Upon Further Review, Rangers May Not Look All That Different Next Season [Links Added]

On break-up day, every Ranger pretty much said he wanted to come back, but each had a caveat. Jaromir Jagr said the Rangers were his "number one option" for next season, but promises to Avangard Omsk in Russia and his father in Czech could pull him back to Europe sooner rather than later. Sean Avery reiterated how much he loves New York, but he said his fate was in GM Glen Sather's hands and that he'd be happy playing for fans anywhere. Brendan Shanahan said his body was telling he could still play, but he wasn't sure at what level and whether that would be in New York again. Martin Straka said he has one more season in him, and he'd like for that season to be in New York if Jagr returns.

But unless some of these players are willing to give Sather a big hometown discount, there simply is no room for all of them on a roster that is becoming increasingly filled with players of the future. A quick look at everyone's contract status and at the salary cap shows that the Rangers could easily be the same team next season that they are now. All four center positions are already filled by Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, and Blair Betts. Assuming the Rangers easily re-sign restricted free agents Nigel Dawes and Freddie Sjostrom to economical contracts, six of nine wingers will return (Ryan Callahan, Petr Prucha, Colton Orr, and Ryan Hollweg are the others).

On defense, five players are already under contract -- Marc Staal, Fedor Tyutin, Dan Girardi, Christian Backman, and Thomas Pock. The Rangers will likely try to re-sign Michal Rozsival and may even want to keep Paul Mara if he is willing accept a salary commensurate with his role here. Henrik Lundqvist is under contract for a long time, and Miika Wiikman is already inked, so he's an option if the Rangers decide not to sign Steve Valiquette. Down in Hartford, nine forwards and four defenseman are already signed, eight more RFAs can easily be brought back should the Rangers choose to keep them, and two unrestricted free agents are highly likely to stay (David Leneveu and Hugh Jessiman). So there will be no shortage of young players knocking on the door, with Lauri Korpikoski, Greg Moore, Dane Byers, Ivan Baranka, and Bobby Sanguinetti sure to get long looks in training camp.

Right now, that all adds up to around $36 million, including upwards of $1.5 million in bonus payments from last season deferred to next season's cap calculation. With next season's cap likely to be in the $55 million range, that leaves $19 million to re-sign Avery, re-sign or replace Jagr, re-sign or replace Rozsival, re-sign Dawes and Sjostrom, and fill out three depth positions with rookies or veterans returning on the cheap. The early line is that it will take $6-8 million to fill Jagr's position, $3.5-4 million for Avery, and $4-6 million for Rozsival's spot. It will be impossible to go to the high end on all three positions and still have anything left over for the five other positions that need to be filled. Which makes it that much more imperative to re-sign Jagr, since part of his salary can be deferred into the following season.

The big conundrum will be on defense. If you re-sign Jagr, Avery, and Rozsival at the low end of the scale, you have precious little left for the type of power play quarterback or crease clearer the team really needs. And if one or two manage to get more than the low end, there is no room at all -- unless you forego Rozsival and target Wade Redden, the one free agent who combines both elements the Rangers need, although he will obviously cost more, or go for a cheaper option like John-Michael Liles or Marc Streit as your QB or Brooks Orpik as you banger, along with a second defenseman from the low-cost end of the list. None of which leaves you with any room to maneuvre during the season -- which means the best option of all might very well be a trade rather than a free agent.

But no matter how you cut it, it's hard to see where there can be any room for Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka, or Paul Mara -- unless they are willing to work for peanuts as depth players. You'd want your young players to cut their teeth in those roles, but veterans like these would be great depth players if the team ran into a rash of injuries or young players unexpectedly hitting walls or ceilings.

We're not going to repeat the prime quotes from yesterday's exit interviews since they have already been much-repeated in the press -- see the Daily News here and here, Journal News, Newsday, Times, Post, Record here and here, Star-Ledger, Blue Notes, Rangers Report here and here, Slap Shot, Prospect Park, AP, MSG.com here and here, NY Sports Day, and NYR.com. Rangers going to the World Championship -- Lundqvist to Sweden, Dubinsky to U.S.A., Tyutin to Russia, and Rozsival to Czech (NYR.com).

