Four More Years...

While the Rangers now have four more years of a pass-first, clear-the-crease-last blueline, we also have four less years of Sean Avery.

Wait, did that make sense?

You get the gist of it. You know my view. The Rangers needed Avery just as much as he needed the Rangers. Once an outcast in LA, he came to NY for relatively nothing (Jay Ward, a pick, and a swap of prospects who will never skate in the NHL) and revived a franchise... twice. They made the playoffs the past two seasons because of him and Henrik Lundqvist.

You know how angry I am about him being in Dallas. However, I was on the golf course while this all happened (hey, let's be honest, Glen Sather probably was too). Luckily, I had a stream of texts coming in announcing it. 

I told my golf partner two things. 1) I'm not re-upping my subscription package this year. I was on the edge, and it hindered on Avery's re-signing. I have no problem paying his salary. I will not pay Wade Redden's salary. 2) I'm going to buy a Dallas Stars fallopian tube jersey with "AVERY 16" on the back.

Now, the trade. Nik Zherdev (#13, above) came alive last season for the Blue Jackets, especially at the end. His 61 points and -9 were career bests (hey, give him a break, he played in Ohio). Should be a good trade. Dan Fritsche (#49, above) is a decent player, definitely the throw in to make it an even 2-for-2 trade. To be honest, I thought he was a defenseman until just now. The Rangers don't need another 3rd line center, although he isn't a bad player at all.

The Rangers' biggest problem was defense. 

Now, they have 4 defensemen - Michal Rozsival (overpaid), Redden (grossly overpaid), Dan Girardi, and Marc Staal. Now, they have about 15 or 16 forwards, including one first line winger (Zherdev), and two first line centers (Scott Gomez, Chris Drury). Everyone else is a depth player, or an "energy" player. 

Who's going to score? Who's going to stand in front of Henrik? 

Zherdev is a $2.5M cap hit; Fritsche is well under a million. If memory serves me correct, Fedor Tyutin is making $2.75M against the Cap, and Christian Backman's hit is around $3.3M. While this does give the Rangers a scoring threat, it also opened up a lot of cap room.

Too bad Sean Avery won't see any of that money

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Do you think Doug Weight will fetch the Islanders a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd round draft pick at the 2009 trade deadline?