from Larry Brooks of the NY Post,

And so, with options on the market all but exhausted and the team lining up as the ultimate in helicopter squads (no wings), the Rangers instead pulled off a trade with Columbus, acquiring the very talented but equally erratic and thus far underachieving 23-year-old right winger Nikolai Zherdev (and throw-in pivot Dan Fritsche) for Fedor Tyutin - a third-pair D following the addition of Wade Redden - and Christian Backman.

“It’s going to be on Chris and me now, and that’s what we wanted when we came to New York,” Gomez said by phone yesterday from his home in Alaska. “If I’m playing with Zherdev, it’s going to be up to me to see that it works, and I’m up for it.

“We’re going to go be an in-your-face team that moves and pressures the puck. I’ve been talking to Chris and he feels exactly the same way I do.

“We’re ready for the responsibility.”

more on the Rangers…