Speculation: Mats Sundin to the Rangers?

After Larry Brooks' article this past Sunday that stated that Sundin has the desire to play in New York, I figured that I'd interrupt my Prospect Profiles series and sound off on the issue. This is especially a hot topic on HF Boards where I post regularly. Below is what I wrote, word for word, about the issue, including the positives and negatives of Sundin signing in New York, along with what would need to be done in order to fit Mats under the salary cap. In addition to this, I offer some insight on what can happen, both this season, and in the near future as a result of Sundin signing. Enjoy!

The way I see it, the scenario of signing Sundin will greatly affect the team, and in addition has its positive and negative impacts.

I'll start out by saying Rozsival will likely be the guy to get dealt in order to free up cap space. Some in this thread have said that it will decimate the Rangers' defense. I respectfully disagree. Trading Rozsival will free up 5 million dollars in cap space. The return for Rozy would probably be a middle to low pairing defenseman and a draft pick. The way I see it, a team like the Los Angeles Kings would make a great trading partner for the Rangers. Consider this....To LA:Rozsival (Cap hit: 5 million/year)Pittsburgh 5th the Rangers got in the Hollweg tradeTo NYR:Tom Preissing (Cap hit: 2.7 million/year for 3 more seasons)LA 2nd rounder in 2009

The Rangers in return get a servicable middle pairing guy that can man the 2nd power play unit that is signed to a cap friendly deal for the near future, and get what will probably be equivalent to a late 1st round pick in a very deep draft. If Sundin signs and the deal I outlined goes through, the team looks like this....

Drury-Gomez-Zherdev

Naslund-Sundin-Sjostrom

Dawes-Dubinsky-Prucha

Voros/Fritsche-Betts/Fritsche-Callahan/Orr

Staal-Redden

Preissing-Girardi

Mara-Kalinin

That's a damn good team if you ask me.

Now onto the negatives. The defense I just outlined looks very suspect outside of the first pairing. The bottom 4 defenseman, however, are all capable of playing middle pairing minutes in my mind, so it would be interesting to see how that would turn out. With the departure of Rozsival, the Rangers defenseman with the most experience playing the Rangers system would be Paul Mara, albeit NHL experience outside of Girardi and Staal will not be a problem. By trading Rozsival, you mortgage a very solid defensive corps and hope that what you have will work out. As we've seen last season, it took a while for the team to develop some chemistry, and I fear that the defense will encounter some of the same growing pains this season that the offense had last season.

Also, signing Sundin to a contract will greatly hinder the Rangers' ability to make a big move at the trading deadline if necessary. As the poster before me mentioned, injuries happen, and finding a placement will not be too easy unless the Rangers promote some players from Hartford.

In conclusion, I would be very happy if Sundin signed here, but for no more than a year. I absolutely love what he brings to the table, and having a guy like Naslund on his wing can potentially get him back up to the 90 point echelon again. I really believe in my heart that a team with Sundin this season can bring the cup back to the Garden. If he is signed to a one year deal, Sundin's salary comes off the books, and by the 09 season, Sanguinetti will be ready for the big club, in addition to Sauer and maybe even Del Zotto on defense. On offense, re-signing Zherdev if he performs well would be key. Once that happens, the Red Army era of the New York Rangers can begin with Anisimov and hopefully Cherepanov being ready for the big club.

New York Rangers Prospect Profiles: Hugh Jessiman

I have finally amassed the courage to write about the most enigmatic Rangers prospect, Hugh Jessiman, dubbed "Huge Specimen" by some Ranger fans for his 6'6" 225 pound frame. From that fateful day in June of 2003, Jessiman has been a mystery. After registering 23 goals and 24 assists for 47 points for Dartmouth as a freshman, the Rangers decided to take a huge gamble, no pun intended, at 12th overall in the 2003 NHL Draft. In a draft that saw the likes of Parise, Getzlaf, Richards, Brown, Seabrook, Burns, and Perry be taken after Jessiman, this pick flat out hurts the Ranger fan in me. But I digress.

Jessiman played two more seasons at Dartmouth, in which he only managed 35 points in 46 games in two years despite an injury in his junior year of college. Hugh then decided to attempt to turn pro at age 20 in hopes of making the Rangers big club, but he would have no such luck. Things got steadily worse for Hugh, as he registered a lukewarm 19 points in 46 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack in the 2005-2006 season. As a result, he got sent down to the ECHL for further work on his game. The 2006-2007 season was no different, as he registered a disappointing 13 points in 49 games with Hartford, resulting in another demotion to the ECHL. At this point, most Ranger fans have written Hugh off as a huge bust. This previous season, however, a new hope was found as Hugh was able to stick with Hartford all season and register 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points in 71 games, most of the time playing top 6 minutes for the team. In addition to this, Hugh also earned 154 penalty minutes, proving that he is also a force to be respected physcially as well.

