jagr and Straka around and showed it all season. No other Czech on this team and it seems to have affected Rozy. Complaining on Rozy and Redden would be a lot less if they were paid what their value was instead of as 2 of the Top 25 players in the league and as 2 of the top 10 dmen. Unless the R+R dilemma can be solved, nothing can be solved on the offensive side because we don't have the money to do it. R+R aren't being sent to the minors, Torts has already supported them and no one wants them. Roszival having the same amount of playoff points as he ended last season with doesn't help his value: 14 in 31 career games.

Sather needs to resign (Dolan won't fire him unless he loses a sexual harrasment case) and go help Plockington. I'm not counting on that from Mr. Drambuie. Zherdev needs to go. He's got five seasons under his belt, he's never going to be more than a 25-25, 60 point a year guy. And we've got plenty of those, who are either younger, more playoff experienced or more consistent. Zherdev is an October to January player. look at the stats.

Antropov seemed more involved once he got here, but he depends on cost. I'd love to see more young guys up here to compliment what Cally, Dubi, Avery, Sjostrom, Staal, Hank and Girardi are doing, just don't see how it's possible with the veterans on payroll in front of them. Losing Orr would be a shame--he's a tough guy we need, and inexpensive--but Torts doesn't seem to appreciate him. Voros isn't very talented and way too penalty prone.

No front line center is coming to the rescue, and no real backliners. We're stuck and it's Sather's doing. Could this team have performed better in the playoffs spending the salaries of Redden, Naslund and Zherdev on another year of Jagr and Straka? Bad summer moves last year beget few moves this year.

[Richie]

"MUST re-sign Betts? Wow, what are you smoking. With Korpikoski, Anisimov, Avery, Gomez, Naslund, Drury, Callahan, Dubinsky, etc. as proven PKers. Sjostrom and Betts need to be gone and replaced by more rugged and skilled players."

i agree give me a break..betts is a great PK but that's it. He doesn't play with a mean streak. For a 4th liner that's going to play 4 mins a game for you to say he must be resigned is a joke. Travis Moen would be a great replacement for Betts/Sjostrom...someone that is great on the PK and plays with a mean streak. Would be perfect for the 4th line LW.

Also how can you not resign Orr. Cote,Fritz(if he resigns), Wrecker, Godard, Caricillo, Asham, Rupp(if he resigns) Clarkson, Jackman..the list goes on, you need a heavy and orr isn't a liability on the ice. He rarely ever takes a bad penalty, actually i'll go further to say he is the most discipline enforcer in the league. Look it up he took the least amount of tripping, hooking etc. out of any enforcer in the league

[Stuart]

must resign Orr???WHy... Yea Detroit really misses out with no goon.

Betts would be a good resign but if we go 4 evenly loaded lines we cannot have any betts or sjustrom types, guys that cannot score period. imagine 4 lines of 12 pretty good but no great forwards. roll 4 lines play up tempo, and forecheck.

drury, gomez, antro, cally, dubi, korpedo, grachev, anisimov, avery, 9 right there sign either havlat or gaborik, and then add a byers and someone else...not that terrible. dubi, cally, korpedo, aa, and grachev should improve... a lot of low 20 goal scorers in that lineup..

dtaal and girardi are back, roszival is back, redden(if you do not send him down, 3rd pair is a gilroy or a del zotto, or sauer, etc... last D man maybe is a FA.. look at Higgins also as a forward, had a bad year, is young, and plays a nice 2 way game.. Buy out or waive naslund..

4 lines 6 or 7 guys score low 20's a few guys in the teens, get the D more active offensively and you have turned things around..

bye to ;orr, sjustrom, betts, naslund, morris, and mara to start....

[Stuart]

I forgot I also let Zherdev go unless Torts knows something I don't

[Messier11]

Our penalty kill was #1 this year. That starts with a great goalie. It was also # 1 because of Sjostrom and Betts - fantastic penalty killers. Specialty teams are of huge importance and for what Betts brings he is a bargain and in addition Sjostrom has great speed and offensive capability when paired with more offensive linemates. Andrew - thanks for having the best Rangers blog.

[MikeA]

Andrew,

Anisimov will only get better. He's not even legal to drink in the country and showed great composure last night as you said so I think with a few more lbs added he'll be much more than a two way center. An elite playmaker perhaps.

I'd keep one of Mara or Morris but only for cheap.

Also, Rozi is very tradeable; his cap hit is $5 million but his actually salary is only $4.33 for the next three years.

[bob]

Some Ranger fans are so biased towards their players it is embarrassing. Betts and Sjostrom best penalty killers in NHL? Orr best fighter?

There is absolutely no need for Orr in the lineup. I just rather have a tougher more rugged overall team rather than waste a spot on a pure goon, even the one as likeable as Orr. If our 4th line is
Byers-Korpikoski/Rissmiller-Dupont/Voros it is a HUGE upgrade over Sjostrom-Betts-Orr both in terms of skill and physicality, but a small downgrade defensively, which won't even be noticed. Anisimov should center Antropov and Zherdev. Korpikoski if he is here to stay is the Betts' replacement. He is a little better defensively and offensively, but also isn't as physical as he should be.

Two things we lack are playmaking and size, I think Anisimov and Rissmiller help us in those area, as well as Byers, Sauer, etc.