New York Rangers: Will The Real New York Rangers Please Stand Up?

New York Rangers Current Form/Last 10 Matches: 3 victories, 5 losses, 2 shootout losses

Rangers 2:4 Pittsburgh

Montreal 6:0 Rangers

Philadelphia 2:0 Rangers

Rangers 8:2 Tampa Bay

Rangers 6:2 Montreal

St. Louis 4:1 Rangers

Ottawa 2:0 Rangers

New Jersey 0:0 Rangers
(New Jersey wins shootout)

Rangers 3:1 Boston

Atlanta 1:1 Rangers
(Atlanta wins shootout)

Rangers Goals For: 17

Rangers Goals Against: 24

Points from last 10 Matches: 8 of 20 possible points

Times shut out: 4


The New York Rangers hockey club currently has the extreme dynamics of a rollercoaster. Winning 8:2 one night and losing 6:0 four nights later. 8 out of 20 possible points in the last 10 matches is an adequate achievement. However, it’s also nothing that will cause the Rangers’ divisional and conference rivals to lose any sleep over. Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde...which Ranger side will face Stanley Cup holders Pittsburgh today?

The knowledgeable fan base of the club understands that the club’s senior veteran players, some of whom are signed to very big contracts, are underperforming. Consistency eludes the Rangers, and even Coach John Tortorella is at a loss to explain why.
It’s easy to understand why Torts can't explain the string of poor results, as the all the pieces for the Rangers’ success appear to be in place.

The Rangers possess a stalwart defense led by standout goaltender Henrik Lundqvist who is first choice for Sweden in addition to his duties with the Rangers. The Rangers also have a laundry list of young goaltenders working towards becoming his backup.

Young veteran defensemen Dan Girardi and Mark Staal are becoming leaders by example. Though playing steady, if unspectacular hockey neither Michael Roszival nor Wade Redden are producing numbers that justify their respective yearly salaries of $5M and $6.5M. The two rookie defensemen, Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy have shown flashes of brilliance, and seem to gain more consistency and confidence with each passing game. The swift development of Staal and Girardi is enough to make you wonder how much time will pass before the Rangers management team will find it preferable to offload (or buy out) the contracts of aging veterans Roszival and Redden (Both defensemen have a list of eight clubs that they will not accept being moved to) so that they may promote from the legion of young defense prospects in Hartford, such as Bobby Sanguinetti, Ilkka Heikkinen, Michael Sauer, Nigel Williams, and Corey Potter. Perhaps for the Rangers the future is now.

The questions and variables come from the seeming inability of most of the Ranger forwards to score goals consistently. Marian Gaborik is certainly having the sort of year that justifies his $7.5M salary, as he is amongst the league leaders is goals and points. Prospal, Dubinsky, and Callahan are also playing well. Of those three, only Callahan makes more than $2M. The club also seems to be getting value for money for: (the infamous) Sean Avery, young Russian forwards Artem Anisimov and Enver Lisin are quietly contributing in bits and pieces with their plus/minus scores of -2 and -1 seeming to indicate that they are pulling their weight on defense as well. Brian Boyle has also been a pleasant surprise. At $525K/year, Boyle finishes his checks and from time to time adds offense. The struggling, if hard-working, Chris Higgins can’t be faulted for his work rate or attitude. Having said this, he needs to produce more than 6 goals and 13 points in 51 matches at $2.25M/year to remain on the team. Ales Kotalik had a strong start to the season, but makes $3M/year and has only 8 goals and 22 points in 44 matches. Kotalik is also over 30 years-old and is -16...overpaid, not the fastest skater, doesn’t always finish his checks, fails to consistently score, and seems to be a defensive liability. Even Kotalik’s vaunted hard shot isn’t worth much if the puck doesn’t go in the net.

It doesn’t seem that Aaron Voros or Donald Brashear has been the policeman that the Rangers have been looking for to deal with the NHL’s evil-doers. It bears mentioning that Voros is showing an improved vein of form after a long layover of being scratched on a nightly basis. Voros is hitting, stirring things up, and occasionally contributing in the scoring department. Voros isn’t the end solution, but he’s doing well enough for now in the role of tough guy. Brashear at $1.4M/year and Voros at $1M/year are being payed too much money for what they have managed to contribute this year. The Rangers need an economy tough guy that doesn’t take up as much space in the salary cap. It might not be a bad idea to consider promoting some young player from the minors. Perhaps Hartford Wolf Pack forwards Dane Byers, Devin DiDiomete or Justin Soryal could carry that load...certainly more value for money at $500K or $508K/year.

The Rangers’ struggling skipper Chris Drury, at a salary of $7.05M, has only 8 goals and 19 points in 47 matches. Given the intangibles of grit (wins face-offs, blocks shots) and leadership, that Drury brings to the Rangers, both on the ice and (you would assume) in the dressing room, it’s difficult to assess what should be done about this situation. Even with all that Drury brings to the table for the Rangers, is he worth that big money even without the consistent and prolific scoring you would expect of a player at that salary point? What would be (even if it were possible at his inflated salary and “No Movement” clause) the impact of moving Drury on? At his current salary, he would be a very tough trade for another team to swallow. If the Rangers are winning tons of games, Drury’s salary becomes a non-issue. But this is not the case.

The Rangers are riding the rollercoaster of .500 hockey and their salary cap is stretched a bit beyond the breaking point. Meanwhile promising and talented young hopefuls toil in the NCAA, European leagues, junior hockey, and in the AHL. All of which makes you begin to wonder how long the Rangers can afford to juggle such huge contracts without corresponding return in production, and even more importantly how they can justify continuing to juggle them with so much young, affordable talent to choose from.

So the questions for the Rangers seem to be consistency, scoring, and toughness. The Rangers have to make up their mind as an organization whether or not it’s worth it to continue to have marquee names at the club at an inflated salary. The Rangers have to make up their minds whether or not they are going to commit to a full rebuild of the team. Del Zotto, Girardi, Anisimov, and Lisin being incorporated into the team is a good beginning. If the Rangers are going to compete for championships, it’s going to take more than what they bring to the table now. Much more.