In this offseason, Hugh accepted the Rangers' one year qualifying offer, meaning he has at least one more year to prove his worth to the Rangers coaching staff. In my opinion, this is the "make or break" year for Hugh. If he fails to show any type of improvement this season, he most likely will not be re-signed by the Rangers organization. Although many if not most Ranger fans have already written off Hugh as a bust, I have not personally given up on him yet. A power forward type of player that Hugh is needs a great deal of development, and usually do not crack the NHL club until their mid-twenties. Right now, Jessiman is 24, giving him at least 2 more years in my book to prove himself. Think about this Ranger fans; Todd Bertuzzi did not have a 50 point until he was 25 years old.

Despite this, Jessiman still has a lot to work on before he can have a shot with the New York Rangers. Although he has a lot of raw talent and still oozes potential, his skating and hockey sense still leave a lot to be desired. Speed is key in the "new" NHL, and if Hugh can find a way to keep up with the pace of the game on a consistent basis, I don't think an NHL call-up is out of the question in the near future.

New York Rangers Prospect Profiles: Bobby Sanguinetti

The Garden State native is the next prospect covered in my "Prospect Profiles" series. In the year before his draft eligibility, he had a breakout year, registering 14 goals and 51 assists for 65 points as a member of the Owen Sound Attack, high among point totals for OHL defensemen. However, due to worries about his defensive positioning, he was able to slip to 21st overall in the 2006 NHL Draft where the Rangers were able to take him. Growing up a Ranger fan his entire life, he wears number 22 to pay homage to the great #2.

This previous year, he was sent back to the Canadian juniors to further polish his skills, and he did not disappoint. He notched 29 goals along with 41 assists to raise his point total on the season to 70, all the while registering a pretty low 38 PIM as a member of the Brampton Battalion. After the OHL season, he was sent to Hartford and was able to register an assist with low ice time in 11 games. Despite this, his more than point per-game pace in the OHL is very encouraging for his development.

At the prospect camp after this year's NHL draft, he has shown big signs in maturity, both in physical appearance and play on the ice. My bet is that he spends a year in the AHL as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack, but I believe that we will be able to see Bobby in the NHL sooner rather than later. In my mind, he can become that power play quarterback that the Rangers have desperately needed on the point for some time now. He certainly has the offensive capability to do so, but how he performs defensively at a higher level remains to be seen, and will be the determination of whether or not he becomes a bottom pairing, PP specialist, or a bonafide first pairing defenseman just like #2.

New York Rangers Prospect Profiles: Artem Anisimov

With the Traverse City prospect tournament in six weeks, we are getting closer day by day to the drop of the puck to inaugurate the 2008-2009 season. As a hardcore hockey fan, the summer has to be the absolute worst time of year. In order to pass the time, I thought it would be a unique concept to give you my analysis on the Rangers' prospects one by one until the Traverse City tournament. Keep in mind that I am not writing about each prospect in any particular order. For my first installment of "Prospect Profiles", I give my opinion on Russian prospect Artem Anisimov.

As a junior player, Anisimov played for Lokamotiv of the then RSL. In those days, he showed promise of one day becoming a great center, although he saw limited action during this time. Widely ragarded as a first round talent, the Rangers were able to grab him in the 2nd round at 54th overall in the 2006 NHL Draft due to the lack of a transfer agreement. However, all of these fears were quelled when he announced that he intended to come to play in North America as soon as possible. One year later, he is a member of the Hartford Wolfpack as a top 6 forward and one of the most interesting Rangers prospects.

In one season of AHL action, he scored 16 goals and added 27 assists for 43 points in his first season of the AHL as the youngest player in the league. He has shown that he is a reliable two-way center that has drawn comparisons to Sergei Federov and Keith Primeau by some Ranger fans. He reasonably projects in my mind to be an excellent third line center or a good second line center. Tom Renney has been quoted to say that the only thing holding Anisimov back from a roster spot this upcoming season is his particularly thin frame. At 6'4" and 190 pounds, Artem has a little bit of growing to do to fill out a potentially big frame so he can dish out and take NHL level punishment. With the acquisition of Zherdev and the possibility of Cherepanov coming to New York sooner rather than later, I certainly have high hopes for the mini Red Army that the Rangers have assembled.

