What would the world of a New York
Rangers fan be if not for another round of conflicting reports on how close a
deal for Bryan McCabe is to happening? What
went on this morning is no different than what has been going on for the past
week or so as one person says it is about to happen and then others chime back
in to tell how the people they talk to say nothing is imminent. Before I go into what each person said there
are a few baseline facts that appear clear right now: 1) No trade has happened
yet, so people acting like McCabe is a Ranger need to stop. 2) McCabe appears
to have agreed to waive his no-movement clause to come here. 3) Until a deal actually happens, everything
is just a rumor.
According to Nick Kypreos
of Sportsnet, Bryan McCabe could be a New York Ranger as early as today and is
willing to waive his no-movement clause to come here. Darren Dreger
of TSN would respond by saying that his sources in Florida say there is nothing
to the McCabe-Rangers trade at this time, but that McCabe will not hold up a
deal if one is agreed to.
Per Pierre
LeBrun at ESPN, a deal could go down as early as today according to a
source and that after spending the last few days contemplating the move that
McCabe seems ready to waive for New York.
As of 10:30 a.m. ET, a Panthers source said no trade was in place and there was still work to be done. But expect the Panthers and Rangers to try and work out a trade sometime this weekend.
Of all the reporting this
morning, the most intriguing tidbit comes from Arthur
Staple of Newsday who says that McCabe is only willing to waive
his no-movement clause to come to the Rangers.
The reason that this would be huge news is that it should give the
Rangers added leverage in the negotiations to lower their price to acquire
McCabe. If he is telling Florida that he
will only go to New York, then Sather can play hardball and basically give Dale
Tallon a take it or leave it type offer. Obviously if McCabe is willing to waive for the Rangers the hold up right now is between Sather and Tallon over the price to acquire him.
The idea of McCabe was a lot more intriguing to me a few months ago than it is today and the price will be a huge factor in how I feel about the move. I still believe that McCabe, while a fit for the system, is not the key to the Rangers making a long run in the playoffs, so sacrificing anything of value from the future (yes, high draft picks count) is a mistake for a team that is in a development not a contention year.
