Rangers sign D Wade Redden; resign Rozsival

[Jade Green]

Why would Dubinsky being on the 3rd line be hurting his development?

Gomez is making too much money, but we had to overpay to be able to get him at all. That's just how it is these days.

Drury is paid too much as well, but I'm still very glad to have him. The guy isn't going to score 40 goals, but he provides invaluable leadership and is a great defensive forward and scores goals at the most important times. And now that Jagr is gone, I can't possibly see how he won't be the captain. He is the exact kind of player you need to win the Cup.

Cherepanov will be here next year. And how do you know how good of a player he is going to become? Have you watched him play at all? The kid was supposed to be a top 5 pick and only dropped to the Rangers because we could afford to sign him. And even if he is only half as good as Malkin or Ovechkin than that's still pretty damn good.

If you know you are over paying why do it twice? Dubinsky proved he would have been a fine number 2 center, there was no need to break the bank on 2 centers last year. As for clutch and leadership, I must have missed it all of last year and against the Pens, he has yet to do it as a Ranger, and until he does I don't care what he did elsewhere, where he was never the focal player. I've seen Chere play he dropped because of the situation with Russia not because of teams budgets, He does not strike me as a player in the same category of Ovechkin and Malkin, believe me I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.

[MasonJet]

If you know you are over paying why do it twice? Dubinsky proved he would have been a fine number 2 center, there was no need to break the bank on 2 centers last year. As for clutch and leadership, I must have missed it all of last year and against the Pens, he has yet to do it as a Ranger, and until he does I don't care what he did elsewhere, where he was never the focal player. I've seen Chere play he dropped because of the situation with Russia not because of teams budgets, He does not strike me as a player in the same category of Ovechkin and Malkin, believe me I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.

Haha you really can't remember Drury being clutch as a Ranger? Not the game-winning goal in OT against the Pens in the regular season? Scoring the tying goal against the Oilers with 7 seconds left in regulation? Scoring the tying goal against the Devils late in the season late in the 3rd period?

And that's just off the top of my head.

And Dubinsky didn't prove anything until after we signed Drury and Gomez. It's hard to complain about having 3 centers that are all capable of playing on the 1st and 2nd line.

Also Drury had 7 game-winning goals this year and was a brilliant penalty killer.

And he's going to be the captain now so I'd get used to him.

[Jade Green]

Haha you really can't remember Drury being clutch as a Ranger? Not the game-winning goal in OT against the Pens in the regular season? Scoring the tying goal against the Oilers with 7 seconds left in regulation? Scoring the tying goal against the Devils late in the season late in the 3rd period?

And that's just off the top of my head.

And Dubinsky didn't prove anything until after we signed Drury and Gomez. It's hard to complain about having 3 centers that are all capable of playing on the 1st and 2nd line.

Also Drury had 7 game-winning goals this year and was a brilliant penalty killer.

And he's going to be the captain now so I'd get used to him.

I am used to him, but he has not earned th C yet, they should go with 3 A's again untill some one steps up. All the goals and all were great, but where were they in the post season when it really counts? Where was all that leadership when it came to the power play that stunk all year? Look I hope the Rangers are allot better, I'm glad they are moved away from Jagr, but bringing in Naslund is very suspect, and Sather has put us up sh*ts creak with the cap, paying TOP TIER money to guys who are not TOP TIER. I like Drury and Gomez, but they are not consistant 30 goal scorers and they are beimg paid like 50 goal guys. The fact that we have all of these centers in the system is further proof that the money spent on Drury who was our 3rd line center last year, would have been better spent on a top tier winger. Right now the Rangers do not have one guy who can consistantly score 30 goals, and they have centers up the ass. Gomez, Drury, Dubi, Anismov, Korpedo, Fritsche, etc. I like the guys we got but, we over paid, and we could have used some of that money to fill a greater need. Gomez and Drury were the 1st and 3rd highest cap hits in the league, and they were no where near the top 20 in production. Sorry but that makes little sense to me, if there was no cap fine, but there is one, there is no way Slats should have tied up that much money signing both. The team got worse not better, this year he shelled out 11.5 to Redden and Rozsi again one would have been fine. We still do not have the bruising deffensemen we need, and we did not come close to replacing the production of Jagr, Shanny, Straka, and Avery but we are nearly capped out. If the youth does not step it up and practically double their production from last year, we are going to take a big step back.

[madmike1]

I see the Devils signed two relics 35 and 37 years old- nice way to spruce up the team Lou.

LMAO wow I guess teams really must be desperate to sign 35 year olds. BTW Naslund sucks.

[124]

LMAO wow I guess teams really must be desperate to sign 35 year olds. BTW Naslund sucks.

Right. He sucks beacuse the Devils didn't sign him, right? Thats about the only logic behind that stupid comment of yours.

Last I checked he's a Captain and scored 55 points last season, 25 of them goals.

[Jade Green]

Right. He sucks beacuse the Devils didn't sign him, right? Thats about the only logic behind that stupid comment of yours.

Last I checked he's a Captain and scored 55 points last season, 25 of them goals.

You are kidding right 124?

Here are the goals and points for Naslund from his peak til now:

02/03 48-104

03/04 35-84

05/06 32-79 (post lockout keep in mind quite a few top players saw bumps in their game this season)

06/07 24-60

07/08 25-55

If people think this guy isn't on his way down I really dont know what to say

Not only has his production gone down each of the last 5 seasons, but it was nearly cut in half. GREAT!!!

I'm a Rangers fan, and it's painfully obvious this guy is in a tumultuous down ward spiral to washed up ness.

Same old, Same old.