Comments

[Ros]

On the bottom of the TSN article about Jagr it said that Lundqvist is heading to team Sweden for the WC. Any word on that? Is it true?

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=236961&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_nhl

[vee1968]

long time reader first time poster. I was reading on International Ice Hockey Federation webpage that he signed to play. Probably after the qualifying round. Here is the link below:
http://www.iihf.com/channels/iihf-world-championship/news/news-singleview-world-championship/article/henrik-lundqvist-joins-sweden.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=552&cHash=ad1c604b15

[baals]

what has rozsival done to warrant 4-6 million per? if thats what he wants forget it. definitely not worth it. id like to see him on the third pairing if anything. what about hutchinson, or pock? could they really be any worse than backman defensively? theyd sure cost alot less.

[Ros]

Thanks Vee!

[LisaMY]

For the record--this is what these UFA D-men made this year:

Wade Redden, 30 yrs old, $6,500,000
Mike Commodore, 27 yrs old, $1,300,000
Mattias Norstrom, 35 yrs old, $4,250,000
Brian Campbell, 28 yrs old, $1,750,000
Brad Stuart, 27 yrs old, $3,500,000
John-Michael Liles, 26 yrs old, $1,400,000
Ron Hainsey, 26 yrs old, $900,000
Andreas Lilja, 31 yrs old, $1,000,000
Oleg Tverdovsky, 31 yrs old, $2,500,000

For the Rangers UFAs:
Michal Rozsival, 28 yrs old, $2,300,000
Marek Malik, 32 yrs old, $2,500,000
Jason Strudwick, 31 yrs old, $500,000
Paul Mara, 27 yrs old, $3,000,000
Darius Kasparaitis, 34 yrs old, $3,116,000
Andrew Hutchinson, 27 yrs old, $500,000

[paularensburg]

That depth breakdown and Renney to lead is a disturbing scenario. "5 in the picture" and we're in for another season of numbing lowlights infrequently interrupted by memorable drama. Are we really going to have to see Hollweg and Betts again? Will Renney again automatically put them out after a goal is scored?

I'd love to see the NHL develop a +/- system for SOG. Betts hands down would be, imo, the worst rated forward on the team. And, when he was injured the Rangers killed 23/24 penalties. Betts scores slightly more than never and as a hitter he's a flyweight. If there's one guy who illustrates the limited scope of Renney's vision it's Betts.

[LisaMY]

Missed this one:

Brooks Orpik, 27 yrs old, $1,075,000

This is what Sean Avery said on MSG, NY while being interviewed by the media on break-up day about his impending UFA:

"Well, I said it yesterday to Brooks, I feel like, you know, I bleed blue and red. I feel like walking into Madison Square Garden is a privilege and I think it's an honor to play for Mr. Dolan, and to put the Ranger jersey on. And I love the city and I love the fans. I'd be lying if I didn't say that that wasn't the case."

John Giannone asked him if he thought he owed it to himself to find out what he was worth, free agency wise. Per Avery, "Yeah. Basically it just comes down to a situation where...it's in the hands of Mr. Sather, our general manager. He's the guy who makes the decisions and that's where it is at this point."

And yes, he did refer to the Daily News as the "National Enquirer World" for reporting that ""he was dead or in cardiac arrest or something". He doesn't remember much from the first two or three days of his hospital stay because "they popped a lot of drugs in me over there (St. Vincent's)". He said he "feels a thousand times better."

I'm glad to see Sean Avery's on his feet and looking well. But he really, really needs to ditch the tanning booths. Orange is not his best color.

