The right side of the Ranger defense as of this moment consists of Stephane Quintal, Rich Pilon and Jason Doig.
Or, in other words, perhaps this isn’t quite the time to cut the cord with Mathieu Schneider, who yesterday became an unrestricted free agent nine days after his selection by Columbus in the expansion draft.
“My feeling about wanting to return to the Rangers hasn’t changed at all. That’s always been my first priority,” Schneider said yesterday when reached at Newport, R.I., where he is spending the month. “But at this point it’s out of my control.
“I don’t really have any idea what Glen [Sather] is thinking.”
Sather, spending the next week in Banff while preparing for his son’s July 8 wedding at his Alberta summer residence, has not been in touch with Schneider since his June 1 appointment as Ranger GM. It is believed that Sather has some interest in signing Schneider, one of the team’s most reliable and competitive players last season, but only at a reduced price.
Schneider, probably the most attractive of a free-agent class of defensemen that includes Vladimir Malakhov, Sean Hill, Kevin Haller, Paul Coffey, Dave Manson, Don Sweeney, Peter Popovic, Adam Burt and the immortal Kevin Hatcher, earned $2.75 million last year.
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The Rangers yesterday were in touch with Tom Laidlaw, who represents Dallas Drake, but were not among the winger’s most ardent suitors. As of late afternoon, they had not checked in with Larry Kelly, who represents Scott Thornton.