[faba]

Sather signing Nasland is puzzling to say the least-he has been declining stats over the last 5 years. The Devils moves will have them going nowhere by the way.

[Jade Green]

Sather signing Nasland is puzzling to say the least-he has been declining stats over the last 5 years. The Devils moves will have them going nowhere by the way.

Sather has no clue, he never has a plan, they draft terribly in the first round, he grossly over pays and signs the wrong guys, now he is talking about changing the system again.

Last year he wanted to look like Buffalo did the year before, now he wants to emulate the Red Wings, except they do not have a lick of talent to match up, except in goal.

He does not get it, he should have been building around what we have in the system, and developing as much as we could and then sign the missing pieces.

Not signing Gomez and Drury and now Redden and building around them.

Lets see where Staal ends up playing, on the first pair where he belongs, or stalled some where down the depth chart becuse Slats shelled out $11.5 million for garbage.

We waited decades to finally have a legitamite home grown top 6 talent, in Dubinsky and watch him play on the 3rd line with garbage.

While the appolgist fans, just continue to turn a blind eye to all this sh*t and find someone on the team to blame, like the multitudes dis with Jagr. GET A CLUE!!!

Like we paid Drury $7 million last year to be a 3rd line center, now either Dubi gets the shaft or Drury plays the wing.

More proof we did not need to sign 2 centers, and now they might use their best face off guy on the wing.

Sather has no plan, he runs this franchise like a joke, Dolan is a complete moron no wonder is franchises are always in complete shambles. SHOCKER!!!

The only players Nazzy ever worked out with were Morrison and Bertuzzi, what are the odds he clicks right away with any of our junk?

Get ready for musical lines for 50 games again, while the genuis that is Renney tries to cram everybody on 2 lines again, instead of balancing out 3 and rolling them, like the chapionship teams do.

SICKENING!!!

[MasonJet]

If we don't sign Naslund, then who? Answer that question.

Nobody is denying that Naslund is on the downside of his career, but he is still a capable offensive player. He scored 25 goals playing on a team with a terrible offense. I doubt the Rangers are expecting him to score another 48 goals this year, but he is a good offensive player with experience on the wing.

He will certainly be playing on one of the first 2 lines, and I'd much rather see him on the 2nd line instead of say, Ryan Callahan. As much as I love Callahan he is not a top 2 line player and there's a good chance he would have been on the 2nd line if not for Naslund.

Not to mention, Prucha is 25, Dawes, Callahan, and Zherdev are all 23. Naslund gives us some much needed experience on the wing, and he will be keeping his spot warm for Alexei Cherepanov.

I know it's really easy to complain Jade Green, and you do it very well, but who else was out there that the Rangers should have signed to play with Drury or Gomez? Fedotenko? Satan? Please.

It was clear that Jagr was not coming back for the amount of money we were willing to give him, and they tried to get Hossa but couldn't get him.

And Sather absolutely does have a plan, as today he talked about the Rangers changing their style of play. Now that the Rangers offense does not have to depend on the slow and aging Jagr and Shanahan, they can have a more upbeat style of play.

And you're kidding yourself if you don't think Staal is going to get all kinds of playing time this year. I'm guessing he'll play with Girardi and that Redden will play with Roszival, just so we can have a lefty-righty duo on each pair. And not having dead weights like Malik and Backman will make a huge difference as well.

[124]

Yeah I'd love to know the genius moves that Jade Green and other haters would've made with Jagr clearly wanting to go to Russia instead of playing for the Rangers as he was so quick to sign with the Russian team just today. Who would you like to play on the first line? Please, humor me because it will be a joke once you give me the answer.

They HAD TO GET Naslund. Had too. His stats in '07-'08 weren't much worse than they were in '06-'07, were they? He is a good signing, especially for only $4 million a year. I'm not saying he's Jagr or a superstar or anything like that, but he's a veteran player who still scored 25 goals last year and 55 points overall. You can't just hand over a team to young players. You can't.

Getting rid of Backman was the best move this organization has made thus far. Redden on the downside? Okay, sure, whatever you'd like to think, but he's an experienced veteran who is an upgrade over the previous defenseman we've had in house.

The young guys will get plenty of ice time. The worrying is ridiculous. The team is improved from what it was just a week ago (because any logical fan knew Jagr was not coming back).

[Jade Green]

Is signing Naslund going to bring us the cup?

If the answer is no, then they should not have signed him in my opinon. We could have traded for Brenier, a much better option.

Let the kids develop, as of right now Dawes is vulnerable anybody can sign him to an offer, that we will not be able to match, also Sjostrum and Fritsche are just as vunarable.

I don't know about you, but I rather keep our young hopefuls then see them gone for declining vets.

Whatever some people never learn, same old sh*t that gets us no where and they love it.

I did not want Jagr back either, or Hossa, or any other over paid and declining UFA's.

None of them was going to bring us a cup, so why tie up and throw the cap space away? We could have sold off cap space to teams in cap trouble and did way better than over paying in the free agent market again.

Maybe when we can't afford to sign our own home grown talent because of stupid moves like these, you all will wake up.

I'm sorry but changing the system every year is not a plan, and hurts the young kids, who just learned an entire system and now are forced to forget it and learn something else.

That's great for development, right???? Wake up call we did not have the talent to run like Buffalo (last years plan) and we do not have the talent to run like Detroit, this year.

Stall showed he deserved 1st pair minutes, and now you are fine with seeing him on the 2nd pair, same with Dubi, except he'll get stuck on line 3 or Drury will play wing, an you are fine with that too. Brilliant!!!

There is plenty to complain about, this is not the way successful teams get to where they win championships, I'm tired of seeing this franchise do things ass backwrds, wake up and stop being an appolgist.

