On July 1, the Rangers signed free agents Aaron Voros and Patrick Rissmiller to three-year contracts worth $3M apiece. It’s anybody’s guess why they did so.
The following day the Rangers acquired Nikolai Zherdev and throw-in Dan Fritsche from Columbus in the trade that sent Fedor Tyutin and throw-in Christian Backman to the Blue Jackets. Fritsche was a Group II free agent who had filed for salary arbitration. Rather than allowing him to go through with the arbitration from which they could have walked away, the Blueshirts signed Fritsche to a one-year deal for $875,000. Who knows why they did so?
Rissmiller is in Hartford, toiling for the AHL Wolf Pack, twice waived through the NHL after playing all of two games for the Blueshirts. Strike one.
Fritsche, who has recorded four points (1-3) in 15 games, has been a healthy scratch 36 times, including the previous 14 straight. Strike two.
And Voros, who started the season well before his game devolved into ineffectiveness, was scratched last Monday against the Islanders and on Saturday against the Capitals. Strike three.
Make that a check swing.
Voros returned to the Rangers’ lineup for last night’s match at the Garden against the Penguins, bumping Lauri Korpikoski for reasons that seemed unclearaunless the reason was established on July 1.
“Aaron has made an investment in us and we have an investment in Aaron,” Tom Renney said, though not specifically referring to the contract. “We need to get his game back into the lineup for his size and strength and ability to get to the net, and especially on the power play.”
The problem is that if Voros had been using his size, strength and ability to get to the net, he’d never have come out of the lineup in the first place. But the winger, restored last night to a prominent role at left wing with early season linemates Brandon Dubinsky and Nikolai Zherdev, was barely a factor in the weeks leading up to his benching, going pointless in his prior seven games, getting one point (an assist) in his last dozen.
Yesterday, Renney suggested that part of Voros’ problem had been conditioning. Somehow, the 6-3, 215-pound athlete managed to play himself out of shape. Somehow, the Rangers rewarded him for working hard enough last week to increase his conditioning level to an acceptable status.
“There had been a little bit of a drop-off, but Aaron worked hard off-ice last week on his fitness,” Renney said. “The way we need him to play, he needs to maintain his fitness level. “It’s about sustainability for him. He’s a big body, he’s cantankerous, he gives us a presence at the net. We need that.” Of course, they needed that when Voros was in the lineup the last time, too.