Goal Line Report

Rangers Sign Depth Forward Tyler Arnason

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/03/09 at 11:46 AM ET
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From SNYRangersBlog.com and the New York Rangers:

New York, July 3, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms on a two-way contract with free agent forward Tyler Arnason.

Arnason, 30, skated in 71 games with the Colorado Avalanche last season, registering five goals and 17 assists for 22 points, along with 14 penalty minutes. He finished seventh on the team in scoring with 22 points, and tied for seventh on the Avalanche with 17 assists. He also ranked third on the club with 58 takeaways. Arnason recorded four multi-point games on the season, including a three-assist performance, which tied a career-high, on March 8 at Chicago. He posted a season-high, four-game point streak from January 10 against Pittsburgh to January 16 vs. Edmonton, collecting four points (one goal and three assists) over the span.

Click here for more. Obviously, not a big signing and certainly not a No. 1 center. What exactly is GM Glen Sather trying to do here?

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 Tags: Free+Agents, New+York+Rangers, Tyler+Arnason,

Chris Who?

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 08:02 PM ET
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From Rick Carpiniello and the New York Rangers at Rangers Report:

SIGNING ALERT, SIGNING ALERT:

RANGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH FORWARD CHRIS CHAPPELL
New York, July 2, 2009 – New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has agreed to terms with free agent forward Chris Chappell.

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Brief Thoughts on Saku Koivu as a Potential Ranger

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 04:51 PM ET
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From Steve Zipay at Blue Notes:

Rangers should be in on him for a couple years:

He made $4.75 mil last season and at 34, averaged 17 minutes a game…

Said Higgins: “I haven’t talked to him in a little bit...July 1st just came and went, so...his game is still really strong, that guy plays with a lot of heart, competes every night, he’s a winner and he’s a leader, have not one bad thing to say about him.”

Not a lot of UFA centers (Marleau or Richards in a trade is possible, I guess, but one’s earning $6 mil and the other $7 plus), there’s Sundin, Morrison, LaRose (who I like but not as a No. 1), Perrin, J. Williams....

Click here for more.  It would certainly be interesting but do you folks think he is a No. 1 center?

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Gaborik Conference Call

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 03:32 PM ET
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From Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants:

And, really, who wouldn’t be after getting a five-year deal worth $37.5 million which includes a limited movement clause after a season that consisted of 17 games because of groin, back and a hip surgery. Marian Gaborik, speaking on a conference call from Slovakia that introduced him as the newest Ranger, said he feels 100 percent healthy and believes he was able to prove that with his performance (13 goals, 10 assists) after returning for the end of last season with the Wild.

If Gaborik remains healthy - which still must be considered a big if given his track record, particularly over the past three seasons (48 games in 2006-07) - this should be a great move for the Rangers, who will marry Gaborik’s elite goal-scoring ability with John Tortorella’s aggressive, push-the-puck-up-the-ice brand of hockey.

There’s little doubt the Rangers have finished retooling their roster but Gaborik needs a top-line center to play with. In the media room today, I was making a case for the Rangers pursuing Saku Koivu but the ex-Canadiens captain seems destined for parts West - Los Angeles, Anaheim, Minnesota?

Gaborik said the Rangers pursued him heavily the moment the free agent market opened. He added the Wild made no attempts once noon struck yesterday to retain him. Gaborik said he spoke to several players and ex-players about playing in New York, including current Rangers Chris Drury and Aaron Voros (his former teammate in Minnesota) and ex-Ranger and fellow Czech Martin Rucinsky.

Click here for more. Hopefully, “Gabby” won’t be another free-agent disappointment for the Blueshirts.

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 Tags: Free+Agents, Marian+Gaborik, New+York+Rangers,

Report from Rangers’ Prospect Camp

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 02:47 PM ET
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From Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants:

Based on this week, it’s looking like the Rangers had a good draft in 2008. Defenseman Michael Del Zotto (20th overall), center Derek Stepan (51st), left wing Evgeny Grachev (75th) and defenseman Tomas Kundratek have all stood out at different times for different reasons. Del Zotto displays that same poise that marks Marc Staal’s game, though he needs to manage the puck better at times. That, no doubt, will come with age/experience. Stepan showed good anticipation in both the offensive and defensive zones. Grachev is just a fluid skater/shooter with obvious goal-scoring instincts. At the end of the session, with a group of players including this year’s picks Chris Kreider and Ryan Bourque taking penalty shots on Cornell goalie Ben Scrivens, all but Grachev tried to impress with dipsy-does and other unnecessary moves. Grachev just skated in - repeatedly - and simply flicked puck after puck past Scrivens. Kundratek, paired the last two days with Del Zotto, showed good offensive instincts and an ability to move the puck, plus a hard shot. In one drill, though, Stepan beat Kundratek with a quick move then roofed a goal off the goalie’s mask.