If Redden does not bounce back, his contract is an albatross, and even if he does, he is not going to keep it up for the 5th and 6th year, the entire hockey world knows this contract is a joke.

Odds are he never returns to glory and we get stuck with $6.5 million worth of sh*t for 6 years.

In fact all of our signings ar risky, and on the hig end. I love that we got Zherdev, I just hope we will be able to sign him next year.

I hope the Rangers are much improved, and I am optimistic they will be eventually, but what you guys are failing to realize is the steps Slats is taking that make you happy about this season,

are dangerously close to ruining the future. All I know is none of the cup champs have been built this way, none since '94 maybe, and we have not even come close in 14 years, too bad Slats has not learned what it takes.

Instead of signing others garbage, they should be continue to focus on the draft and development, and build around that. that is how you develop a core to win and contend for years.

Not building around UFA's which we always seem to do. Hey some may be ahppy getting bounced in the 2nd round every year, I'm not, I want more!!!

I am willing to wait for it, but it will never happen, with signings like the ones we made the past 2 years. I am happy with our youth, look how long we waited for a glimpse, soon we will lose some because of cap room.

Oh and the odds that Cherepanov ever comes and plays in the NHL get slimer everyday, hey Mason can you post me all the links where you here him even say once he wants to play here???

[124]

Am I mistaken or did the Detroit Red Wings just win a Stanley Cup with mostly older Free Agents.

You need a mixture of young players and experienced veterans, unless you're the freakin' Red Wings and you sign every high profiled Free Agent known to man and have a great Defense. The Rangers are trying to address their biggest need, upgrading their defense and finding a replacement for Jagr who opted to play for Russia instead of with the team. Resigning the young guys will be no problem because there arn't many young guys on this team right now that other clubs are going to be breaking the bank for. Dubinsky is about the only one I could see as a highly sought after Free Agent.

[Jetkid94]

Islanders got an overall better player in mark streit for only 4 million.

And we signed weight.

[Jade Green]

Am I mistaken or did the Detroit Red Wings just win a Stanley Cup with mostly older Free Agents.

You need a mixture of young players and experienced veterans, unless you're the freakin' Red Wings and you sign every high profiled Free Agent known to man and have a great Defense. The Rangers are trying to address their biggest need, upgrading their defense and finding a replacement for Jagr who opted to play for Russia instead of with the team. Resigning the young guys will be no problem because there arn't many young guys on this team right now that other clubs are going to be breaking the bank for. Dubinsky is about the only one I could see as a highly sought after Free Agent.

Oh yeah, what about Staal, he may be asking in the $8 million dollar range the way things are.

If you think the wings built there core by signing free agents, you are lost, the sign pieces around the core they built.

The Rangers core consists of Drury, Gomez, and Redden all signed UFA's and over paid, The Wings drafted their core, so did the Pens, get a clue.

The only part of our core Drafted is Henrik and Staal, and it is not going to be easy to hold on to Staal and we will never be able to afford to sign what we need, since we over paid for our core, instead of building it.

Also our biggest tneed was a crase clearing defensemen, and we still did not get one, do you think we can now, with less than 700k to spend.

Please, next you are going to tell me you like Cashman and all his moves.

[Jade Green]

Islanders got an overall better player in mark streit for only 4 million.

And we signed weight.

Sorry but Streit is not overall better at anything, hell he is not even a defense men.

He is a converted foward, and a point specialist, he is garbage in his own end, which is why you signed him for balls compared to what real defense men got.

Oh and good luck with Weight, at least come trade deadline when your fishsticks are no where to be found in the play off picture, you can send old Doug back to St.Louis again.

Hell the may even take Guerrin of your hands too. Hey ask Garth Snow how that whole Ryan Smith deal worked out.

[MasonJet]

Trade for Bernier? Do you really think Buffalo would just give a conference rival a player like that? Of course not.

And where does this crap about emulating Buffalo and Detroit come from? Stop making sh!t up.

Can you show me anything that says Cherepanov doesn't want to come to New York? Ovechkin and Malkin played in the same league and they managed to make it over here.

And the Rangers young players aren't 10 year old kids, they can adjust to new styles of play. And when you get this many new players, you are obviously going to have to change your style of play. Now that the Rangers aren't depending on the slow Jagr and Shanahan, they can play a more uptempo style of play.

And it's funny that you think Staal will be stuck on the 2nd pairing or something. He averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game last year. Do you really think he will be getting anything less than that this year?

And yeah yeah, keep talking about our homegrown talent, but the Rangers would look like total idiots if they had Dubinsky as our only center last year. Do you really think you can just take kids from the AHL and plop them on the first line and expect them to excel right away? No they need to be developed, and that is why you need to have some veterans to go along with young players. If the Rangers didn't have Drury and Gomez, who else would have played center last year?

[Jade Green]

Trade for Bernier? Do you really think Buffalo would just give a conference rival a player like that? Of course not.

And where does this crap about emulating Buffalo and Detroit come from? Stop making sh!t up.

Can you show me anything that says Cherepanov doesn't want to come to New York? Ovechkin and Malkin played in the same league and they managed to make it over here.

And the Rangers young players aren't 10 year old kids, they can adjust to new styles of play. And when you get this many new players, you are obviously going to have to change your style of play. Now that the Rangers aren't depending on the slow Jagr and Shanahan, they can play a more uptempo style of play.

And it's funny that you think Staal will be stuck on the 2nd pairing or something. He averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game last year. Do you really think he will be getting anything less than that this year?

