I just want to point out that I correctly predicted that once Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden were signed, Tyutin was likely the guy on the way out. Go me.

As pleased for me as you must be, you’re likely far more pleased about the fact that the Rangers just acquired forwards Nikolai Zherdev and Dan Fritsche from the Columbus Blue Jackets, in exchange for defensemen Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman.

I wasn’t happy with Glen Sather’s work yesterday, but I’m ecstatic right now. I absolutely love this trade. The Rangers gave up a decent, but underachieving defenseman in Tyutin, as well as a talented but inept blueliner that doesn’t belong in the NHL in Backman, and in return acquired a young, talented, potential 30-35 goal scorer and a serviceable young forward. That’s quite a deal.

Nikolai Zherdev, the fourth overall pick in the 2003 NHL Draft, is one of the most talented offensive players in the National Hockey League. He’s a wizard with the puck and he has a terrific shot. He’s the type of guy that’s capable of creating an end-to-end rush that…well, ends with the puck in the other team’s net before anyone can figure out what just happened. He’s young, he’s fast and he’s exciting.

That said, he does come with his fair share of flaws.

His attitude has been questioned multiple times, as has his dedication to the game. He was a training camp holdout prior to the 2006-07 season and his performance defensively has been criticized often, for good reason. He’s a cherry picker.

Right now, though, I don’t care about any of that. The New York Rangers needed an offensive player and now they got one. They got a 23-year-old whose game can still develop, and one has to hope that the smart and supportive staff that Sather and Tom Renney have compiled can have a positive impact on Zherdev. This kid has all the potential in the world and with the proper guidance, he should be able to harness it.

If there is one point of concern, it is how Renney will treat Zherdev on the ice. The biggest reason Zherdev was probably traded is because he isn’t a “Ken Hitchcock” player. Ken Hitchcock, he Blue Jackets’ head coach, has always admired gritty, two-way forwards, something that Zherdev is not.

Renney too has a preference. His is defense. We’ve seen it these last two years and we’re bound to see even more of it. Renney is all about defense, so it will be interesting to see how much freedom he allows Zherdev. Renney is a smart coach, though. I imagine he’ll find the correct balance.

Because of his defensive mindset, Renney might miss Tyutin, but I think he’ll get over it. Tyutin definitely has some likable qualities. For one, he’s physical and he’s hard-hitting. He’s also very intelligent and calm when it comes to getting the puck out of his own zone. Still, it just didn’t seem like Toots’ game was going anywhere. The Rangers had high hopes for the former second round pick, but he didn’t seem like he was ever going to achieve them. His offensive game wasn’t developing, and he wasn’t good enough defensively to be a significant shutdown defender. There’s no doubt that Tyutin had a nice chemistry with Dan Girardi, but of the two, I expect Girardi to develop into the better player, and I’m sure he can find some chemistry with Rozsival or Redden.

Additionally, I was never a fan of the contract Slats gave Tyutin. I guess the deals that guys are getting yesterday and today may prove me wrong, but I don’t think Tyutin is worth $2.84 million a season. It wasn’t a drastic overpayment, but it was overpayment. In my opinion, at least.

As for Backman…where do I even begin. I really, really dislike the way he plays. Sure, Backman has some talent offensively, but that talent rarely shines through due to his absolutely atrocious decision-making. For that short period of time that Backman wore Ranger Blue, every time he touched the puck in his own zone, I had to hold my breath. He coughed up the puck in front of his own goal more times than I can count, and when that did occur, one of two things was sure to happen next. Either the opposition scored, or Backman took a horrible penalty.

How the Blues ever gave this guy a salary of $2.3 million per year is beyond me.

I don’t even want to think about Backman anymore. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts.

All right, I’m good.

Along with Zherdev, the Rangers acquired Fritsche, a center who is currently a restricted free agent. Fritsche, almost 23, is a speedy two-way player who can chip in 10-15 goals, but he has battled shoulder injuries.

Honestly, I’m not sure where Fritsche fits in with the Rangers, as they seem more than set at center. Similarly, with the signings of Pat Rissmiller and Aaron Voros yesterday and the number of young guys in Hartford like Dane Byers and Greg Moore that seem ready to step up to the NHL, there aren’t many openings on the third and fourth lines.

