WHILE wondering if Michal Rozsival and Petr Prucha were quite who the NHL had in mind when imposing upon the Blueshirts to open their 2008-09 season in Prague:
The Rangers didn’t clinch a playoff spot until Game 80 this season after going to Game 81 the previous year. And so Glen Sather, Tom Renney and the hockey department are correct about the need for transformation into a more typically evolved post-lockout attack team.
Renney, indeed, laid out his vision not more than 10 minutes after the Pittsburgh series had ended, saying, “We’re going to have to play the type of hockey that suggests pressure, skating and physical energy if we want to go forward.”
The execution is going to be the tough part. Ronald Reagan would ask, “Where is the rest of me?” if he were around to amble into the Rangers’ room on the first day of training camp. The departures of Jaromir Jagr, Sean Avery, Martin Straka – and who knows about Brendan Shanahan? – will leave a huge void in the club’s collective personality.
Without Jagr to both blame and lean on all at once, everyone will come under more scrutiny; the coaching staff and the players, alike. For all of his imperfections, Jagr was kind of like that cereal, Captain and Crutch. Now, Jagr can’t be anyone’s excuse. Avery’s absence will be felt on the ice, even if the Rangers are sure he won’t be missed anywhere else.
There will be a gust of fresh air in the room next season that might enter with the Rangers billed as The King and His Court. Henrik Lundqvist, who always has shared the greatest part of the burden with Jagr, will be held to the Brodeur Standard, one that has nothing to do with exchanging salutations or shaking hands.
There will be a gust of fresh air next season but it’s impossible to immediately judge what the wind blew in this week. Wade Redden had a bad year in a deteriorating environment in Ottawa and Markus Naslund had a disappointing season in Vancouver. The Rangers, who gave Redden a six-year deal at $6.5M per and Naslund a two-year deal at $4M per, are heavily invested in the theory that a change of scenery will revitalize careers that went stale.
And who knows about Nikolai Zherdev, about as unpredictable as they come? Will Zherdev shine in the spotlight or will he melt? Will New York ignite him or overwhelm him after knowing only Columbus? Will he be an all-for-one, one-for-all guy here, and if not, will the Rangers have the presence in the room to correct or cope with that?
It wasn’t that Brooks Orpik turned down more money from the Rangers to re-sign with the Penguins, it was that he never got the chance to do so.
By the way, this concept that players have some sort of obligation to take one for the team in the form of hometown discounts is absurd.
If anything, it should work the other way, as it did with Marian Hossa, who took $7.4M from Detroit so that Nicklas Lidstrom would remain the Red Wings’ highest-paid player at $7.45M.
The NHL now has three franchises that operate in free agent no-mans land. The Islanders, Atlanta and Edmonton simply cannot get players to sign unless absurd money is thrown at them, and in the case of Hossa leaving approximately $90M on the table from the Oilers, not even then.
Indeed, we’re told the threat that had the most effect in Tampa’s ownership’s ultimately successful attempt to coerce Dan Boyle into waiving his no-trade clause four months after passing up free agency in order to attain it, was, “If you don’t, we’ll put you on waivers and you’ll be playing in Atlanta.”
Players should take note. The no-trade clause has become worthless with the re-emergence of ownership and management personnel who are willing to use coercion to get their way, and where have you gone, Jack Adams?
Somehow, the lure of playing next to Sidney Crosby didn’t have quite the reach we all would have guessed, now did it?
And the Scott Fraser Award for Least Understandable Free Agent Signing of the Year goes to the Maple Leafs for giving Colorado defenseman Jeff Finger four years at $3.5M per.
Shocker, the Leafs winning that one, all right.
If an authentic partnership existed between the NHL and the NHLPA, the league would have agreed to the union’s request to allow the over-35 deferred bonus rule to remain in effect even though the Players Association has not yet officially waived its right to terminate the collective bargaining agreement at the end of this year.
As it is, even if the PA gives notice to the league that the CBA will continue to run through at least 2010-11 (with a union option to extend through 2011-12) during the season the deferred bonus provision is lost for this season.
News: The Islanders sign Doug Weight. Views: Ray Ferraro wasn’t available?