Well, I'm a lot happier today than on July 1, 2008, when the Rangers signed Wade Redden and I started ripping apart my girlfriend's house in anger. By the way, she was mad.
Let's put it this way. If I had told you 3 days ago that the Rangers were going to trade Scott Gomez and his $7.357M Cap hit over the next 5 years for Marian Gaborik and his $7.5M Cap hit over 5 years, would you? And as an added bonus, Long Island-native Chris Higgins would be on board, adding grit, passion, energy, and a few goals. Sounds like a good deal, right?
Indeed it is. Glen Sather got it right - get Gaborik and his frail body for just money, and ignore Dany Heatley and his mind games when it would have cost money AND a few players.
Donald Brashear... whatever. It's going to be very hard to root for him, but he'll protect Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury, and whatever Russian named Nik ends up on the team.
I would like to wish a fond farewell to Freddy Sjostrom, though, who is off to Calgary, where he will no doubt be beneficial to their defense-first movement and can also play first-line winger with Jarome Iginla, if need be. Better him than Jamie Lundmark with Iginla, no?
And while I'm upset that Mike Cammellari signed in Montreal, he did get a very high deal from them. $6M for him is too much I think. If he signed in New York for $5M, okay, but not that much.
I also think Gomez and Cammellari, if teamed up, should do very well. If nothing else, a power play with Gomez dishing to Cammellari and his old buddy Brian Gionta will be spectacular. With Andrei Markov and possibly Alexei Kovalev on the ice then also, that could be killer.
Oh, and about the Hossa deal. It's not 12 years. It's 8 years. Well, it's 12 years, but it's a fake 4 years at the end. He'll be making the league-minimum for a player over 35 then, and he might not even play. Either him or Chicago probably said, "Ok, 8 years for 7 million each year." "No, better idea, higher amount, 4 longer years, $5.2 million Cap hit. Detroit did it, why can't we!"
* * *
So this is how the Rangers roster shapes up, as of now. Don't pay any attention to lines or positions, and keep in mind trades can still happen. Last year, if you remember, Ryan Hollweg was traded to Toronto on like July 14th.
Avery - Dubinsky - Gaborik
Higgins - Drury - Callahan
Voros - Anisimov - Boyle
Korpikoski - Brashear - Zherdev
That's 12 forwards, but we don't know about Zherdev. Brashear and Voros won't be everyday players, and who knows about Boyle. We also don't know about Hartford and who might make the team (P.A. Parenteau? Mark Bell? Jordan Owens? Dale Weise?) So we have 8 forwards to play everyday, possibly 10, but there still is a need.
Expect atleast one or two more forwards, hopefully a puck-carrying, first-line center, if there are any available. Not everything happens on July 1, remember. Markus Naslund was signed July 3 last year. Uh, so was Dmitri Kalinin.
On D...
Redden - Rozsival
Staal - Girardi
Potter - Gilroy - Sanguenetti - Del Zotto
No room for a big D really, especially since the money should be spent on offense instead. Mike Komisarek would've been excellent, but maybe Rob Scuderi can be signed on the cheap.
* * *
Should make for an interesting Day 2. I would definitely expect 2 forwards to be signed, and maybe a veteran 7th D so that there aren't too many rookies on the backline. Hey, maybe Paul Mara will take another discount to play here.
Two friends. Two bitter enemies. Two obsessed fans. One Rivalry.
Showing posts with label mike cammalleri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mike cammalleri. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
In 13 Hours...
In less than 13 hours, free agency will start. Last year, on June 30, 2008, this web site probably had 10-15 posts.
In fact, I remember one that I wrote about the 4 big free agents for the Rangers: Sean Avery, Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, and Martin Straka. I presumed Straka would leave if Jagr stayed, that Shanahan would not be back, and Avery wouldn't either. What I didn't predict was that Avery would sign elsewhere, get banished from the NHL, and return half-priced in February. But, really, I doubt many people guessed that. I remember I also put a good word in for Mark Streit in hopes he would be a Ranger. And I said that Wade Redden was awful and no team, especially the Rangers, should overpay for him. Well.
Anyway, this year, not as many posts. The Rangers, up until about 6 hours ago, were up near the Cap, and the Islanders appear to be growing from the inside, or at least attempting to. Besides some fillers and 4th line players, the big news would be which players wouldn't be returning.