On the same program, Jagr said, "If I don't have to change, I don't like to. I feel very comfortable here, with all the people around this organization. They were nice to me. They give me a chance to show everybody I can still play hockey after everybody doubt me when I was playing in Russia, for whatever reason. Glen Sather gave me a chance and believe in me. All the trainers and everything around., they were so nice to me and good to me so all I had to do is concentrate on hockey."

Per Shanahan, "Well obviously, if I decide to play this will be my first choice. I've had a great career in a lot of real great cities, but from the day we've been in NY, my family's loved it. My kids are fully immersed in NYC. I just laugh everytime I see my 5 yr olds call for a taxi. They're good at it, too." For the record, I've seen little kids hail taxis and have taxis stop! Their parents sure didn't ask them to do it, but it's funny if you've ever witnessed that.

Let the negotiations begin.

[ivrydov]

When a guy is to retire is always a problem in hockey.Andreychuk is one minute the captain of a cup team and the next minute he's told to go home. Luc Robitaille, LeClair, Mogilny all outstayed their welcome. Not always, Brett Hull knew when to quit. In the case of Shanahan if he's healthy he's still got something to offer, his shot, his PK work, his off ice presence. In hockey there doesn't seem to be a concept of the part-time player, say 50 games. But if Shanahan were willing to take a deep cut in pay and the club spotted him over the season, I think he would be worth the investment.

Lilles is not worth a second look. Commodore would give you size and snarl on D. Campbell could be the PP solution, but I don't think San Jose will let him get away. I doubt if Streit will be available. Redden is grossly overpaid.

It makes sense to bring Roszival back unless he wants the moon.You can't lose with Strudwick as the 7th D. I hope we never see Backman in a Ranger uniform again. All this hoopla about going for the cup by signing Drury and Gomez at the front end was cancelled out by adding this clown at the back end. The whole effort was sabotaged.

Since the C is fixed, and that's the core of any offence, and with lots of prospects banging on the door they don't have to chase after free agents at F assuming that Avery and Jagr come back. I don't think they could lose on Ryder who'll be looking for a team.

[i]

repost, didn't notice new 1:30 am article...
Jess Sather of course answers to his boss but only in getting to the playoffs to generate revenue with marquee names. Jagr will likely be back, Shanahan if he wants to continue playing, Straka & Rozival probably if Jagr stays. They have Gomez & Drury, and Sather will try to resign Avery. I don't expect a lot of changes. I would like to see a top D man. But I still believe the emperor napoleon buttman has no interest in the NYR getting to the finals even next season. He will stack his officials and war room with a wink and a nod; no paper, voice, video, or email trail. He has to promote his small market teams, they are his mirror image in every small way. He needs to go with his wwf mentality. And I think Sather should join him in the going, since he just plays along with the commish, and shuts everyone else out. Getting to the 3rd round would have been progress. Getting a D man before the deadline could have helped that cause. He should have known that & did it. What he did was an over-priced D man, who added zilch. That guy is a 3.4 cap hit next season, and he wants to quibble with Avery, amazing That's what he though would get them to the promise-land, there's grounds right there. If he knows buttman would put up roadblocks, then why make any deal? He did almost nothing all season, except some minor moves both good and bad. The NYR did not fulfill there promise they made after last year's playoffs. It wasn't the media or the fans with the expectations, it was management stating them. Not going after the nhl on and off the ice in a meaningful way, spoke volumes. Renney is a good coach and man, but he's not willing to fight for his TEAM. And the same for his boss, that's not leadership,but it's a big part of why the NYR didn't go further... ...Bring in the '94 boys, they'll fight. HEAVE HO!

[jack]

I'd look at Commodre, Hainsey, and Vandermeer but my first choice is Orpik. Rozy sucks.
Avery is a must sign. Jagr, I would like back. Everyone else can walk.

For a team rebuilding a few years ago why was Umberger shown the door so quickly. Sather is a decent GM for the most part but his ego is almost as inflated as Isaihs is. I guess Umberger wasn't kissing Slats arse enough.
This franchise is notorious for making horrible decesions and that is another in a long line.
Let Slats walk and throw a lot of money at Shero he has ties to NY and has done a great job in Pitt.

