It is a Glen Sather trademark way of doing business going back to his days as the General Manager of Edmonton to try to lowball his own players. He has carried over this stupid tradition to his days with the Rangers especially when there is no reason to do so.
This year it is Marc Staal, last year it was Brandon Dubinsky (and in a way we should also include Sean Avery) and what is so wrong is that there is never any real reason for it. Why is it that Glen Sather can piss away cash on the Brashears and Kotaliks of the NHL but will try his best to screw over those who can help his team the most?
Why can't Glen Sather start working on locking up his "home grown foundation" players after January 1? He did it with Henrik Lundqvist so why not an equally important Marc Staal?
Before people say Staal has no leverage that is not the point but rather this repeated alienation of the home grown talent by the Rangers. The home grown kids watch as the Rangers give fat contracts to players who they just like the fans see are worthless.
Almost since the moment he has made the Rangers, Marc Staal has been their best defensemen in the lineup. And with the exception of cameo appearances by other prospect defensemen; Marc Staal has been the lowest paid member of the top 6 defensemen.
Glen Sather says that the Rangers are not even close to coming to an agreement with Staal but on July 1, Sather will have no problem giving some UFA more money than they deserve. Even worse is that Sather keeps blowing chances to send messages not to the fans but to the prospects in the system that the franchise is committed to them.
Staal goes out and does his job; it is rare for a Ranger fan to say that Staal took a game off. The Rangers talk about how important Marc Staal is to the foundation of the franchise but if that was the case then how come he is not under contract first?
As Ryan McDonagh put it when he described what he learned after seeing his rights traded that the NHL can be a "Meat Market." Maybe McDonagh is learning how the game is played the hard way.
You look at the prospect camp and you are supposed to have hope about the future of the Rangers but it seems every time you try to; the Rangers find ways to smash that hope into shreds.
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Some friendly advice to Mikhail Pashnin if someone will translate it for him: Be glad someone pulled Ethan Werek away from you as he does not get angry very often. Had he gotten to throw punches you would have known it.
As for the camp itself; what is interesting is who did not come this year which is Max Campbell who had paid out of his own pocket for the previous prospect camps. It is a shame that he did not show as I never thought he would give up on his dream of becoming an NHL player.
As for Gordie Clark getting upset at the Canadian critics trashing the selection of McIlrath; what took you so long Gordie? Heck to be honest it is about time someone with the Rangers called out those "experts" like McGuire and Ferraro who go out of their way to trash the Rangers.
Neither will let the world know that they remain bitter over their team with the Ranger franchise. Ferraro because Neil Smith traded him after signing him (really Ray get over it already) in the 1990s.
McGuire used to work for the Rangers at Hartford and they got rid of him as he really was not very good at anything. Yet it is OK for them to remain on the air and use facts that were not true just to take a shot at the Rangers.
(Staal courtesy of the NHL)
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