Well, with Scott Gomez gone, $5M is freed up. The 3 players I would love to see don Rangers blue next season are, in order...
Mike Cammalleri, Mike Komisarek, Rob Scuderi
Cammalleri adds instant offense at a reasonable price. He scored 39 last year and had his 2nd 80+ point season (out of 4 career seasons). Plus, he's only 27, so a 5-year deal for $24-25M wouldn't be insane.
Remember how well Komisarek would shut down Jagr? He isn't going to give you many points, but he will crush opponents, clear the crease, kill penalties, and he would go a lot way to shutting down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin 6 times a year. Ah, but would he and Avery get along?
Scuderi will probably come cheap, maybe $1.5-2M. I think he grew up an Islanders fan, but even so, he can be enticed to playing in Manhattan. He did great in the Stanley Cup Finals, and gives his best every single shift. He would make a great 4th defenseman.
The only problem with signing D is there are so many of them. Redden, Girardi, Staal, Gilroy (according to reports, he is looking good), and Rozsival will all be on the team next season. That leaves just one or two spots and not much money to spend, since most of the Cap space should be used for scoring help (with some saved for emergencies and the trade deadline).
Should be an interesting day. Even though nothing happens until about 1:30, I'll be tuning in at noon to see how awkward it gets when nothing happens. Can't wait to see Bob McKenzie text messaging people on-air to see what's going on.
(I was happy that Dany Heatley was being sent to Edmonton, not because I want him in the West, but because I don't want the Rangers to trade a lot for him. The Rangers don't need a different $7+M deal for 5 years, especially one who requests trades from everywhere he has played. If they wanted a headcase with talent that he sometimes uses, hey, Alex Kovalev is a free agent tomorrow, too.)
In fact, I remember one that I wrote about the 4 big free agents for the Rangers: Sean Avery, Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, and Martin Straka. I presumed Straka would leave if Jagr stayed, that Shanahan would not be back, and Avery wouldn't either. What I didn't predict was that Avery would sign elsewhere, get banished from the NHL, and return half-priced in February. But, really, I doubt many people guessed that. I remember I also put a good word in for Mark Streit in hopes he would be a Ranger. And I said that Wade Redden was awful and no team, especially the Rangers, should overpay for him. Well.
Anyway, this year, not as many posts. The Rangers, up until about 6 hours ago, were up near the Cap, and the Islanders appear to be growing from the inside, or at least attempting to. Besides some fillers and 4th line players, the big news would be which players wouldn't be returning.
Well, with Scott Gomez gone, $5M is freed up. The 3 players I would love to see don Rangers blue next season are, in order...
Mike Cammalleri, Mike Komisarek, Rob Scuderi
Cammalleri adds instant offense at a reasonable price. He scored 39 last year and had his 2nd 80+ point season (out of 4 career seasons). Plus, he's only 27, so a 5-year deal for $24-25M wouldn't be insane.
Remember how well Komisarek would shut down Jagr? He isn't going to give you many points, but he will crush opponents, clear the crease, kill penalties, and he would go a lot way to shutting down Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin 6 times a year. Ah, but would he and Avery get along?
Scuderi will probably come cheap, maybe $1.5-2M. I think he grew up an Islanders fan, but even so, he can be enticed to playing in Manhattan. He did great in the Stanley Cup Finals, and gives his best every single shift. He would make a great 4th defenseman.
The only problem with signing D is there are so many of them. Redden, Girardi, Staal, Gilroy (according to reports, he is looking good), and Rozsival will all be on the team next season. That leaves just one or two spots and not much money to spend, since most of the Cap space should be used for scoring help (with some saved for emergencies and the trade deadline).
Should be an interesting day. Even though nothing happens until about 1:30, I'll be tuning in at noon to see how awkward it gets when nothing happens. Can't wait to see Bob McKenzie text messaging people on-air to see what's going on.
(I was happy that Dany Heatley was being sent to Edmonton, not because I want him in the West, but because I don't want the Rangers to trade a lot for him. The Rangers don't need a different $7+M deal for 5 years, especially one who requests trades from everywhere he has played. If they wanted a headcase with talent that he sometimes uses, hey, Alex Kovalev is a free agent tomorrow, too.)
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