[Three Chord Monte]

It's simple. Don't sign Jagr or Shanny and go for defense.

[Joe]

Cut Backman. There's your money for Avery. I'd like to see JJ back, but not Shanny and Straka. I'd give Korpi a shot and get Prucha back into the grove. Betts could go either way. If it's cheaper to bring up a kid, do so. As for defense, Staal, Girardi and Toots are the only players I'd keep, with Struds as a #7. If Pitt got Gill for a second and fifth round pick, why can't we pull off something similar? How about Philly getting Coburn for a vet d-man? Sather is passed his prime and needs to move on.

[cwgatti]

Sather made the moves to improve the offense last summer, he will need to improve the defense this summer. If the Rangers release Malik and Mara that money could be used for Redden. And signing Orpik would make up for passing on Brendan Witt when they really could have used his snarl. Dubinsky was great this year, but Jagr had a lot to do with his success. I am not sure I wanna see what happens to him when JJ is out of the equation. So, Jagr should be re-signed. I think Rozy is gonna stay if JJ stays. Rozy is another guy that goes as JJ goes. Avery needs to be re-signed, but Shanny should go. UNLESS, he would consider a lesser role, and play for a contract that would re-pay the Rangers for the gift he recieved from Sather this past summer. If Shanny could somehow be slotted on the fourth line, with special teams time, I would accept his returning. Backman will be back, but I don't imagine him weathering the storm at MSG if things go south.

NEXT YEAR:

Jagr-Dubi-Avery
Ryan Malone-Gomez-Chereponov
Callahan-Drury-Dawes
Gratton-Betts-Sjostrom

Redden-Stall
Rozi-Orpik
Tyutin-Girardi

Backman in the press box.

[kogan]

This is interesting information from Russian newspaper.
http://news.sport-express.ru/online/ntext/23/nl234997.html
Dubi, can you pass this to Lauri for translation?

[Pavel]

Sign Orpik for 3.5, Redden for 6 (or Liles/Streit for 4). Offer Jagr no more than 5m, offer Avery a front loaded @ 3.75m cap hit, offer Malone 4m. That's 18.5m. There's 32m dedicated next year (according to nhlnumbers.com so not sure how accurate), so that's 50.5m with some wiggle room w/ the rising cap for any bonus-laden contract or Dawes/Sjostrom raises.

[Pavel]

Oops my math was off (sorry, not enough coffee this morning), but still gives wiggle room for the cap. I hope Malik and Rozsival sign with a huge rival so we can expose them every time we play.

[Ana]

Re-sign Avery and Jagr. Send Hollweg to Hartford or pee wee but I couldn't bear to see him in a Rangers uniform again; the guy has no talent whatsoever, unless you consider getting inopportune penalties a talent. Put Laurie K with Fred on the 4th line and get some offense and grit without the idiocy that Hollweg brings. I like Shanahan but does he have enough left in that body? It is dubious. I like Straka but I got tired of seeing him pass just way too much and missing chances in front of the net set up by Jagr.

[ibialik]

The info mentioned in that link to Russian newspaper is basically a very poor English-to-Russian translation of what JJ said about the Rangers being his first option, signing for not more than 3 years, his father building a new stadium, etc.

[ibialik]

Sorry, 2 years.

[laurie]

Kogan, as ibialik already pointed out, those quotes in the Sport Express article are just the Russian translation of what Jagr told the media yesterday during breakup day. I suspect Dubi will probably post the original English versions today, or folks can get them from Zipay's blog here: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/hockey/rangers/blog/2008/05/today_jagr_leaning_to_rangers.html

[kogan]

Laurie Good point.
I missed that article.

[Godot]

Hmmm....

I know a lot of fans have already expressed their displeasure for Jagr, but all things considered, his mentorship of Prucha and Dubinsky, his carrying the team in the playoffs, his overall leadership has made him a must sign in my eyes. Ditto Avery.