And yeah yeah, keep talking about our homegrown talent, but the Rangers would look like total idiots if they had Dubinsky as our only center last year. Do you really think you can just take kids from the AHL and plop them on the first line and expect them to excel right away? No they need to be developed, and that is why you need to have some veterans to go along with young players. If the Rangers didn't have Drury and Gomez, who else would have played center last year?

First of all get a clue, they traded Brenier for nothing, yeah we could have pulled it off, we are not their biggest rivals.

Regardless the Nazzy deal is not bringing us a vup, niether did the Jagr clan, we need to stop spining our wheels and start worring about the future.

If you do not know that Slats said he wanted to look like Buffalo last year and Detroit this, get your head out of your ass!!! It's common knowledge to Rangers fans every where.

Man you are lost and clueless, when Malkin was over there, all you herd was how bad he wanted to come here, shoe me one quote of Chere saying anything about leaving.

Wake up and piss the world is on fire, we are not going to be able to out pay the Russian league that signed Jagr, and Chere idolizes Jags.

He may just stay for the money and to paly with his idol. SHOCKER!!! But you want to shell out $4 Million per to Nazzy and $6.5 for 6 years to Redden both declining, neither bringing us a cup.

Of course we have to change our system now, FINALLY!!!! but we are no Detroit. Learn how to read, I said I have a problem with changing the system every year.

The youth have been playing this style since Hartford, they have been using this system all along.

We should have been working at this the past 3 years, we should have traded Jagr and not signed players to fit his style. We could have been building our core for the past 3 years.

That is how you build a contender and winner for years, not by signing a core, and trying to fit squares in round holes, while ruining the cap and changing the system every year. PLEASE ALREADY WAKE UP!!!

Last year we did not have Redden making $6.5 million, if you don't think that is not going to effect Staal you are high.

They are both right handed shots, Staal will be on the 2nd pair, unless Redden totally flops, which would be just splended for our cap.

Again stop making sh*t up, I never said we should not have signed any centers, last year I said we did not need to over pay TWO!!!

There were plenty of other options at center last year, we could have signed Gomez and kept Cullen or added Comrie for less.

Mean while we did better last season with lesser centers in Nyl's and Cullen wake up, and Dubinsky did come from Hartford last year and center the top line.

Get a clue, we did not need to pay Drury $7 million to center line 3 with kids, and now we are stuck either moving him to wing, of shafting Dubi with line 3 minutes and garbage linemates.

We did not need to pay Drury $7 Million per with a no movement clause to boot, for this.

Please spare me of any more of your appolgist bull sh*t!!!

[MasonJet]

Wow looks like I really struck a nerve. All of this telling me to get a clue this, and get a clue that.

What makes you such a ****ing brilliant hockey analyst?

Buffalo traded Bernier for a 2nd-round pick and a 3rd-round pick. Their clearly would have been a higher asking price for a conference rival, that is just common sense.

And considering you're calling me such an idiot, you might want to work on your spelling.

You are clearly on drugs if you don't think Staal will be getting about 20 minutes a night. I think Redden and Roszival will be the first pair and Staal and Girardi will be the 2nd. What is the problem there? Redden and Roszival are both more experienced than Staal and are used to logging heavy minutes. And Staal is only 21 years old, what is the huge rush to have him on the first pair? I'll gladly make a vbookie wager with you on how much ice time he will be getting.

And Cullen and Comrie over Gomez and Drury? Yechh no thanks. Cullen just did not play well for us or do you not remember why we traded him? Comrie has never had more than 60 points in a year and has all of 10 points in 32 playoff games. There is a reason they could have been signed for less, they aren't as good.

Wow am I happy you are not the Rangers GM?

[Jade Green]

Wow looks like I really struck a nerve. All of this telling me to get a clue this, and get a clue that.

What makes you such a ****ing brilliant hockey analyst?

Buffalo traded Bernier for a 2nd-round pick and a 3rd-round pick. Their clearly would have been a higher asking price for a conference rival, that is just common sense.

And considering you're calling me such an idiot, you might want to work on your spelling.

You are clearly on drugs if you don't think Staal will be getting about 20 minutes a night. I think Redden and Roszival will be the first pair and Staal and Girardi will be the 2nd. What is the problem there? Redden and Roszival are both more experienced than Staal and are used to logging heavy minutes. And Staal is only 21 years old, what is the huge rush to have him on the first pair? I'll gladly make a vbookie wager with you on how much ice time he will be getting.

And Cullen and Comrie over Gomez and Drury? Yechh no thanks. Cullen just did not play well for us or do you not remember why we traded him? Comrie has never had more than 60 points in a year and has all of 10 points in 32 playoff games. There is a reason they could have been signed for less, they aren't as good.

Wow am I happy you are not the Rangers GM?

That is nice, I don't pride my self on spelling, or typing.

The only nerve you struck is how stupid Rangers fans are, they just keep supporting anything the FO does regardless of how stupid it is, year after year!!!

I am not a hockey genius, but it's plain to see what works and what does not, and what we are doing does not work.

We are going to have a log jam at center, we already are reducing Dubi's ice time and line mates or moving Drury to wing, again get your head out of your ass.

We still have Korpedo, and Anismov, who may both be ready, and there still is Betts and Fritsche.

I like how you just dropped that and Chere, because you are baffled.

We did not sign Drury to play line 3 or wing, and that is what is going to happen, unless the decide to strand Dubinsky who is our future. WHAT WLSE IS NEW???

Do some research, any body who was on the team's offense with Nylander and Cullen had a better year with them, then Drury and Gomez, and we lasted 1 more game in the playoffs.

Oh by the way they were like $9 million less in cap, do the math, how was the $9 million worth it? We did not need 2 $7million dollar cenetrs duh, no we have a log jam, and we still need wingers and a crease clearer.

