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.

Posted under 2008 Off-Season

by Patrick Hickey, Jr. | Senior Writer – NY Sports Day | Thursday, February 7, 2008

«FULL STORY»

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Marek Malik is in. Paul Mara is out and Steve Valiquette is in goal.

Tom Renney said Valiquette plays for scheduling purposes, and Henrik Lundqvist will be in Jersey and Montreal.

But tonight the Rangers play the Flyers in a game that hopefully gets the competitive juices flowing as time is ticking away.

“Anything can help,” Renney said. “I would like to think it doesn’t matter, but these are four point games and Philadelphia is playing very well and we have to have the passion to play”

For the lines, Renney is changing the lines once again with Marty Straka moving back with Scott Gomez and Jarmomir Jagr. Sean Avery goes back with his buddy Brendan Shanahan with Brandon Dubinsky centering and Chris Drury will center Nigel Dawes and Petr Prucha.

That’s all for now.

And for some Giants news check out NYGMen.com, which I am running for the week.  

 

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The Rangers look to make their holiday wishes come true tonight with a win at home against the first place Carolina Hurricanes.

The Staal Brothers will take center stage with Eric facing off against Marc [In case you were wondering all three bothers spent Christmas in Carolina with Eric and Marc coming up here together].

Tom Renney is scratching Nigel Dawes, Marcel Hossa and Jason Strudwick, all have good reasons.

Hossa is still ill, but you would have to believe could play if he was contributing more. And Dawes and Strudwick may be sitting because the team may be showcasing Petr Prucha, Paul Mara and/or Marek Malik. The latter two will be paired up together on the third defensive set, while Prucha will slot back in on the third line.

According to Larry Brooks in today’s Post, Columbus is looking at those three in a possible trade. They have has scouts at the last few games with the Rangers looking at some help as the team has struggled over the last 10 games [going 2-6-2].

In the Post story, the Rangers are looking at defensemen Adam Foote and Rostislav Klesla with others may be in the deal as well, depending on how much Columbus takes back from the Blueshirts.

None of this can happen until tomorrow anyway, since the NHL roster freeze goes until tomorrow.

Posted under Blog

And three goals on….

The Rangers have dominated this game, even though a Petr Prucha goal was waived off, they still looked good, keeping the puck in Washington’s end.

No penatlties either in the second for the Blueshirts, so that’s good too.

Only Olie the Goalie is keeping this from being a blowout.

More later…

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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

Posted under Blog

Ok, I didn’t chime in on this and now, I will give you a quick handicap. First, I think they made the smart move not signing Michael Peca. It’s better for the Rangers to see if one of the younger players can fill the third line center slot, vacated by Matt Cullen, and not take a chance on the oft-injured Peca, who, I think, will take up more cap space than playing time.

Now here are the choices: Brandon Dubinsky, Jarkko Immonen or the rookie Artem Anisimov.

Ok, unless Immonen comes in and has a huge camp next week, he probably is the dark horse in this race. He had his chances the last two seasons and failed to stick.  

Also, Tom Renney may have a tough time taking a 19 year-old like Anisimov to New York, unless he looks like he’s ready to make an immediate impact. At 6-4 and 190 lbs, the young Russian may need to bulk up before debuting on Broadway.

But if he is ready, will the Rangers even take him? On a veteran team like this, it may be tough for Anisimov to get playing time. Even if he shows up and has a huge camp in Greenburgh, they may opt to stick him in Hartford, just to see if he adjusts to the North American game.

That leaves Dubinsky. With good size and speed, fitting him in with Petr Prucha, and Ryan Callahan may be the best fit for at least the first few months of the year. Dubi can bring energy to the third line, while teamming with Callahan, who he played with at Hartford last season. And he looked good in his short stint in New York, so a longer stay might be merited.

Right now, it looks like Dubinsky’s job to lose.  

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