Ask the ticket holders who have died a thousand deaths over the years with teams of players nearing dead ends: This idea of the Rangers going young is not an old one at all.
And the man whose beard most threatens to turn gray at the club’s direction endorses it, not that Rangers coach John Tortorella has much choice.
“We probably have the youngest defensive corps [in the NHL],” Tortorella said. “As [general manager] Glen [Sather] put it, it’s risky.
“The second half is a tough part of the year. But we’ve got to stay with the plan to get cap space and continue to try to develop our team.
“You have to look at how your defensemen are developing, and we think they’re coming. We’re trying to get young and then add pieces to the foundation.”
In addition to 24-year-old winger Wojtek Wolski, the Rangers gained $1.2 million in cap room when they traded Michal Rozsival, which can turn into $4.2 million with an injury exemption for Alex Frolov. For a team with a five-point cushion on a playoff spot and just six out of the conference lead, that money could build a better house by the trading deadline, as long as the foundation hasn’t begun crumbling.
So far, so good. Last night Steve Eminger and Michael Sauer, the Rangers’ third defenseman pair for 40 games, continued to play like a solid second pair. Matt Gilroy tightened his grip on Michael Del Zotto’s old job and Ryan McDonagh did nothing to send himself back to Hartford.
If there was any fault to be found with the Rangers defense in a 2-1 loss to the Canadiens last night, it was that it didn’t add much to the offense, not that Rozsival always did.
Nevertheless, roles now change. The Rangers’ oldest defenseman is Eminger at 27. Their best, Marc Staal, is 23. The more important vote than the one from the league office yesterday that put Staal into the All-Star Game was Sather’s vote of confidence in a player who has moved into the top two handfuls of NHL defensemen.
“Last month or so, I’m playing a lot more, hopping over the boards every other shift a lot of nights,” Staal said. “When you’re feeling good about your game, things start to become automatic and your confidence grows.”
If their faith hadn’t grown in Staal, the Rangers could not have made this deal.
“[Rozsival] has been good for me and for Danny [Girardi] and everybody who has come in here,” Staal said. “Now that he’s gone, it adds more responsibility and pressure on us every night.”
There shouldn’t be much doubt Staal can handle it, as long as his growing offensive game doesn’t alter his defensive game. Staal can get up ice, jump into seams and finish. But he was put on this earth to shut down offensive stars, not be one.
“Not only defensively, which obviously is a strength, but as a rounded player with leadership and his offense, he’s grown,” Tortorella said.
“You never notice Sauer — that’s good for a defenseman. This is huge for our organization because nobody expected it this year: A right-handed defensemen getting the minutes he’s getting.”
He will get even more now. We will see how he handles it. We will see how all of them handle it.