Rangers coach John Tortorella chuckled when informed that Wojtek Wolski, his newest player after being obtained on Monday from Phoenix, had said that he was looking forward to the move because the Eastern Conference is more wide open than the Western.
Wolski used the phrase “a little more run and gun,” and said the Rangers’ system was more offense-minded than the one he left.
“Well, I just met him five minutes ago,” Tortorella said before the Rangers’ 2-1 loss to the Canadiens last night at the Garden. “But we will not get in the way offensively, and we’re certainly going to look for him to express himself with his creativity.
“I’ll watch him play, and then we’ll have a chance to go over things. There’s going to be give and take, but a big part of our club is our grind, and he’s going to have to join in with that also.”
Wolski, the 24-year-old former first-round draft pick (21st overall by Colorado in 2004), is known as a skilled athlete, but he now has washed out with two teams and has been traded twice within 10 months. He came to the Blueshirts in exchange for Michal Rozsival after going to the Coyotes at last year’s deadline for Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter.
Wolski, who recorded 23 goals and 65 points last year, had just six goals and 16 points in 36 games this year. He was a healthy scratch five times, including three times in an eight-game stretch in late December.
“This second trade is a little easier, maybe because I’m more welcome to being traded,” said the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Wolski, who was born in Zabrze, Poland, before he and his family moved to Toronto at the age of five. “At the end, I wasn’t playing much, and it was definitely tough not getting the minutes I wanted to be able to contribute.”
Tortorella said he spoke to a number of Western Conference coaches regarding Wolski, but added that he “would not go on other people’s commentary on him.”
“I’m just anxious to see him play,” he said.
Tortorella gave Wolski the assignment to open at left wing with Marian Gaborik and Artem Anisimov, thus bumping Sean Avery back to fourth-line duty despite No. 16’s strong work on that unit during the previous three games, all victories. The shift removes a physical element from Gaborik’s line, always a problematic proposition.
“[Gaborik] is a world-class player and scorer with so much speed — he can only make the players around him better,” Wolski said. “I definitely want to be part of that. It will be special.”
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Marc Staal, selected by NHL Hockey Operations for the All-Star Game that will be played in Raleigh on Jan. 30, is the first Rangers defenseman other than Brian Leetch named to an All-Star roster since Kevin Lowe in 1993.
Henrik Lundqvist was selected to play in his second All-Star Game — his first was in Montreal in 2009 — and Derek Stepan was one of 12 rookies chosen to participate in the skills competition that will take place on Saturday, Jan. 29.