I keep hearing all these UFAs that we have to sign--but we have no sense of what our competition is and how much they'll be offered elsewhere, so I would prefer to talk about who's ours to deal with right now, what's in hartford, etc.

Is Cheraponov ready for the NHL as someone suggested? Can we trade Backman (or buy out his contract?), ditto Hollwegg? I imagine Strudwick in Hartford as a player coach. Does Hutchinson have anything to offer after his stellar year in Hartford? And does Pock have any chance of being on the team???

G

[gravey]

Please, please, Slats, let Roszival go. Most of his goals were scored early in the season on the power play and once teams adjusted their defense to start blocking our point shots and shooting lanes, his PP production went down drastically. And most of what he got us on offense he gave back on defense, where he is indecisive, slow to react and not physical. And at that projected price? Atrocious! Please, please, NO!

[adam]

It drives me crazy to hear guys like Rosival, Straka, Hollweg would be back. WHY? Do we want to be a 1st or 2nd round team and out again next year? Clearly this team is not good enough to win, that is obvious. Also, two of the last three years, Sather has tried to take the cheap way out with dmen, adding Ozolinsh and Backman. Is Sather as soft as the defensmen he brings in? We need to let all of our free agent defensemen go, ALL of them. Not one adds anything to this team, and especially at a cost of 2, 3 or 4 million no reason to commit that kind of money to below averge players. Not even close. And definitely send Backman to Hartford and save the cap hit of 2.3 mill, add that to Malik and Mara, and a guy like Campbell or Redden could be here, then sign a stay at home dman and bring up 1-2 young dmen, then it would look like:

Staal-Campbell\Redden
Tyuton-Girardi
Baranka-Orpik\Commodore\A Witt type guy

The d has to be changed or we'll be inconsistent and dissapointed again next year. And someone made a great point above, what does Hollweg\Betts\Orr really add? I like Orr, I'd keep him, but Betts and Hollweg add little to nothing on this team. We have plenty of guys who can kill penalties, but to have 3 forward completely unable to establish any type of scoring, to me that doesn't help. Todays game, your checking line needs to be able to add points, and these guys can't.

Also, what would be so bad about letting more of the younger guys come up and play? When I see veterans making mistake after mistake, I wonder to myself "How much worse could it really be if a 22 year old was doing the same thing, except learning from it and growing and getting better?

[oleosmirf]

pavel i agree with those signing exceot for malone. Take him away from Pittsburgh and that is 4 million a year for a 15-20 goal scorer. Let someone else take that risk.

the rangers are at a crossroads.

They have a lot of young propsects that could play on the 3rd/4th line but Dawes and Callahan IMHO are not ready to be 2nd line players. Now will Renney move a guy like Prucha up in the lineup or package him for a decent big 2nd line RW grinder that would be an upgrade over shanahan or resign the 4 forwards and rebuild the defense with a PP QB and some bruisers

[cwgatti]

I think Gratton will take Hollweg's job next year. . . .

[oleosmirf]

godot

pock is done, cherepanov wont be here next season.

I dont know about our 2 goons but if Byers and Jessiman can fight then they give the Rangers an offensive upgrade immediately and I doubt Betts is going anywhere.

i'm pretty sure you can't buy out contracts but a team like Phoenix that has excess cap space could take his contract for like a 6th rounder or something but as things stand Bachman might be our PP QB next season...

[cwgatti]

Dubinsky will go as Jagr goes. So, Sather just needs to tweak what will line up around Gomez and Drury. If Jagr leaves, I would sell high on Dubinsky, and see if we can call up Anisimov and Chreponov and make that the new 3rd line if they are ready. I like Dubinsky, but I believe he is the beneficiary of JJ. If Dubi were traded for a young physical D-man (traded in the wake of Jagr leaving only), I wouldn't complain. I am not saying trade him now, I am saying if Jagr goes. . . . .