Rozsi is not a first pair guy, Staal is, and you are fine now playing them in reversed roles to accomodate Redden, exactly!!!!

I'm done trying to talk sense to you, you already resulted into picking and chosing points, and convienantly leaving out the facts that prove your opinions to be unrealistic.

No wonder you resorted to spell checking, maybe you will learn something after another playoff and cup drought.

[MasonJet]

That is nice, I don't pride my self on spelling.

Thh only nerve you struck is how stupid Rangers fans are, they just keep supporting anything the FO does regardless of how stupid it is, year after year!!!

I am not a hockey genius, but it's plain to see what works and what does not, and what we are doing does not work.

We are going to have a log jam at center, we already are reducing Dubi's ice time and line mates or moving Drury to wing, again get your head out of your ass.

We still have Korpedo, and Anismov, who may both be ready, and there still is Betts and Fritsche.

I like how you just dropped that and Chere, because you are baffled.

We did not sign Drury to play line 3 or wing, and that is what is going to happen, unless the decide to strand Dubinsky who is our future. WHAT WLSE IS NEW???

Do some research, any body who was on the team's offense with Nylander and Cullen had a better year with them, then Drury and Gomez, and we lasted 1 more game in the playoffs.

Oh by the way they were like $9 million less in cap, do the math, how was the $9 million worth it? We did not need 2 $7million dollar cenetrs duh, no we have a log jam, and we still need wingers and a crease clearer.

Rozsi is not a first pair guy, Staal is, and you are fine now playing them in reversed roles to accomodate Redden, exactly!!!!

I'm done trying to talk sense to you, you already resulted into picking and chosing points, and convienantly leaving out the facts that prove your opinions to be unrealistic.

No wonder you resorted to spell checking, maybe you will learn something after another playoff and cup drought.

Yes Nylander Jagr and Straka played very well together. But they are all pretty old, and the Rangers for some reason decided it made more sense to spend money on younger centers in their prime than older centers leaving it.

By letting Nylander go and signing Drury and Gomez, it was a clear signal of the direction they were heading. Jagr and Straka are both on the decline so talking about stats from 2 years ago is irrelevant.

Cullen had 41 points in 80 games for us, where are you getting this idea that he was so good on the Rangers?

I just dropped that and Chere because I am baffled? What does that even mean? I know you're convinced that he won't be coming here even though there isn't any evidence to support that. Anisimov played in the Russian league for 2 years and now he is with Hartford.

And I guess the point your making is because Drury and Gomez didn't win the Cup right away that they are busts? Am I right on this one? I mean if you would rather have Cullen and Comrie over those two that's your right, even if it makes no sense. Like I said, the reason they cost less money is because they aren't as good. Drury and Gomez have both shown they can perform in the playoffs and just because they didn't win the cup in the 1 year they were on the team does not mean we will never make it with them.

And holy crap are you still whining about Staal? I'll gladly make that vbookie wager with you that he gets at least 20 minutes a game, probably more. Renney likes to have lefty-righty pairs, so doing Redden-Roszival, Staal-Girardi, and Mara-Kalinin is probably what will happen, even though Mara and Kalinin are both lefties. Talking about 1st pair or 2nd pair is a minor distinction as the first 2 pairs will likely have almost the exact same amount of ice time.

I'm not picking and choosing points, you're just making some really bad points. If you want to argue that Redden is overpaid, I'd agree with you. That signing could be a huge blunder but we'll see.

And I am looking up the statistics. I would love to know who had such great stats while playing with Cullen. I can't seem to find them.

[Jade Green]

Yes Nylander Jagr and Straka played very well together. But they are all pretty old, and the Rangers for some reason decided it made more sense to spend money on younger centers in their prime than older centers leaving it.

By letting Nylander go and signing Drury and Gomez, it was a clear signal of the direction they were heading. Jagr and Straka are both on the decline so talking about stats from 2 years ago is irrelevant.

Cullen had 41 points in 80 games for us, where are you getting this idea that he was so good on the Rangers?

I just dropped that and Chere because I am baffled? What does that even mean? I know you're convinced that he won't be coming here even though there isn't any evidence to support that. Anisimov played in the Russian league for 2 years and now he is with Hartford.

And I guess the point your making is because Drury and Gomez didn't win the Cup right away that they are busts? Am I right on this one? I mean if you would rather have Cullen and Comrie over those two that's your right, even if it makes no sense. Like I said, the reason they cost less money is because they aren't as good. Drury and Gomez have both shown they can perform in the playoffs and just because they didn't win the cup in the 1 year they were on the team does not mean we will never make it with them.

And holy crap are you still whining about Staal? I'll gladly make that vbookie wager with you that he gets at least 20 minutes a game, probably more. Renney likes to have lefty-righty pairs, so doing Redden-Roszival, Staal-Girardi, and Mara-Kalinin is probably what will happen, even though Mara and Kalinin are both lefties. Talking about 1st pair or 2nd pair is a minor distinction as the first 2 pairs will likely have almost the exact same amount of ice time.

I'm not picking and choosing points, you're just making some really bad points. If you want to argue that Redden is overpaid, I'd agree with you. That signing could be a huge blunder but we'll see.

And I am looking up the statistics. I would love to know who had such great stats while playing with Cullen. I can't seem to find them.

You are missing my points all together.

I know it was time to move past Jagr, I would have started in this direction right after the lock out.

What I am saying is We could have lost in round 2 with any centers, and any offensive players that were on the team with Cullen and Nylander had more points with them over Drury and Gomez, look it up.

We did not need to sign Drury, it is so obvious already, his cap room would be better served on a crease clearer and a talanted winger, we have centers up the ass.

