Really Now

No sooner than the Rangers show Nikolai Zherdev to the door than those really bad Danny Heatley rumors rear their ugly heads once again. It does not take an Albert Einstein to realize that is not a trade the Rangers can afford to make.

What is really bad is that those pushing those Heatley are not doing the math here. Hello the Rangers may have said they did not want to accept the Zherdev award of 3.9 million but they really did not say why.

A team that needs all the scoring it can get does not walk away from their leading scorer unless they have no choice. In this case the Rangers, the choice was that they really could not afford to pay Zherdev 3.9 million with all the holes they have on the roster.

The Rangers need to sign Dubinsky, add 2 forwards for the 3rd and 4th lines, a spare forward and then add 2-3 defensemen which if they do not make any trades or sign any more free agents will at best leave them anywhere from 2-4 million under the cap.

Heatley carries a 7.5 million dollar cap hit and unless the Senators all of a sudden lose their minds and accept Wade Redden back in return then the Rangers simply can not afford a Heatley. Let us also be honest and ask why in the world would you really want Heatley after all the nonsense he has pulled over the summer?

Yes Heatley is a proven scorer but what he is not proven is a willingness to take one for the team. The last thing the Rangers need to add is a "Me First" player as they try to jump start a transition to the Tortorella era.

The Rangers do need to add another experienced defenseman to the lineup as trying to carry 3 rookies on the blueline is asking for trouble. That money is going to have to come from somewhere which is why thinking of adding a Heatley when the needs are greater elsewhere is not going to work.

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The Rangers will have 3 prospects attempting to make Team USA's Under-20 squad for the 2010 World Junior Championships. The 3 are 2009 draft picks Chris Kreider and Ryan Bourque along with 2008 pick Derek Stepan.

Of the 3 prospects, Bourque because of his experience already playing for Team USA teams has the best chance of making this roster. Kreider and Stepan would be nice additions but since their main weapon is speed then they face an uphill fight to make the roster.

Still the experience is going to help all 3 prospects whether they make the roster or not as playing against the best of your own peers is always a nice plus.

But then again they received an invite to the Evaluation camp while Canada overlooked Michael Del Zotto who deserved one. Del Zotto's rep as a one way defenseman hurt him with the Canadian selection committee but that is OK it will help motivate him at the Ranger training camp.

Keep an eye out as 2009 5th round pick Roman Horak (Czech Rep) has a chance to make the Czech squad.

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Heaven help the Ranger Universe as Thursday evening "The Mouth" over at RangerCrisis.com is having me on as a guest. It is going to be a lot of fun as we will be talking about Ranger prospects and taking your questions as well.

I hope as many of you can make it as "The Mouth" is as diehard a Ranger fan as you can find.

The show starts at 9PM and runs until 11 so check it out.

(Einstein courtesy of Manic World)