Since the draft’s conclusion, most Ranger fans have been desperately trying to gain insight into what the team’s strategy was heading into Tuesday’s free agency period.

Then comes this article, from the Post’s Larry Brooks, on just that topic.

Brooks claims that, ideally, the Rangers would love nothing more than to retain Jaromir Jagr and pair him with Toronto captain Mats Sundinas the team’s top offensive duo, with Chris Drury moving over to the wing on Scotty Gomez’s line. Brooks also mentions that the team would like to retain the services of Sean Avery and Michal Rozsival.

This line of thinking is pretty close to what I’d like to see this team do myself, actually. Signing Jagr and Sundin to one, or even two, year deals worth around $5 million each would be a much smarter idea than overpaying a guy like Marian Hossa for the next seven years. With Sundin and Jagr in the lineup, the Rangers would be able to stay competitive for the next season or two, while continuing to groom young players.

If the Rangers could manage to sign both Jagr and Sundin, even to two-year deals, then by the time their contracts expired, the Rangers would be a deep team full of quality young players and with enough cap room to sign a franchise player, like Ilya Kovalchuk, for example, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2009-10 season. The Rangers would still have veterans like Drury, Gomez, Henrik Lundqvist and Blair Betts to go with a score of young players, like Brandon Dubinsky, Nigel Dawes, Dan Girardi, Ryan Callahan, Marc Staal, Bobby Sanguinetti, Mike Sauer, Artem Anisimov, Alexei Cherepanov and others, who have already either had some NHL experience at that point or are would be ready to step in.

Even if Sundin goes elsewhere, I’d stick with essentially the same plan. Signing Hossa won’t make the Rangers a contender, and he isn’t a franchise player. Hossa is a great, great player, but he’s more of a compliment than a main piece. Thanks to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Rangers won’t have the opportunity to highly overpay for a player like Ryan Malone, after the former Penguin signed with the Lightning yesterday, but the Rangers must be sure to avoid similar temptation from the likes of Hossa and many of the other top free agents available this summer.

I’d much rather see the team go after a cheaper player like Michael Ryder. Give Ryder three years at $3 million per season and maybe he goes back to scoring 30 goals again. It’s a better risk than paying Hossa $8 million.

If there is one free agent from the top crop this season that I wouldn’t mind seeing in Broadway Blue next season, it’s Wade Redden. I’ve never been a big fan of Rozsival, and if teams are going to offer him $5 million (or even more), I’d rather pay a little more for a guy like Redden. His last couple of seasons in Ottawa weren’t great, but I believe he’s still got it. He’s only 31. I’d give him a 5 year deal at $5.5 million per, though I don’t know if I would go past that.

Truth be told, what I’d really love is to see the Rangers send a second or third round pick and a player to Anaheim for former Ranger Mathieu Schneider. Due to salary cap constraints, the Ducks are likely to move Schneider, who can still put up points from the blueline despite his age. Yeah, he’s 39, but he only has a year left on his deal, and he wasn’t bad last season. He’s still a solid offensive defenseman, and he could hold the fort until Sanguinetti is ready for duty.

I must take umbrage with Brooks’ claim that the Rangers want to keep Avery, however. Granted, I’m not an “insider,” but from what has been made public, nothing that the Rangers have done so far shows me that they want to retain the Annoying One’s services. Personally, I think they should, as long as he earns no more than $3.25 million per season. That figure is overpayment as it is, but anything more would be too much.

Obviously, we’ll see what happens on Tuesday, but I’ll be hoping that the Rangers resist temptation and go for the smart, affordable personnel.

Posted under 2008 Off-Season

Blair Betts and Marty Straka scored for the Blueshirts while Dainius Zubrus and Zack Parise scored for Jersey as the Rangers lead 4-2 after 2.

Both netminders look good and the youngsters, like Marc Staal, High Jessiman, Artem Anisimov, Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi all are skating strong.

The key though are the netminders. Tom Renney is looking to keep one, which Valiquette leading the younger Montoya just because they don’t want the former first round pick to waste on the bench. It will be interesting to see what the coach has to say.

Let’s talk after the game.

 

Posted under Blog

The good ship Ranger started moving today when coach Tom Renney addressed the media up in Greehburgh.

Although I missed the first few minutes, thanks to traffic on the Hutch, during the final 20 minutes or so, Renney discussed the team chemistry and how it’s important for the Rangers to get a good start.

“You want get out good from the get-go,” said Renney as he addressed the media for the first time this season. “You want to your team to overcome those bumps along the way. You play with the cards you dealt and as a coaching staff have strategies in place to deal with those things. So we just want to improve everyday.”

With 51 players in camp [down from 58 last year], there may be some opportunity for the younger players, with the third center position open and maybe also on defense. Renney had a chance to see the young players Taverse City.

“I liked our goaltending. [On defense] Mike Sauer was really good, [try-out invitee] Clayton Barthel was a real surprise, Marc Staal was excellent, Bobby Sanguinetti was good. The forward group, we had different line combinations through almost every game and everyone seemed to click. Some youngsters are still in the need for more junior experience in terms of growing. But the usual suspects — Dubinsky, Bourret, Korpikoski you could suggest were the best line, Tommy Pyatt was good — it’s hard to single things out because it was such a strong performance by everybody. You read the stats, you can determine who did well.”

Staal has a strong shot to make the team and Dubinsky or Artem Anisimov could open at the Garden as the third line center. “But if that doesn’t happen, we believe we’ve got that covered,” he said. “There are other people that can play center ice in this organization and on the current roster [Avery and Straka]. We’re good at center ice right now with Chris and Scotty and Blair. I hope it provides the opportunity for someone else — that was part of the decision [to not sign Peca] for sure. We’re going to continue to look at the growth of this team. There’s a lot been said about where we are right now and where we should be in June. Where we need to be is to continue to galvanize our position in this league as being a contender. We’ll continue to do that by the acquisition of free agents and good drafting and the integration of young players when they’re ready. To me that’s what stands the test of time. We’re a work in progress and we hope to raise a Stanley Cup banner sooner rather than later.”

That starts tomorrow with all the veterans, including Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, reporting for physicals. As for the new Rangers, Renney will use training camp to find the right combinations.

“That’s just one of those issues of chemistry and we will see what guys go with each other,” he said. “I don’t think you want guys that have to think themselves in terms of getting it done and it prevents them from being successful. There’s no question Scottie Gomez makes our team better, as does Chris Drury.”

No doubt. As for the injuries, Renney reported no holdovers and Marty Straka seems to be healed from his knee surgery.

It makes for a very positive camp. After the physicals, the Rangers are set to hit the ice at 9:00 a.m. on Friday.

If you didn’t get season tickets, there are some singles going on sale Saturday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster via newyorkrangers.com, Ticketmaster charge-by-phone 212-307-7171, 201-507-8900, 631-888-9000, 845-454-3388, 609-520-8383, or Ticketmaster outlets. But forget about Jan. 24. Brian Leetch night is already sold out.

Posted under Blog