The team’s plans for Fristche remain to be seen, but quite frankly, that’s rather insignificant. Zherdev is the story here.

Still, this positive transaction aside, I’m guessing the Rangers aren’t done yet. I have to imagine that another scoring forward will be brought in, though I have no earthly idea who it might be. So far, they’ve got Chris Drury, Scott Gomez, Zherdev, Fritsche, Petr Prucha, Nigel Dawes, Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Blair Betts, Freddy Sjostrom, Rissmiller, Voros, Colton Orr, Ryan Hollweg, Lauri Korpikoski, Greg Moore and Dane Byers. First of all, obviously not all of those guys will make the team, but those are the possibilities.

Second of all, though, they need some more experience there. There’s a lot of young guys in that group and I’d be shocked if at least one, if not two more veterans were brought in.

Jaromir Jagr and Mats Sundin are still possibilities, as are Pavol Demitra and Markus Naslund. Other names include Kristian Huselius, Ladislav Nagy and Miroslav Satan. I hope it’s Jagr or Sundin, as none of the other free agents are very appealing, but we’ll see. Maybe they make another deal.

On the blueline, the defense is taking shape with Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Marc Staal and Dan Girardi, but that leaves two spots. The team signed minor league defenseman Brian Fahey today, and for what it’s worth, “rumor king” Eklund claims that Fahey, who spent the last few seasons with the Chicago Wolves, one of the AHL’s best teams. is going to play in the NHL next year because he is highly underrated.

Whether it’s Fahey or Tomas Pock or Bobby Sanguinetti or Corey Potter or another defenseman from Hartford, I think one of them is going to grab one of those two spots. I don’t think Paul Mara or Marek Malik will be re-signed, which means there’s still one spot. I think it’ll be filled through another signing.

My guess, the Rangers will sign former Oilers captain Jason Smith, who spent last year with the Philadelphia Flyers. There’s nothing to this, it’s just a hunch.

But remember, I was right about Toots.

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.

After the 2-1 win over the Devils, I was able to poll a few Blueshirts on their picks. While some didn’t really follow football enough to give a pick, others fearlessly forecasted a Giant win.

Here are the results:

Henrik Lundqvist: First went with the Pats 24-15, but then changed it to Giants 32-24

Jason Strudwick: 24-14 Pats

Fedor Tyutin: Giants 24-21

Stephen Valiquette: Giants 24-14

Dan Girardi: Giants 30-21

Scott Gomez: Giants 28-17

Tom Renney: Giants 26-23

I know this is the moment all the Ranger fans are waiting for when Marek Malik returns, but according to Steve Zipay, Tom Renney may not want to put him back in the lineup on Thursday against the Isles.

Now, he will be coming back, so expect No. 8 to be back there over the weekend. The question is where he will play.

Expect Jason Strudwick to get scratched as Malik filters back into the lineup, but it’s questionable if he will be lining up with Michal Rozsival. Marc Stall fits very nicely at the top and deserves to stay up there, while Malik, who at times can be the Garden pariah, makes some mistakes which cost the Blueshirts.

Breaking up Dan Girardi and Fedor Tyutin doesn’t make sense, so that leaves Paul Mara. Now, Mara has played much better as of late and seems to be getting his stride on. Both he and Strudwick have chemistry together and will that translate with Malik? Or does Renney put Marc Staal back with Mara and Malik with Rozsival, so they can work together.

Believe it or not, the Malik - Rozsival pair worked well together over the past few years and Malik, who has a greak reach does make up for his speed deficiencies.

Also by showcasing Malik, the Rangers may look to trade him towards the deadline and let Strudick play or even bring up someone like Ivan Baranka, who played well last week against Tampa.

The bottom line, no matter how much the fans don’t like him, Malik is here for now.

And I will be at practice tomorrow, so there will be an update from there on this blog.

It’s now 1-1. The Islander goal was scored by Marc Andre Bergeron right after Brendan Shanahan went to the box on a holding the stick penalty at the end of the first.

Now Shanny was not too happy about it as it looked like it wasn’t a penalty. But it made it even strength.