[oleosmirf]

cqgatti

what??????

[Pavel]

The only reason I'd like Malone is because he's a very gritty player. Put him on a line WITH Avery and you'll get a ton of goals. Imagine a line such as:
Avery - Drury - Malone. That's a net-crashing line!

[wwwc9]

How about shanny as an assistant coach? He could still provide some wisdom to the youngins.

He's been around for 2 yrs, time for the kids to apply what they learned from him.

[oleosmirf]

pavel

Malone had Crosby and Malkin getting all the attention leaving him with a lot of room. You put him with Avery and Gomez and he doesnt come close to what he did this year. You want to invest over 4 million in a gritty 20 goal scorer??? We already have a surplus of 15-25 goal scorers what we need is at least 1 30+ goal scorer and Malone is not that guy

[cwgatti]

I think Malone is something the Rangers could use: A physical scoring winger. The Rangers lost the playoffs because they are too soft. Plenty of skill, but if your opponents can play the entire game without worrying about keeping their heads up, you will never win a cup.

[Jess]

First of all Jagr can be signed to an incentive laden contract due to his age. You can spread his money out keeping him affordable

Second CW trading Dubinsky after investing all that the Rangers just did is a Neil Smith era mistake. Sure let someone else reap the benefits of what the Rangers built. That is why they missed the playoffs for 7 years.

Anisimov is a half season away, Cherepanov is not leaving Russia.

Dawes and Sjostrom are RFAs, the Rangers keep their rights by offering them a 10% raise so if someone wants to top that then the Rangers will be comped.

No on Orpik as the Ranger answer is Ron Hainsey (only 700K last season) who if the Rangers offered any of the departing defenders the same money will get. Hainsey is also from CT (Bolton).

Avery knows that few teams actually want him but for his off ice interests there is only one place which is NYC. He will not make Page 6 or Vogue playing anywhere else.

Avery is the master of self-promotion and being a Ranger is going to help him the most open those doors. He will sign.

You can add a Kurt Sauer who quietly is a steady stay at home defender for 1.1 and have a mentor for kid brother Micheal.

And as I wrote at Prospect Park, keep an eye on stealth prospect Corey Potter who I think could steal a roster spot next training camp.

The Rangers can fix the team at reasonable numbers something Cameron Hope has repeatedly proven he can work the Cap.

[oleosmirf]

i completely agree with you but i dont think those 3 guys are enough. If Straka and Shanny go we have a 1st line LW and a 2nd line RW spot open and unless you strongly feel that they can be replaced internally (which i don't), the Rangers will have to overpay for a UFA in a week year or trade a prospect/pick or 2 for a goal scorer...

[Tom]

How much is Backman and Malik valued by other teams? Maybe we can package the 2 of them to simply move up 5 or 6 spots in the drafts to get a better prospect.

[Tom]

O and i think instead of a redden or campbell i think Streit at a cheaper price would be a better answer and get orpik/hainsey along with him. IMO we need to address the 2 problems with the D with 2 FA/Trade aqusitions. A puck-moving D man and a stay at home type. I say we dont get one with out the other.

[Pavel]

Not that I'd want to invest 4m/y into a Malone or Avery, but Slats will HAVE to. Mainly because Hartnell had 24g and is making 4.2m/y. Avery is going to want a similar deal, as well as Malone.

[Tom]

St. Louis resigned Jackman correct?

[And This One Will Last A Lifetime]

Maybe someone can go over the transcript between Sather and JD over the Backman trade and see if someone confused Backman with Jackman.

[laurie]

You can add a Kurt Sauer who quietly is a steady stay at home defender for 1.1 and have a mentor for kid brother Micheal.

I actually like this idea, not necessarily for the brother connection, but because Sauer is exactly what you say he is... a steady, stay-at-home defender with some experience, which is something we really need. And he shouldn't cost a lot. I do worry a bit about his durability, however. I'm not sure he's played a complete season since the lockout.