Click here for more on prospects. Nice to hear about the potential the Rangers’ prospects have and hopefully, they’ll be on Broadway in the near future.

Also, click here to read about Marc Staal’s invitation to Team Canada’s camp.

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 Tags: Marc+Staal, New+York+Rangers,

I’m Not the Only One

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 02:38 PM ET
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From Sean Leahy at Puck Daddy:

When the New York Rangers lost tough guy Colton Orr(notes) to the Toronto Maple Leafs, there was opening for someone who could provide sandpaper in the lineup and protect his teammates (now including the glass-like Marian Gaborik(notes)).

Enter Donald Brashear(notes). Enter a player who became Public Enemy No. 1 in New York after his late hit on Blair Betts(notes) in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals last April, knocking the Rangers’ best penalty killer out for the remainder of the playoffs with a broken orbital bone.

At the time, Rangers fans were calling for Brashear’s banishment and expressed their disappointment in the NHL for allowing a repeat offender from continuing to be a “thug.” Now, Rangers fans will have to come to grips with the fact that Brashear will be wearing their colors for the next two seasons. While there’s plenty of utter disgust being expressed about the move, isn’t it like Jerry Seinfeld said about how, at the end of the day, it’s just really about rooting for the color of the team’s laundry?

Click here for more. It’s going to be tough, that’s for sure.

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Puck Daddy’s Thoughts on Team Canada’s Omissions

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 11:26 AM ET
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From Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy:

As this point, your heart just goes out to Steven Stamkos(notes). The No. 1 overall pick in 2008 for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the kid battled through absurd expectations placed on him through offseason marketing—and his own struggles—in a season that saw him earn just three third-place sympathy votes for the Calder.

But he played better as the year wore on, and played very well for Team Canada in the 2009 world championships. Olympic hockey analyst Pierre McGuire thought his international experience might be enough to earn Stamkos a roster spot for Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Games.

Click here for more. I for one am shocked that New York Rangers’ defenseman Wade Redden was not asked (just kidding obviously)!

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 Tags: 2010+Winter+Olympics, Puck+Daddy, Team+Canada,

Rangers Reading: Reactions from Rangers’ Beat Writers

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 10:20 AM ET
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As you would imagine, the New York Rangers’ beat writers were all over the first day of NHL Free-Agency yesterday. Check out the links below for their coverage and some of their reactions to the team’s signings:

- Rangers Report
- Blue Notes
- Ranger Rants
- New York Daily News
- New York Post
- NewYorkRangers.com
- SNYRangersBlog.com

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 Tags: Free+Agents, Rangers+Reading,

Grading the Blueshirts on July 1

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/02/09 at 10:09 AM ET
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If I had to grade New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather on yesterday’s performance on the first day of free-agency, I would have to give him an incomplete. Yes, he signed two players and yes, one of them has a lot of potential to succeed on Broadway but we’ve all seen Sather do stuff like this before and nothing ever come to fruition.

Signing Marian Gaborik was extremely risky. On one hand, Sather managed to sign an offensive superstar who has scored 30-or-more goals in five of his eight seasons, including a career-high 42 in the 2006-07 season. He totaled 437 points in 502 career games, all with the Minnesota Wild, and he’s just 27 years old. If these were the only things that Ranger fans knew about him, there’d be no problems and even Sather thinks that the team improved with this signing.

“Gaborik is an exciting guy to watch play,” Sather told Jim Cerny of NewYorkRangers.com. “He can skate, and he does a lot of great things. He’s a great player, and he’s young. I certainly think he’s in the top ten in this league.”

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 Tags: Donald+Brashear, Free+Agents, Glen+Sather, Marian+Gaborik, Minnesota+Wild, New+York+Rangers, Washington+Capitals,

Roloson Signing Doesn’t Make DiPietro Look Any Better

by Patrick Hoffman on 07/01/09 at 03:45 PM ET
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From Greg Wyshynski at Puck Daddy:

On Sept. 12, 2006, the New York Islanders signed goalie Rick DiPietro(notes) to a 15-year contract worth $67.5 million. Anyone else want to climb into the time machine to tell them they’d be desperately signing a soon-to-be-40-year-old starter to a two-year contract worth $5 million in 2009?

Dwayne Roloson(notes) joins the Islanders, and if that doesn’t speak volumes about their concerns about DiPietro’s heath then nothing does.

Click here for more. Why can’t the Islanders just come out and say what is wrong with DP? Would that be so hard to do?

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 Tags: Dwayne+Roloson, Free+Agents, New+York+Islanders,

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