Also known as the Norwegian Hobbit, 5-foot-7 Mats Zuccarello Aasen, a 22-year-old scorer from Oslo who won MVP honors last season in the Swedish Elite League, agreed to a two-year contract worth $1.8 million with the Rangers on May 26.

"It just seems like the best opportunity for me," Zuccarello Aasen told Newsday. "The Rangers told me I would have a good chance to make the team and that's what I plan to do. I'm going back to Sweden to train with MoDo and then come to New York for camp."

In 90 games over two seasons with Modo, Zuccarello Aasen netted 35 goals and totaled 104 points, including a league-best 64 points in 55 appearances last season.]]> http://www.rangerblues.com/2010/06/10/rangers-team-report-yahoo-sports/feed/ 0 http://www.rangerblues.com/2008/07/01/free-agent-frenzy/ http://www.rangerblues.com/2008/07/01/free-agent-frenzy/#comments Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:31:20 +0000 Eric Faynberg http://www.rangerblues.com/?p=44 July 1st isn’t just Canada Day, it’s also the first day of the NHL unrestricted free agency period. I’ll be updating this throughout the evening if the team does anything else. Later on, I’ll add more in-depth analysis of the moves.

9:00 PM – Looks like the Rangers re-signed Steve Valiquette, so he’ll continue to be Henrik Lundqvist’s backup. That’s one I can agree with. I’ll be back later with any further news, as well as some analysis of this…interesting day.

8:20 PM – Sam Weinman, beat writer from The Journal News, just posted on his blog that the Rangers were not done tonight and that other moves could be on the way.

7:45 PM – So let me get this straight…this team signed BOTH Redden and Rozsival, and also signed Rissmiller and Voros.

I don’t get it. Either they’ve lost their mind, OR, they’re going to pull off a move. Maybe they package a guy like Fedor Tyutin, who I believe will be overpaid under the extension they gave him, with a Nigel Dawes or a Petr Prucha or a Ryan Callahan, as well as a prospect or a pick for a better forward.

I don’t know. Where does this leave them as far as Jaromir Jagr and Mats Sundin are concerned?

I’m confused.

7:38 PM – Now, according to TSN’s Bob Mckenzie, the Rangers have also signed Wade Redden to a contract worth an average of $6.5 million per season over six years. Wow. More on this later.

7:30 PM – In other news, defenseman Brian Campbell signed with the Chicago Blackhawks, cashing in on a huge eight-year contract worth just over $7 million per season. Let’s just have a collective sigh of relief that the Rangers wisely declined to pursue this guy.

Meanwhile, Mats Sundin, who the Rangers still have eyes for apparently, has been offered a two-year, $20 million contract by the Vancouver Canucks, but don’t expect the Sundin saga to be resolved today. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took a week, maybe more, for Sundin to make his decision.

Never say never, though.

The Devils signed 35-year-old Brian Rolston to a four-year, $20 million contract, but they also re-signed Jay Pandalfo, as well as others, and brought back Bobby Holik for one season at $2.5 million.

7:00 PM – Well, the day isn’t done yet, but so far the Rangers have made three moves. For the record, I’m not particularly pleased with any of them.

The most notable move the Rangers have made so far was re-signing their own defenseman, Michal Rozsival, to a four-year, $20 million dollar contract, which averages out to a cap hit of $5 million per year.

I’ve said before that Rozsival is a decent defenseman, but not a top pairing defenseman and I really don’t think he was worthy of $5 million per season. I understand that a lot of guys are getting overpaid, but that just seems like a million dollars to much for a guy who, as this team has learned, is not the answer in terms of running a power play. Maybe if Jagr leaves it might have an effect on Rozsival’s game, I don’t know. More on him later.

The Rangers also signed two bruising wingers prior to the Rozsival signing, as they picked up Aaron Voros and then later Patrick Rissmiller.

Voros is a 26-year-old coming off his rookie year with the Minnesota Wild, where he was an early season call-up who was a scratch down the stretch. The terms of the contract appear to point to a three-year deal, with Voros earning $1 million per year.

Rissmiller spent two full seasons, and parts of two others, with the San Jose Sharks. The 29-year-old Massachusetts native has scored 18 goals and 45 points in 180 NHL games. The team also officially announced the signing of Swedish agitator Andreas Jämtin.

No terms are yet available for either Rissmiller or Jämtin.

I’ll have more as it happens.