The 2008 hopes for the Rangers were pinned on their new acquisitions on offense, Drury and Gomez. On paper their offense looked good, and it was pretty good. Jagr stepped up in the playoffs, some others could have stepped up more. Any way, prior to the season, Ranger fans were told that the Offense along with Lundquist were good enough to carry them through a few rounds of the playffs. But their Defense was woefully inadequate. They did not play the body (not goonism, just play the body - ex Malkin's backhand goal in game 5 while # 27 stood and watched) and some body to handle the biscuit. # 5 kicked the game winner to Marian Hossa, not a crime, but to go deep into the playoffs, you need some talented defensemen, including a puck carrier and at least 1 guy who can get shots through on the PP. When you pay your top 3 D the same amount as your top 1 forward makes, you get what you pay for. Spend some $$$ on the blueline for 2009.
Michal Rozsival is horrible. He is a good offensive player, but he is a defenseman. The only way he can stop anybody is taking a penalty. I hope they sign Brian Campbell. Campbell is the type of player that can control a power play. He is also very clutch, as shown by the game tying goal in Game 5 against the Stars.
They also need a defenseman that can play defense. Jason Smith and Adam Foote are the best free agents out there in terms of defense, and I would like it if the Rangers signed one of them, although both are up there in age.
The Rangers could pick up Jaromir Jagr's option with the Capitals still paying part of it. In order for that to happen, Jagr has to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is very unlikely. Jagr said he wants to play next season for the Rangers, but I don't think they want to re-sign him.
They also need a physical forward that can score. They have Sean Avery, but he is a free agent, and I don't know how likely it is that the Rangers re-sign him. Ryan Malone is a free agent, and he would make a good fit for them. I hope they re-sign Avery. He was a major part of the Rangers success over the past 1.5 seasons.
It will be interesting what the Rangers do in the offseason. Hopefully, one of those plans is not to re-sign Marek Malik.
Brian Campbell should be the Rangers number one priority this off-season...Their second priority should be re-signing Sean Avery as long as his health checks out!!! I'm not the biggest Jason Smith fan, but I would love to see Adam Foote come to NY and dominate like he has for many years out West...
Imagine Brian Campbell and Marc Staal on the same defensive pairing...Then we could keep Fedor Tyutin and Dan Girardi together, and then have Adam Foote and Paul Mara!!! I'm not the biggest fan of Mara, but I would take him over Marek Malik or Christian Backman anyday!!! I'm not sure about our young gun, Bobby Sanguitti, and if he is ready yet...He looks like he can be a nice offensive force from the point!!!
Man, it seems like we are loaded with young talent!!! I like the future of this team!!!
Listen the Rangers before the lock out had the best team paper could crap on the ice if any thing the possability is that if Jagr stays roseavelt stays and please jeus re-sign avery. But if Jarg doesn't sign we go after Hossa and Campbell. And of course Avery.
Rangers must make resigning Avery the number 1 point of thier offseason. They can really use Jagr on the team, look what he did down the stretch and in the playoffs, but Avery's age compared to Jagr's makes him the number 1 priority going forward. After signing Avery the big decision comes with Jagr.
The teams direction in the offseason will depend on whether Jagr is on the team. Unrestrcted Free Agents will be: Jagr, Avery, Straka, Shanahan, Roszival, Malek, Mara, Strudwick, and Valiquette. I already stated what they should do with Jagr and Avery, RESIGN THEM! Get rid of Shanny and Straka, they're old and don't bring enough to the table that make them worth keeping. Use them to make room for younger players or free agents that will be difference maker. Malek, gone. I don't know what a bigger mistake would be, loosing Avery or keeping Malek. Strudwick and Valiquette are depth, good depth, so resigning them can be relatively cheap. With Jagr in the picture, I would think they would resign Roszival and release Mara and maybe bring up Sangquinetti to pair with Backman. Either way I don't see both Roszival and Mara coming back. The Rangers could also go after a big free agent defensemen who can QB the powerplay because all Roszival does is pass to Jagr.
So lets look at the offense with Jagr back. Line 1: Jagr, Dubinsky, Avery. Line 2: ?, Gomez, ? Line 3: Dawes, Drury, Callahan. Line 4: Hollweg, Betts, Orr. Hopefully, the Rangers can bring up Cherapanov and let him develop on the team with Jagr and let him wing the Gomez line as the future top line. This also leaves the other wing open on the Gomez line. Peter Prucha anybody? Prucha has one year left and Sjostrom is a restricted free agent so look for him to be back. Prucha was a 30 goal scorer following the lockout and Sjostrom showed some offensive promise playing on the 4th line. I liked Prucha with Callahan so maybe use him with the 3rd line and move Dawes up with Gomez as he played well with Gomez during the season. Sjostrom can be good depth and can alternate with Orr on the 4th line depending on what kind of game the Rangers want to play.
If Jagr leaves, it leaves a huge hole. The teams too good to start from scratch with younger players out of the system. They would need to sign a big name winger to try and replace him and I would go after a defensemen like Brian Campbell and get rid of Roszival who only makes sense to keep if Jagrs there. That said though, wouldn't it just be smarter to keep Jagr on the team for the same money they would spend on big names trying to replace him? Keep Jagr, keep a good thing going and bring up young guys like Cheraponav and Sangquinetti.
I see no scenario where it makes sense to bring back roszival. malik, well i think everybody knows he's gone. straka - gone. i actually would like to see mara back. there's nothing wrong with a guy like him being part of a third pair - the real problem is that he's the guy running the point on our pp - which does a lot in explaining its success or lack thereof. i'd like to see us trade Christian Backman in exchange for a bag of pucks. hopefully, we can find a team willing to make such a lopsided deal. there's no room for shanahan. he's not a top 3 line player (for a contending team) anymore and it makes no sense to keep him to play on the 4th line. i really liked sjostrom and hope to see his role increase. he's got a lot of speed and could add an offensive dimension to the 4th line and could easily move up to the third line if needed. jagr, obviously i'd like to have him back but i don't think he'll take the paycut that the Rangers would ask him to take so i don't foresee him coming back. just my opinion. they need to regain some of his money so we can, as mentioned above, get a puck moving defensemen and a winger for gomez. if we can those two things and retain jagr that would be ideal obviously. i don't see that happening though.