What do you all think? How do you think Artem will pan out? A profile on another prospect will be up in the very near future, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

Rangers trade Hollweg

...To the Leafs for Pittsburgh's 5th rounder next year. It never hurts to get picks in next year's VERY deep draft, and Hollweg was very expendable after signing Voros and Rissmiller. Overall, I'm very happy with the return that we got for Holly.

Radulov bolts the NHL for Russia, what does this mean for Cherepanov and the New York Rangers?

As I'm waking up on this Friday afternoon, I read something that is very disturbing. Even with one year left on his entry level contract with the Nashville Predators, Alexander Radulov has defected to the KHL and signed a 3 year, 12 million dollar deal with Russian club Salavat Yulaev Ufa.

This move is despicable on Radulov's part. However, the first thing that I immediately thought of is how this move impacts the Rangers' crowned jewel prospect, Alexei Cherepanov. Although Cherepanov has expressed the desire on many accounts to play in the NHL, he is set to honor the last year on his contract with Avangard Omsk this upcoming season. This Radulov move has me very worried. It is evident that Radulov went back to his home country to not only play closer to home, but for a bigger payday as well. Who is to say that Cherepanov won't do the same thing, and take home a large check rather than go to the NHL? The lack of transfer agreement between the NHL and KHL makes moves such as this hypothetical one and the move Radulov just pulled off.

I loved the day of the 2007 NHL Draft when Alexei Cherepanov fell into the laps of the New York Rangers. Talent wise, he should have been a top 5 pick, but the possibility that he may never come to play in the NHL is what caused him to fall like a rock on draft day. Now I am really starting to see why this happened. I have cautious optimism that we will see Alexei in a Blueshirt starting in the 09-10 season, but ladies and gentlemen, count me as one worried Ranger fan in light of Radulov's signing in regard to Cherepanov.

2008 Free Agency Review

Well, I'm writing this sooner than I thought I would, but I had a few thoughts that I had to type here before I forgot them. Despite the Rangers' conservative NHL Draft, Glen Sather sure wasn't tight during the first week of July. The only thing that I could think of as I was sitting at work checking TSN religiously on July 1st was how different this team was going to be this season. However, I can honestly say that I didn't see any of the moves that Slats made coming (except for the Naslund and Mara signings, scroll down to earlier posts in my blog to back that up). Some of the moves made me wonder what the hell Slats was thinking, and because of this, I can confidently say that some Ranger fans I know wanted to hang him from the rafters of Section 420. However, some of the moves he pulled off made me tip his cap to him, showing us a couple business strokes of brilliance we still know him to be capable of. Here is my take on the free agent signings and moves of free agency thus far:

- Signing Aaron Voros to a 3 year, 3 million dollar deal: The first signing by the Rangers of Free Agency, this move, although unspectacular looking at first, I think will turn into a great signing. Voros is a big bottom six forward that surely can replace Hollweg on the fourth line and bring a similar game with more offense (I really hope so anyway). He scored 7 goals, more than Hollweg's career total, and added 7 assists to Minnesota's trap-system game. I think he can blossom here into a legitimate 4th liner that is a threat to score when on the ice. It doesn't hurt that he isn't afraid to drop the gloves either.

- Signing Patrick Rissmiller: This is one of the few moves that made me scratch my head. However, with the recent departure of Josh Gratton, this turns into a very wise signing by Sather. To be honest, I don't know much about him aside from the fact that he played for the San Jose Sharks and played his college hockey at Holy Cross. He looks like the same type of player as Aaron Voros, minus the willingness to fight. My bet is that he starts the season in Hartford.

-Re-signing Michal Rozsival to a 4 year, 20 million dollar contract: To be clear, I was never Rozsival's biggest fan to begin with. Although I do believe Rozy is a very serviceable middle pairing D-man, his offseason hip surgery and horrendous 2nd half of the 2007-08 season raise a couple of concerns for me. I hope he plays like the Rozsival in the first half of last season for the majority of his contract, for his own sake. Although I believe $5 million/year is overpayment for Rozsival, he was a good alternative to other high priced D-men on the market at that price, which brings me to....

