Since I was bored I scanned to see what ridiculous rumors he who shall remain nameless here had pulled out of thin air and in an update he wrote that in the dealings between the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers that the Rangers had taken Oilers long coveted player Brandon Dubinsky off the table and put him into the "untouchable" list. There are so many things wrong with the whole exercise, but what the heck the game has a late start tonight so let's go through them. The most obvious is as usual there are no real sources cited to prove there were any talks to begin with or that the Rangers actually said it and of course no specifics of who was trading what. Now for the deal aside from their young future stars there is nothing on Oilers roster that should have had Dubinsky's name come in a trade conversation to begin with. After that there is the breakout start to the season that Dubinsky has had which has only increased his value to the team, on the next contract and presumably if he was ever dealt.
Now let me look at the one aspect of the story that actually interests me, Dubinsky as "untouchable." It may may surprise some as I am admittedly a Dubinsky fan, but there is no player on the Rangers outside of Henrik Lundqvist who should be in the untouchable pile with Marc Staal coming second. To say that Dubinsky is untouchable is a fallacy because while he is having an excellent start to the year and a critical component to the team success this year and I believe in the future to put that kind of label on him is preposterous to me. There are plenty of guys or package in which I would give up Dubinsky to obtain especially with historical propensity for inconsistent production and the fact his huge start is going to lead to huge contract demands that will probably outweigh his worth on the market. I am in no way advocating the trade of Dubinsky because I believe in the talent and am greatly encouraged by the evolving maturity of the player not only in being more consistent in effort and production but his continued desire to protect his teammates. What I am saying is that he should not be labeled as untouchable in terms of contract negotiations with any team including the Oilers. If Edmonton wants to give up some of their young players to get Dubinsky depending on the total package you have to listen, as with any team, now if the reason he was taken out of whatever negotiations was based on what Edmonton was giving up the whole characterization of the label is inaccurate, which would not surprise me considering the source.
Do you think Dubinsky should be untouchable? What Rangers do you classify as untouchable?
Update: Today I did a story on whether Marian Gaborik Is Holding Dubinsky Back that might interest you.