Then Fedor Tyutin came back at 2:09 of the second to score on a one timer. So it’s 1-1 halfway through.

In the second though, the Rangers picked it up a bit as they forced the puck into the Islanders zone.

The Rangers Just Announced two more cuts before the preseason starts tomorrow night at the Garden.

The team sent defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti back to junior and forward Tom Pyatt to Hartford.

The Rangers now have 37 players remaining in training camp, including four goaltenders, 13 defensemen and 20 forwards. 

Here’s the list:

Goal: Henrik Lundqvist, Al Montoya, Steve Valiquette, and Miika Wiikman

Defense: Ivan Baranka, Dan Girardi, Andrew Hutchinson, Darius Kasparaitis, David Liffiton, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Thomas Pock, Michal Rozsival, Michael Sauer, Marc Staal, Jason Strudwick, and Fedor Tyutin

Forwards: Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Blair Betts, Dane Byers, Ryan Callahan, Nigel Dawes, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Gomez, Ryan Hollweg, Marcel Hossa, Jaromir Jagr, Hugh Jessiman, Lauri Korpikoski, Francis Lessard, Colton Orr, Petr Prucha, Mark Smith, Martin Straka, and Brendan Shanahan

The October issue came in yesterday and the November issue - coming out the first week of October, it’s how these things work - will contain the NHL preview.

So please subscribe to NY Sportscene. For only $25.50, you will get 12 issues, which is pretty cheap and each month, we don’t just cover the Rangers, but all of New York including the Mets, Yankees, Jets and Giants.

But of course we will be covering the Rangers. Every month we will have a exclusive Ranger feature that is engaging as well as informative. So from Sean Avery to Fedor Tyutin, NYS has the Blueshirts covered. 

To subscribe click here and help support the magazine.

Ok it looks like Buffalo changed things up. They are now attacking the puck on the penalty kill and making it hard for the Rangers to set up the power play. The Rangers are 0-3.

As for the Blueshirts, their kill is just as strong as before because they are taking away the passing lanes.

Now, both Marek Malik and Fedor Tyutin were hurt towards the end of the period. It’s imperative they stay in the lineup.

More later…

Tom Renney held an option skate after yesterday’s 96 minute marathon. Most players though were on the ice, which the coach felt was good and bad.

“The idea behind an optional skate is that guys use that time to workout and rest,” Renney said. “Most guys feel they have to be out there. One of the reasons why I don’t go out there is that guys will be there because I am out there. But it tells you what guys you have.”

Not skating today were:

Brendan Shanahan, Sean Avery, Michael Nylander, Fedor Tyutin, Ryan Callahan, Matt Cullen and Game 3 hero Michal Rozsival, who could use the rest.

But the Rangers need to hand it to themselves, they did what they needed to do yesterday, playing in front of a Garden crowd totally on their side.

It’s interesting to see that, because the Blueshirts totally turned around their home record from a pedestrian 12-14-4 on Feb.24 to a 12-1-1 mark since then.

So what has changed?

“We changed our style of play at home,” said Henrik Lundqvist, one of the key reasons why they have an eight game home streak. “We do the small things and take some pride at home, like we do on the road. I think we realize we will get chances from that. We stay back and play a control game, and we will get chances.”

That’s good because the Rangers need to win tomorrow’s game and then a Game 6 at the Garden if they are going to have any chance in this series, because they will have to win a game in Buffalo and maybe two games is too much to ask.

Some other notes from Greenburgh: Jaromir Jagr was asked if there was a defenseman who could contain him. He quipped about him not being born yet.

The mood overall was lighthearted, yet confident and who can blame them, the Rangers looked good not just yesterday, but also for most of Game 2, as well. Now they know there is still a lot of work to do, but this series is not over by any means.

Later on, I will have a report on NY Sports Day from Greenburgh and check out last night’s game story as well.

In case you were wondering Buffalo was offsides on the penalty in the beginning of the period, which is why Fedor Tyutin was pulled out of the box.

But the other calls were terrible. Taking a goal off the board on what is a questionable overturn at best killed any Ranger mo and gave Buffalo a drive.

Fortunately the Rangers were able to kill off all the power plays, so they are able to keep the shaky 1-0 lead.

Now for the third…