The only way signing both at the money we did will be worth it is if we win the cup with both of them, and right now I don't see it happening, I hope I'm wrong.

Regardless, this is not how to build a winner to contend for years and years. Look at all the elite teams, they built a core, they did not over pay signing one, like we did.

I don't gamble and I am not saying Staal will be forgotten, but he will get less ice time, then he would on the first pairing, believe it or not. and Redden is not worth what we paid and for 6 years to boot.

Funny how you don't even acknowledge the whole Drury wing or Dubi line 3 thing, don't bother now, just keep telling your self we needed to pay $7 million to Drury to center line 3 or move to wing.

Continue to ignore the fact that we got no where for it and the team got worse, and is a shell of itself now.

[MasonJet]

You are missing my points all together.

I know it was time to move past Jagr, I would have started in this direction right after the lock out.

What I am saying is We could have lost in round 2 with any centers, and any offensive players that were on the team with Cullen and Nylander had more points with them over Drury and Gomez, look it up.

We did not need to sign Drury, it is so obvious already, his cap room would be better served on a crease clearer and a talanted winger, we have centers up the ass.

The only way signing both at the money we did will be worth it is if we win the cup with both of them, and right now I don't see it happening, I hope I'm wrong.

Regardless, this is not how to build a winner to contend for years and years. Look at all the elite teams, they built a core, they did not over pay signing one, like we did.

I don't gamble and I am not saying Staal will be forgotten, but he will get less ice time, then he would on the first pairing, believe it or not. and Redden is not worth what we paid and for 6 years to boot.

Funny how you don't even acknowledge the whole Drury wing or Dubi line 3 thing, don't bother now, just keep telling your self we needed to pay $7 million to Drury to center line 3 or move to wing.

Continue to ignore the fact that we got no where for it and the team got worse, and is a shell of itself now.

Well you're contradicting yourself with Drury and Dubinsky. You say that if Dubinsky is a 3rd line center that he will be stuck with crappy players. Those players could be Korpiksoki and Callahan. Are those good young players or crappy players?

And you are ignoring the fact that Drury and Gomez will still be on the team for several years. Last year was not their only chance to win the Cup with the Rangers. But feel free to keep complaining about having too much talent. That totally makes sense.

[Jade Green]

Well you're contradicting yourself with Drury and Dubinsky. You say that if Dubinsky is a 3rd line center that he will be stuck with crappy players. Those players could be Korpiksoki and Callahan. Are those good young players or crappy players?

And you are ignoring the fact that Drury and Gomez will still be on the team for several years. Last year was not their only chance to win the Cup with the Rangers. But feel free to keep complaining about having too much talent. That totally makes sense.

You are so clueless, Dubinsky's, Callahan's & Korpikoski's contracts are all up next year, and Zherdev is a RFA.

Let me know how smart that Drury signing is when we lose 1 or 2 of them because we can't afford to sign them.

Oh yeah you can add the Nazzy signing as even worse and going to cost us.

Like I said Slats is so smart that we won 2 playoff series in 12 years, keep waiving your pom poms.

when you see us go no where again and lose good young players over Drury's contract years, then maybe you will finally wake up.

Sad thing is it will be too late.

[MasonJet]

You are so clueless, Dubinsky's, Callahan's & Korpikoski's contracts are all up next year, and Zherdev is a RFA.

Let me know how smart that Drury signing is when we lose 1 or 2 of them because we can't afford to sign them.

Oh yeah you can add the Nazzy signing as even worse and going to cost us.

Like I said Slats is so smart that we won 2 playoff series in 12 years, keep waiving your pom poms.

when you see us go no where again and lose good young players over Drury's contract years, then maybe you will finally wake up.

Sad thing is it will be too late.

You do know that the salary cap will go up right? I think it went up around 6 million this season.

Callahan and Korpikoski are not going to be that expensive. Dubinsky will be a little more than them but I doubt anything more than 3 mil unless he scores 30 goals or something. And more salary will be shed, most likely Prucha and Hollweg's. The Rangers have a glut of bottom 6 forwards right now (Callahan, Sjostrom, Rissmiller, Voros, Orr, Hollweg, Fritsche, Korps) and some of them will be gone.

Naslund's contract will not prevent us from getting anyone. The salary cap going up will give us enough room to re-sign Zherdev if we want to, and with Naslund's contract expiring after 2010, that will free up more cap space for a cap that could be around 65 million by then.

And if we didn't sign Naslund, who else would be playing left wing on the first 2 lines? Oh wait I know, somebody who is not a top 6 forward, that's who.

And there are rumors about the Rangers trading for Patrick O'Sullivan of the Kings, but I don't know how much truth their is to those rumors.

[Jade Green]

You do know that the salary cap will go up right? I think it went up around 6 million this season.

Callahan and Korpikoski are not going to be that expensive. Dubinsky will be a little more than them but I doubt anything more than 3 mil unless he scores 30 goals or something. And more salary will be shed, most likely Prucha and Hollweg's. The Rangers have a glut of bottom 6 forwards right now (Callahan, Sjostrom, Rissmiller, Voros, Orr, Hollweg, Fritsche, Korps) and some of them will be gone.

Naslund's contract will not prevent us from getting anyone. The salary cap going up will give us enough room to re-sign Zherdev if we want to, and with Naslund's contract expiring after 2010, that will free up more cap space for a cap that could be around 65 million by then.

And if we didn't sign Naslund, who else would be playing left wing on the first 2 lines? Oh wait I know, somebody who is not a top 6 forward, that's who.

And there are rumors about the Rangers trading for Patrick O'Sullivan of the Kings, but I don't know how much truth their is to those rumors.

