The Right Move Would Be Not to Make A Move

For us at Prospect Park this tends to be the most frustrating 24 hours of the NHL season; it is the trading deadline day. For us it is an exercise in frustration because in the decade of Glen Sather it has been a day of wasted efforts and simply shuffling of assets.

It is a day so the Rangers can say "look we made these moves to get us into the playoffs where anything can happen." By now New York Ranger fans know that the real reason to make the playoffs has never been to win a Stanley Cup but rather to collect more cash from the wallets of Ranger fans.

We know this is a pipe dream but the very best move that the Rangers can make is to do nothing; sink or swim with this current roster. If this was a team that was contending for a Stanley Cup then nobody would complain about the Rangers selling their souls for that shot.

But this team as it is in 9th place after defeating Ottawa on Tuesday night; it is a team that already is at 63 games and is about to go a few games without Marian Gaborik in the lineup. Do nothing would make more sense since the odds are that price tag to make serious improvements just to make the playoffs is going to be higher than it has ever been before.

Under no circumstances should the Rangers risk a first or second round pick in any trade this year. To do so would be the worst possible of moves by the Sather team as the 2010 draft is going to be a good one but after that 2011 is not looking so good.

There are 12 teams currently within 6 points of the final 2 playoff spots in each conference. Reality check is that the Rangers overall if the season were to end right as it is would have no worse than the 10th pick in the draft and possibly as low as the 8th pick.

Even if the Rangers were to sneak in as the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference then they would wind up with the 15th pick cause sorry we will not fool ourselves and pretend that this Ranger team could take out the Capitals even with the hole the Caps have in goal.

There are 19 games left in 39 days and who here thinks that Alex Auld is going to get more than 3 starts tops as long as the Rangers pretend to be in the playoff hunt? Seriously folks ask yourself is risking Henrik's long term health worth making a token appearance in the playoffs?

It was overworking Mikey Richter that cut short his career because they burnt him out and that left him wide open for several of the injuries he suffered. For the last 3 seasons the Rangers have been playing with fire risking Henrik's health by playing him as much as he has.

This year is even worse because they failed to see Vally was not a legit backup and then were stuck pretending to use Chad Johnson and Matt Zaba (d0 we really need to point out why Alex Auld never can keep a job with a team?)

Can you honestly look at what is supposedly out there on the trade market and say there is the one player who could solve the Ranger's woes on offense and defense? That player does not exist and even if he did who do you think the other teams will demand in return?

If you think Sather is going to pull a miracle and find someone to take Wade Redden off his hands forget it. The only moves to seriously consider is to move what you can for tomorrow like Vinny Prospal who teams will jump for given his play this season and even best his cap number.

You might even find someone willing to take Ollie off your hands for draft pick or prospect. Then comes the harder decisions which is do you think Dan Girardi is going to develop any further in this system?

We do not so move him for a draft pick which is a profit given he was a free agent and to be honest if you have to choose between Staal or Girardi in July then it becomes a no brainer.

But sadly like the rest of you, we will watch, we will pray and we will shake our fists in anger when Glen Sather makes what is expected to be his big moves to push the Rangers into a playoff spot.

Then again if Sather does then hopefully come Sunday it will help swell up the numbers for the "Fire Sather" rally that will take place prior to the Sabre's game. If you ever needed an excuse to join Facebook then here it is as the folks who are behind this movement are not a bunch of screaming clowns.

These are well written and truly loyal Ranger fans who I have gotten to know over the last couple of months. Check out their event page here

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OK the chat that was supposed to happen at the Blueshirt Bulletin website is going to happen tomorrow. I will be joining them there most likely around 1 PM EDT (hey I live out west give me a break ) but as far as I am concerned we can chat about everything Rangers even after the trade deadline passes.

It starts at 10 AM EDT so join Dan, Greg, Tom and myself for an all day event and who knows who might show up to join us.

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Well one Ranger prospect was supposed to be in action on Tuesday but Daniel Maggio (2009 6th) missed the Sudbury Wolves game against the Barrie Colts with an undisclosed injury.

The Wolves lost in OT 6-5 and we hope to have an injury report tomorrow.

(Glen Sather courtesy of the NY Rangers)