MVN - Most Valuable Network

Blueshirts Busy During Free Agency

Priorities for the Rangers (according to me)…

1- AVERY

2- Brian Campbell

3- Marian Hossa…

Well, after the first 2 days of free agency, those 3 guys are off the market and none of them will be wearing Broadway Blue next year.

Avery will take his game to Dallas, Brian Campbell got quite the deal to go to the Blackhawks and the rich get richer as Marian Hossa heads to Hockeytown.

While we didn’t nab any of those guys, the Rangers were quite busy during the first 48 hours of free agency as Glen Sather tries to build next years squad.

Here is a rundown of the Rangers activity thus far…

Resigned: D-Michal Rozsival

Terms: 4yrs, $20million

Analysis:  Rozsival has proven himself to an extent with the Rangers since joining the team after the lockout year, while he wasn’t my first choice, I can see why Slats went out and got him locked up. At times, he is very capable of ‘Quarterbacking’ the Power Play and when he started playing alongside Marc Staal toward the end of the season, he seemed to be at his best while helping the youngster grow. In the end, he’ll be fine in the long haul but that is a lot of money and we probably could have gotten him for a bit less.

Resigned: G-Steve Valiquette

Terms: Undisclosed

Analysis:Vali held his own as King Henrik’s backup last year, whenever he got the chance to play he did what he could. Highlights for him included 2 shutouts of the Flyers, both coming on the road at the Wachovia Center.  It is hard to find a serviceable backup anywhere in the $1 million per year range and I would imagine that is close to (maybe less than) what Valiquette will be receiving. Great job by Sather on this one.

Signed: D- Wade Redden

Terms: 6yrs, $39million

Analysis:Funny how these things work. A few years ago, Glen Sather was shocked that the Bruins gave Zdeno Chara such a lofty contract. Now, the Rangers missing a big defensive presence, seemed to buckle a bit and go grab Redden.  Redden was a proven leader in Ottawa and has great skills on both ends. I like the idea of bringing in a big name defensemen and once Campbell was taken off the table, Redden was probably seen as the best available.  Like the Rozsival deal, this is a lot of money- hopefully he earns his worth on the ice.

Signed: RW- Aaron Voros

Terms: Undisclosed

Analysis: Not going to lie here, I don’t watch much of the Wild so I never really saw this guy in action.  But what I did see of him, he seems like an energy guy with an above average passing game.  I doubt this was a big contract, whatever it is I’m sure it will suffice for a guy who seems like a third liner at best.

Signed: W- Patrick Rissmiller

Terms: 3yrs (around) $3million

Analysis: Like Voros, I don’t know that much about Rissmiller but he would appear to fill the void of ‘energy guy’. He stands 6′4”. Granted, he is no Avery I think he has fan favorite written all over him.  He has 3 years to prove himself at MSG.

Acquired: RW- Nikolai Zherdev and C- Dan Fritsche *for* D- Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman

Analysis: I’m indifferent about this one. On one hand, you can tell that in our signings, our 2 big hits were Redden and Rozsival, both Defensemen- Therefore, there is a need for offense and we could get it with a guy like Zherdev, who had 61 points (26 goals) last season, by far his best year in the league.   The former first round pick (4th overall) had 76 goals in  4 season with the Blue Jackets. He has potential but I don’t think he is ready to make the jump from Columbus to New York… No offense, but Nationwide Arena and MSG are two completely different places to play.

We also brought in Dan Fritsche who has 22 points in 69 games last season.  His most telling stat is that he finished the year with a +2 rating which is very impressive considering he played for Columbus, one of the worst teams in the league.  We already have plenty of Centers so it will be interesting to see how he will fit in with the team.

Now, as for who is headed to Columbus, Christian Backman didn’t live up to the hype when he was traded from the Blues and he is slated to make $3 million this year so I don’t mind parting ways with him… As for Fedor Tyutin, I can’t help but question letting him go.

Tyutin’s coming off his best year with the Rangers and he really blossomed into a solid D-man. He was a crowd pleaser, did just about everything right and was a  fan favorite as MSG.  He and his pairing, Dan Girardi played every game together and each received contract extensions during the season, so it looked like they would be together for a long time. Now, Girardi is left standing without Tyuts who I wish all the best in Columbus.

The Rangers could have had a bevy of solid Defensemen had they not made this trade. Redden, Rozsival, Staal, Girardi, Tyutin and Backman would have been a very solid 6. It will be interesting to see how things shuffle and I can’t help but assume that Bobby Sanguinetti is going to be looked at a lot in camp.

So you see, a busy 2 days for the Blueshirts and free agency is still far from over.  We are still on Jagr and Sundin-watch plus you never know what will happen with Brendan Shanahan or who else Slats will grab off the F/A market.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008 at 6:19 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.