We can not afford O'Sullivan, who are we going to trade to clear up enough cap space for him besides Prucha. Also we could have drafted him but we took Baranka, who left for Russia, hows that working out?

See you are proving my point I would rather have O'Sullivan who is top 6 over Nazzy any day, but you can forget about it now.

As for the cap, if it keeps going up at the pace it is, there was no need for one to begin with. You do not know for sure if it will even go up, so you are counting on a big if.

If you want to go by if's, if Zherdev has a big year, he is going to be looking for Redden type money, we may not be able to afford it.

The only way the cap goes up is if the owners continue to raise ticket prices, if they continue to in this economy, people may stop going.

Then the cap goes down, so there are no guarantees the cap goes up and for how much. If Cally, Korpedo or Dubi have a monster year, they are going to demand big bucks.

You are fooling yourself if you think there is not a chance of losing a few young guns next year, hell we may lose Dawes this year even.

The biggest problem IMO is the contract and NMC's they gave Drury. He is not the man everybody thinks he is, he is clutch but on winning teams, how was he in Calgary?

Garbage, that's how, and in Colorado, and Buffalo he was a complemntary peace he was no where near as good as Sakic and Forsberg, or Brierre and Vanek.

Hell in colorado hey may have been 5th on the depth chart behind Hedjuk and Tangay. He and Gomez are not $7 million per players, hello Thorton, Iginla, Lecavelier, Kovalchuck, are.

Sorry our wonder twins do not even come close, check the stats!!! They are not even consistant 30 goal scorers. Gomez did it once, and most of his career he scores 14 or less, Drury did it twice, big wow!!!

In fact we don't have any legitimate 30 goal scorers period, and we are capped out!!! Oh and we don't have anyone who could clear the crease either. What a JOKE!!!

[124]

[124]

You are so clueless, Dubinsky's, Callahan's & Korpikoski's contracts are all up next year, and Zherdev is a RFA.

Let me know how smart that Drury signing is when we lose 1 or 2 of them because we can't afford to sign them.

Oh yeah you can add the Nazzy signing as even worse and going to cost us.

Like I said Slats is so smart that we won 2 playoff series in 12 years, keep waiving your pom poms.

when you see us go no where again and lose good young players over Drury's contract years, then maybe you will finally wake up.

Sad thing is it will be too late.

Other than Dubinskey, nobody is going to breaking down those players doors for contracts. Callahan and Korp will be easy to resign. Dubinsky will garner some money, but it certainly won't be more than a couple of million a year. I'd be very surprised if a team offered him more than $3 million a year, a number the Rangers can afford and or go a little bit more above.

Drury and Gomez were smart signings and whats this crap about Rozsival not being 1st line material? The guy blocked shots like crazy and I want my defenders to play hard and block shots, exactly what Rozsival does. Staal will be just fine on the 2nd line, he doesn't deserve to play the first line yet. The guy isn't exactly Lindstrom Jr.

[Jade Green]

[Jade Green]

Other than Dubinskey, nobody is going to breaking down those players doors for contracts. Callahan and Korp will be easy to resign. Dubinsky will garner some money, but it certainly won't be more than a couple of million a year. I'd be very surprised if a team offered him more than $3 million a year, a number the Rangers can afford and or go a little bit more above.

Drury and Gomez were smart signings and whats this crap about Rozsival not being 1st line material? The guy blocked shots like crazy and I want my defenders to play hard and block shots, exactly what Rozsival does. Staal will be just fine on the 2nd line, he doesn't deserve to play the first line yet. The guy isn't exactly Lindstrom Jr.

Sorry 124, but I don't have a crystal ball like you. Korpedo, Cally and Dubi can have break out years, and then they would demand way more money. Plus you are not counting the fact we will have to sign Zherdev too, and if he tears it up he is going to cost big bucks to retain. We over paid for both Drury and Gomez, compare the salaries and stats with other guys in the league making $7 mill, they do not measure up, not even close. Sorry but if you think Rozsival is first pair material, you are burnt, he is not. He blocks shots??? Come on all defense men should be blocking shots. He is bad in his own zone, he gives up the puck way too much, never throws the body, gets beat down low. Is defense leaves allot to be desired, hopefully he puts up more goals, now that he should be shooting more because he won't be looking to feed Jagr all day, hpefully.

[MasonJet]

As long as you're whining about Naslund.

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/sports/canucks/story.html?id=e029f15c-dbfc-48ba-aecb-725b02a1860e

As much as Naslund said in the offseason he was unsure of his playing future and would keep an open mind, the Swedish winger targeted just one team.

"Right from noon [EST] on July 1, my eyes have been set on the Rangers," Naslund, 34, said in a conference call. "This team has a chance to win the Cup."

Much of that has to do with former Canucks coach Tom Renney allowing the Rangers to play a more open style. Naslund was stuck in a defence-first system under Alain Vigneault and finished last season with Ryan Shannon and Brad Isbister as linemates -- not exactly the West Coast Express. In 2006-07, Naslund played on 13 different lines.

And 124 is right, Staal has not earned a 1st-pairing spot yet. He certainly will and when he does will stay there for a long time, but at the moment there is no reason to put that kind of unnecessary pressure on him. Girardi is a solid player as well and I feel very good about that potential paring.

The O'Sullivan rumor is probably pretty bogus, and if it is true the Rangers probably won't be able to get him. Not because of the salary cap but we would have to give up way too much get him.

Naslund is a proven vet and O'Sullivan is a talented young player who has yet to reach his potential, so comparing them is silly. Not to mention O'Sullivan is a center, and I thought you hated those?