I'd also be interested in Streit, but everything I've read and heard seems to suggest he really wants to stay in Montreal.

And as I wrote at Prospect Park, keep an eye on stealth prospect Corey Potter who I think could steal a roster spot next training camp.

I'm with you on this one too. Everyone always mentions Baranka but Potter has very quietly zoomed up the depth chart similar to the way Girardi did. After Hutchinson, Potter was the top defenseman in Hartford this season. He's a solid, two-way, mobile defenseman, which is exactly the kind of player Renney seems to want to fill his defense corps with.

[Jameson]

Dubi,
If we let Roszival walk and give Mara the money we'd have given Roszival doesn't that work too?I personally prefer Mara over Roszival. At least Mara brings a physical presence to his game. I can't remember the last time Roszival even had a shot on goal, and his last game as a ranger is a game that had him take 3 real bad real blatent penalties.

[Jameson]

I'd also like to know what you and Jess and anyone else who's closer to the Rangers than we are feel about Thomas Pock's chances at actually playing with the Rangers next season and being part of the team the entire year, I feel like he got the short end of the stick this year and really didn't deserve to get sent down. He could also fill a similiar roll to what Strudwick played for us this season with his history of playing forward.

[Pavel]

Mara at 2.3m would be fine, but he'll get 3m+ grrr. Rozsival is simply AWFUL.

[Jameson]

Tom,
I think we've got stay at home defenseman in Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi. Maybe not so much in Tyutin but neither seem to get caught. If you have pairings that work well together a stay at home defenseman isn't necessary in my opinion, the days of a Beukeboom-Leetch type pairing working out are long gone, the new NHL is too fast for one defenseman to be constantly watching the other ones back. All 5 players have to be in the picture on offense and defense. On that note, I'd love to have a guy like Hal Gil or Mattias Norstrom come on board and partner up with the likes of Staal or Paul Mara, it would probably open up either one of their games offensively.

[And This One Will Last A Lifetime]

I believe I mentioned earlier that Malone might be one of the names that gets consideration if he hits UFA. At the time I thought it would help with size on the wings and at the same time weaken Pitt.

I had my initial doubts and thought he might be benefitting from the Kevin Stevens effect (and I'm not referring to the one that causes you to end up in motels in East St. Louis). Upon further examiniation his previous career high in goals was 22 before 27 this year. I'll even add on a goal or two because he missed 5 games this year...still playing with what will probably be the runner up for the Hart and a resurgent Sykora only netted him 5 more goals?

Maybe he's worth close to $4 million, but not the $5 million he's likely going to receive.

[Joe in DE]

Even in the twilight of Shanahan's career, he still scores 20+ a year. When we're a team that is lacking so much offense, getting rid of one of our top goal scorers doesn't sit well with me, especially when he has so many other upsides. This is all provided he'll resign for a reasonable rate.

[Greg L]

If someone mentions Orpik or Malone again.....im gonna Puke!! I do not see the Devil fans saying ..maybe we should sighn Avery!!?? Last time i looked WE WERE BEAT by Orpik and Malone ...yeah , i'd like 'em on my team so i can have Avery Kick the snot outta 'em!!! NO-WAY it too early to be wanting Penguin players or stuff like that...can the fan get charged for Tampering , while the players they want ..are still playing in the playoffss???

[JBytes]

"cwgatti | May 07, 2008 at 10:08 AM"

Cwgatti, are you OK? What does JJ have to do with Dubinsky's natural skills? Besides Gomez, who does a better job stick-handling the puck down the ice? Who on our team fights for and protects the puck along the boards better than Dubi? Yes, JJ might create a bit of space for him to chip in some of his goals, but the kid will be all right, with or without Jagr.

[And This One Will Last A Lifetime]

Greg L,

I understand the fresh sting of getting beat by them, but we did go out and get Drury and Gomez who had big hands in our playoff exits the previous two years.