In Order To Upgrade, Rangers Must First Jettison Dead Weight

Much has been made of the Rangers’ youth movement and the impact it’s had on the team’s position in the standings. But while Henrik Lundqvist, Fedor Tyutin, and Petr Prucha are all playing key roles for the Blueshirts — as they did last season — there hasn’t been any room for an additional infusion of youth this year.The price for that personnel policy will likely be quite high, both this season and for the foreseeable future. The Rangers are currently configured as a veteran team that’s not good enough to win the Stanley Cup. And instead of absorbing the mistakes young players inevitably make, the Rangers are suffering the indifferent, lackadaisical play of some overpriced veterans who are doing nothing to propel the ship forward.When searching for a specific area of concern, one need look no further than the team’s blue line. The off-season signing of Aaron Ward was a good one in that it brought some much-needed grit and leadership to the defense. But by failing to trade away any of the team’s veteran defensemen during the summer, GM Glen Sather put the Rangers in a very ill-advised position.Right now, there are eight NHL-caliber defensemen on the team’s roster: Tyutin, Ward, Marek Malik, Michal Rozsival, Sandis Ozolinsh, Karel Rachunek, Darius Kasparaitis, and Thomas Pöck. All eight are healthy, and as a result, two must sit every night. For most of the past month, it has been Kasparaitis and Pöck who have remained sidelined, although the play of Ozolinsh and Rachunek has ranged from mediocre to atrocious. Together a minus-19, they have tallied only 10 assists in 45 games and have demonstrated none of the offensive upside that would make their sloppy defense a tolerable detriment.A fair argument could be made, of course, that defensive depth is crucial when trying to win the marathon that is the chase for the Stanley Cup. It could also rightly be said that the Sabres’ injury-rattled defense was all that prevented them from capturing the Cup last season. But there is absolutely no reason to believe that retaining the likes of Rachunek and Ozolinsh will give the Rangers a better chance of winning the Cup than would recalling Ivan Baranka in the case of an injury. In fact, Baranka seems like a better option from virtually every perspective.Assuming the Rangers do reach the playoffs — and perhaps win a round — they will also have another, even better, depth option. Currently playing for the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves, Marc Staal will be eligible to play for the Rangers when the Wolves’ season concludes. The 6-foot-4 inch Staal is an excellent skater, tailor-made for the modern NHL and should be able to step in and make an immediate impact this spring.But between now and the start of the playoffs, Sather and coach Tom Renney have some difficult decisions to make as they decide what type of hockey club they want the Rangers to be. They have a good chance to compete for the Cup if they make the right moves, and their window of opportunity expires at the end of next season.The Rangers are currently enjoying one of hockey’s greatest bargains: Jaromir Jagr costs them only $4.5 million against the salary cap (the Washington Capitals pick up the remainder of his $8.36 million contract). Currently the league’s leading scorer with 40 points, Jagr has managed to be very productive despite playing with a still-healing surgically repaired shoulder for much of the season’s first quarter. But the Jagr bargain ends at the conclusion of next season, and the Blueshirts must act quickly if they want to capitalize.The solution, one that would improve the Rangers quickly and radically, is to take advantage of their status as one of the league’s wealthiest clubs. Just as the Devils strategically got themselves under the salary cap, so too can the Rangers use their wealth to give themselves the flexibility needed to bring an elite-level player aboard.The trio of Kasparaitis, Ozolinsh, and Rachunek are currently costing the Rangers $8 million against the cap. But the value of their presence is no more than one-quarter that total. And where a less affluent team might not be able to afford to waive Kasparaitis and Ozolinsh and assign them to Hartford, the Rangers can do so without much concern.With a current payroll salary a bit more than $40 million, the Rangers would be able to enjoy incredible flexibility in the trade market should they pursue this strategy, for the elimination of Ozolinsh’s and Kasparaitis’s contracts (for example) would give them a full $10 million to work with.Looking around the league, there are a number of blueliners who would represent significant improvement. Teams near the bottom of the standings are likely going to start looking toward the future, and it’s a safe bet that the likes of Eric Brewer (St. Louis Blues), Adrian Aucoin (Chicago Blackhawks), and Derek Morris (Phoenix Coyotes) will be available in trade. But for the Rangers, the target should be more significant.Hard-hitting blueliner Ed Jovanovski signed a five-year, $32.5 million contract with the Coyotes during the offseason, but the team is badly struggling. They would likely be quite open to a deal in which they package Jovanovski and unrestricted free agentto-be Shane Doan in exchange for Prucha and goaltending prospect Alvaro Montoya. For the Rangers, the deal would solidify their blue line; at 30 years old, “Jovo Cop” still has plenty of elite-level hockey left.It might seem contradictory to suggest that the Rangers should trade two highly touted youngsters in exchange for two veterans, especially after pointing out the error of their ways with regard to the infusion of youth. But as long as there are not going to be opportunities for young players like Nigel Dawes and Baranka to prove their worth at the NHL level, the Rangers may as well take every step possible to prepare themselves for a lengthy Cup run.The addition of Jovanovski’s hard-hitting presence and blistering point shot would represent a huge step forward for the franchise. Losing Prucha would hurt the team in the long term — of this, there’s no doubt — but Doan would be a short-term option at least as good, with Dawes remaining as the insurance policy. Should Doan’s stay on Broadway be a successful one, it’s reasonable to expect that the Rangers will be able to re-sign the 30-year-old grinder.With Jovanovski and Doan, the Rangers would become a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, and one of the Eastern Conference’s finest teams. Without them — and with Kasparaitis, Ozolinsh, and Rachunek using up nearly 20% of the salary cap allowance — the Rangers shouldn’t expect to get further than the second round of the playoffs, if they even get that far.Mr. Greenstein is the editor in chief of InsideHockey.com.

In Order To Upgrade, Rangers Must First Jettison Dead Weight

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