-Signing Wade Redden to a 6 year, 39 million dollar contract: OUCH. That was my first thought when I got wind of the terms of the contract. Redden is a legitimate number 1 defenseman that the Rangers have desperately needed since Leetch retired. However, I do not believe that Redden was the answer at this point of his career. At 31, he is in his prime years as a player, but the depreciation value on defensemen in the new NHL has been steadily declining recently. This makes me worry that the Rangers could potentially be stuck with his albatross of a contract for a good 2 to 3 years. I do have faith that Wade will bounce back in New York and be a defensive leader that the Rangers need. Add this to the fact that he would be a GREAT mentor to Marc Staal, Redden could very well end up being worth every penny.

-Re-signing Steve Valiquette to a new contract: I like Steve, and think he is a very serviceable back-up. He also appears to be a well liked figure in the locker room, and is a great team player. Great signing.

-Acquiring Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman: You have to go back four years to the 2004 trade deadline to see a better deal for the New York Rangers if all goes according to plan. Simply put: Sather fleeced Columbus in this trade. Zherdev is a potential superstar in this league, and Fritsche is an upgraded version of Callahan. Although I am very sad to see Tyuts go, sending Backman and his salary with him, AND getting Zherdev and Fritsche in return dulls the pain. I have read some scouting reports and commentary on Zherdev that hails him as having the potential to one day be as skilled as the likes of fellow Russians Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, albeit not as complete of a player. This makes most Ranger fans, including myself, very excited for his debut on Broadway. Seeing him overcome knocks on his work ethic and defensive game at the Garden will make me even happier.

-Signing Markus Naslund to a 2 year, 8 million dollar deal: Questions about his age arose as soon as he was signed, but I for one have no problem with the signing at all. He provides more offense to a team that I think will outscore last year's goal totals this season, as well as some needed veteran leadership. Scoring 55 points on an anemic Vancouver offensive squad is no easy feat. With the right linemates, I see Nazzy lighting up the lamp a lot more than he did this past year.

-Signing Dimitri Kalinin to a 1 year, $2.1 million dollar contract: With the departure of Tyutin and Backman, another defensive signing was necessary. His scouting report reminds me of Backman all over again, but playing on the 3rd pair with a limited role should help him overcome his alleged confidence issues. Touted as a potential franchise defenseman since the day he was drafted, maybe this is the year when he lives up to the hype.

-Re-signing Paul Mara to a 1 year, 1.95 million dollar deal: My favorite signing of all. Mara had an excellent playoffs this past season to go along with the best playoff beard on the Rangers. Possessing an underrated mean streak and offensive game, getting him at less than 2 million dollars is a huge steal. This is the same guy that scored 47 points with Phoenix 3 seasons ago the first season after the lockout. I have no doubt in my mind that he has the potential to do it again if given the opportunity. Under the pressure of a one year deal, Mara is at the crossroads of his career, as I'll be one of his biggest fans this year rooting for him to have a monster of a year.

Of course, with all of these new faces, we also had to say goodbye to a lot of familiar ones. First there is Martin Straka, who agreed to return to his native Czech Republic to become a player/representative for his hometown club. Best wishes Marty, you busted your tail every shift as a Ranger.

Then there's Sean Avery. He simply left New York for a bigger payday. Nothing wrong with that. I have no further comment on him.

Brendan Shanahan, although as of now unsigned, looks to be done as a New York Ranger, and possibly with his career. He is one of the greatest talents of our generation, but it is his time to hang them up. Although he still possesses the wrist shot of a 20 year old, he looks like his age skating. You had an awesome career Shanny, nothing but a class act the whole way. I look forward to your Hall of Fame induction.

Finally, there is Jaromir Jagr. What can I say? He is one of the top 20, maybe top 10 best players of all time to play the game. After the signing of Markus Naslund, Jagr saw the writing on the wall and took the 3 year deal worth over 30 million dollars to go play along side Rangers top prospect Alexei Cherepanov in the KHL as a member of Avangard Omsk. I have my hopes that Jagr passes along some great advice to Alexei, and talks to him about coming to New York sooner rather than later. At least I hope so anyway.

But I digress. Although being accused frequently of being a lazy primadonna, he has done nothing to show that. In his days as a New York Ranger, he has done nothing but give 100% on the ice, even going as far as playing through injuries for long stretches. I will never forget his strength, skill, and imagination with the puck along with his patented wrister from the right circle right into the upper corner. I wish you nothing but the best Jags, and along with Shanny, I look forward to your day in the Hall of Fame. In tribute, you are my newest jersey purchase.

That is all for now from me. I will be writing more occasionally this offseason if a Rangers related thought pops into my mind. Please leave comments! I love to hear feedback!