And I'm sure if you do some research you'd be surprised how many teams have about 30 million dollars going to 5 players. These teams include Detroit, Dallas, San Jose, and Philadelphia. So those salaries are not going to prevent the Rangers from doing what they need to do to be a contender.

And any team with a goalie like Lundqvist is going to be a contender, and this year we will have our most talented defense since the lockout.

No Malik + No Strudwick + No Backman = woohoo!

And holy crap do you complain a lot. Why don't you just write James Dolan and ask him to be the Rangers GM and spare us all the whining.

[Jade Green]

As long as you're whining about Naslund.

And 124 is right, Staal has not earned a 1st-pairing spot yet. He certainly will and when he does will stay there for a long time, but at the moment there is no reason to put that kind of unnecessary pressure on him. Girardi is a solid player as well and I feel very good about that potential paring.

The O'Sullivan rumor is probably pretty bogus, and if it is true the Rangers probably won't be able to get him. Not because of the salary cap but we would have to give up way too much get him.

Naslund is a proven vet and O'Sullivan is a talented young player who has yet to reach his potential, so comparing them is silly. Not to mention O'Sullivan is a center, and I thought you hated those?

And I'm sure if you do some research you'd be surprised how many teams have about 30 million dollars going to 5 players. These teams include Detroit, Dallas, San Jose, and Philadelphia. So those salaries are not going to prevent the Rangers from doing what they need to do to be a contender.

And any team with a goalie like Lundqvist is going to be a contender, and this year we will have our most talented defense since the lockout.

No Malik + No Strudwick + No Backman = woohoo!

And holy crap do you complain a lot. Why don't you just write James Dolan and ask him to be the Rangers GM and spare us all the whining.

Nobody is whining, you are pom pom waiving for a GM who has gotten us no where, we won 2 playoff series in 12 years, get a clue.

We are paying $7 million to 2 centers that are not worth $7 million, when you compare their production to other $7 million dollar players through out the league, wake up!!!

What does it matter what other teams are doing, again the Sharks are paying Joe Thorton $7 million, nobody in the league has more points then Joe Thorton over the last 4 years, clown.

Drury and Gomez are making just as much yet their numbers are not even close. Detroit drafted their core, so did the Pens, they did not sign them as free agents.

Last I checked Philly went from worst team to better then us in 1 year, they trade guys and stock plie picks all the time, they are building a core, and signing pieces that fit, not building around free agents, douche.

Dallas also has a core of home growns not free agents genius. You have no idea what our youth is going to command, and if we will be able to sign them, I much rather have O'Sullivan than Nazzy, any day of the week.

O'Sullivan is already top 6 talent, I'd rather have him then Drury at $7 million, we could easily use O'Sullivan on the wing with out sacrificing our best face off guy, tard.

Nazzy's stats have declined for 5 straight seasons, He did not even see a bump the first season back from the lock out like every other forward did, his numbers are half what the were 4 years ago.

Contenders do not get housed in the 2nd round, you are a joke, and stop posting Eklund rumors, get a life, oh and check the Cherepanov thread, it does not sound good.

The Rangers have more tied up in 5 players than any other team at 58% of the cap, and Lundqvist is the only one worth the money, nice try but you suck!!!

[124]

We lost four games to one to a team who was two wins away from becoming the Stanley Cup Champs. We also weren't blown out in any game. The defense blew Game 1, the offense with Jagr couldn't score in Game 2 and Game 5 was a thriller. I'd hardly call us being housed. We played hard, but our defense was weak and the almighty Jagr couldn't get us more than one win.

Defensive play, great or very good goaltending and key goal scoring wins championships. We've upgraded on defense and have added some offensive players and are hoping that they can come through more in the clutch. We'll see what happens. We needed more help for Henrik and we got that.

Is this team a cup favorite? No. But is it any worse than it was in May? No. Perhaps better since we knew Jagr was most likely not coming back.

[Jade Green]

We lost four games to one to a team who was two wins away from becoming the Stanley Cup Champs. We also weren't blown out in any game. The defense blew Game 1, the offense with Jagr couldn't score in Game 2 and Game 5 was a thriller. I'd hardly call us being housed. We played hard, but our defense was weak and the almighty Jagr couldn't get us more than one win.

Defensive play, great or very good goaltending and key goal scoring wins championships. We've upgraded on defense and have added some offensive players and are hoping that they can come through more in the clutch. We'll see what happens. We needed more help for Henrik and we got that.

Is this team a cup favorite? No. But is it any worse than it was in May? No. Perhaps better since we knew Jagr was most likely not coming back.

We lost 4 games to 1, we got housed, don't sugar coat it, call a spade a spade.

The 2 teams in the finals, built their core through the draft and trades, the did not sign them in free agency like the Rangers did.

See a difference? Detroit: Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom. Pitt: Crosby, Malkin, Fluery. Rangers: Drury, Gomez, Redden.

We do not even have a legitamite 30 goal scorer, and none of our upgraded D is a crease clearer.

We did not replace the production of Jagr, Shanny, Straka and Avery, and you say we are better.

The deffense is better, but Redden and Roszi are not worth near $11.5 million.

Signing aging sliding guys, and over paying them to boot is what we always did, and got no where.

I'm done arguing, with you two. When we get no where again and are in cap hell, losing our best young guys maybe you will wake up.

Slats is still over paying for falling Vets, we won 2 playoff series in 12 years, and you are singing his praises, in a daze.

Sickening!!!

[124]

Yeah, because the second round is "nowhere".

[Jade Green]

Yeah, because the second round is "nowhere".

Yeah, so where do they hang the banner for it??? We got smoked 4-1!!!

Give me a break, we won 2 playoff series in 12 years, and you want to celebrate it.