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| (courtesy NY Rangers) |
How strange it must be to see all these insane and foolish contracts being handed out like candy by NHL teams and Glen Sather has not taken part in ant of it. I'm not going to buy this nonsense that the lockout will be needed in order to protect the sport because the ones who the sport needs protection from are the owners and general managers.
The Minnesota Wild handing out 13 year $98 million contracts to both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter makes a total and complete mockery of salary caps. I for one would love to see Gary Bettman come before the media and say with a straight face how these contracts do not violate the spirit and the intention of the salary cap.
Maybe Gary Bettman should not have mentioned that the NHL had record revenues last season because there are too many NHL teams spending like there is no tomorrow. Remember what I said yesterday about Matt Carle and how he just needs to wait until Ryan Suter signed his contract?
The exact quote was "Carle doesn't deserve it but you know somebody's going to pay him 5 million a year once Suter comes off the market." I was off by 500K because Tampa Bay is willing to pay him 5.5 million a season for the next six years.
Still I would urge patience be the order of the day for the New York Rangers and their fans. Can you point to a team in the Eastern Conference that is now on paper better than the New York Rangers even with Marion Gaborik Injured?
New Jersey lost Zach Parise, their captain and in my book their best player. Pittsburgh traded Jordan Staal who then goes out and signs almost the exact same contract that he turned down from Pittsburgh.
Philadelphia remains Philadelphia and they will go out and overpay for players who won't help them win but they do have the Carl Sagan of the NHL talking about the solar system.
I said it before, I'll say it again, show me a better top four defensive corp in the Eastern Conference than what the Rangers have? Re-sign Anton Stralman and if Tim Erixon is NHL ready, then make it a top six (or when Michael Sauer returns).
Please show me a goalie in the Eastern Conference that you would honestly trade straight up for Henrik Lundqvist? With Marty Biron returning to be the backup then I feel pretty confident with the Ranger defense.
But you're gonna go "what about the offense, the Rangers can't score?" A funny thing happened on the way to discovering how impotent the Ranger offense really was. Turns out it wasn't as impotent as people were making it out to be.
The Rangers averaged 2.71 goals a game and while it doesn't look all that strong; would you believe it turns out that was the 11th best offense in the NHL? And for the record, not any of the 10 teams that had a better offense than the New York Rangers wound up in the conference finals.
If you want to say that the Ranger power play was dreadful and needs help; then on that point there is no argument. But a case can be made for the Rangers needing repairs not a major overhaul of their offense.
If Columbus wants to continue to ask for the impossible in return for Rick Nash then tell them to take a hike. The same goes for Anaheim if they want to trade Bobby Ryan then don't expect the Rangers to sell their soul.
As Ranger fans, you should already know that history has repeatedly proven that the teams that spend the most don't wind up winning the most. It is never how much you spend but rather how well you spend your money.
The Rangers have built themselves a good foundation and they should be looking to add parts that will fit the foundation, parts that will make it stronger. There remains players on the free agent market who would complement what the Rangers are ready have and unless the price for Nash or Ryan is reasonable then forget them.
The Rangers have stopped their insanity, let the rest of the NHL continue to be insane. It will make winning what remains of next season that much easier.
Somebody earning themselves a contract?
At first when I saw the comments from Scott that my first reaction was that it was typical spam. Normally when you see somebody trying to get you to check out links that they turn out to be viruses or malware.
But the funny thing about my e-mail system is that for reasons I don't know; I get three e-mails every time somebody makes a comment. By the third time my curiosity got the better of me and it turned out that Scott had found out about a possible Ranger prospect signing.
@KJean9 congrats bud! Proud of you
— Brady Skjei (@BradySkjei) July 5, 2012
That in turn led me to this tweet:
congrats to my boy @KJean9 on signing with the NY Rangers! #dreamscancometrue
— Kellan Lain (@klain19) July 4, 2012
If you are like me and need a translation then in English, Kyle Jean who was a prospect development camp invitee appears to have turned his invite into a contract. Jean who is a 6'4 212 forward who played for Lake Superior State who until yesterday was best known for his collision that knocked Dylan McIlrath out of action.
The signing has not been confirmed by the Rangers but seriously doubt Jean would have retweeted it himself if not true. As a college player he knows that he would hurt his own eligibility so welcome to the New York Rangers Kyle Jean (@KJean9)
Double Stick Tap to Scott for sharing this (but next time mind translating it for me please?)
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