Monday, January 10, 2011

Daily Recap: Frolov Year Over; Newbury Up, Wrong Choice?; Callahan, Dubinsky Extensions?; Prospects


The big news of the day was the fact Alex Frolov is out for the season with a completely mangled knee that will require surgery and frankly might end his time in the NHL when you consider the fact that he has been declining each year, struggled this season and now will have a rebuilt knee.  To adjust the roster with Frolov out the Rangers called up Kris Newbury from Connecticut.  Prior to the announcement I had written a post about who potential candidates for the call might be which then became the link above but inside is still my rationale for each of the guys I would have thought of.  I left Newbury off the list for multiple reasons and they are inside as well and leave me questioning whether this was the right decision by Rangers management.  If Frolov was a temporary thing I would understand the move more than I do with it being permanent and with none of the other injured Rangers being particularly close to getting back into game action.  There are really more risks than benefits to choosing Newbury over some of the other possible options.  As always let me know what your thoughts are.

In addition to the Frolov news I discussed how the league is trending more towards doing in season contract extensions for the key personnel on a team as was shown again with Johnson contract on Saturday night.  For me this should be the approach that Sather should be taking with Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan with their impending restricted free agency this summer.  There is no reason to wait until the summer and risk it dragging out like Dubinsky’s last negotiation did and how Marc Staal’s nearly did this past summer.  Inside I discuss more on why it is vital to get it done now in terms of the team and the message it would send along with throwing around some figures of what it might cost to lock up these two valuable members of the Rangers core.

The Prospect Stats page has been update through games completed today so you can take a look at which prospects have been hot lately and how the lot is faring over the course of the season.  Along with just stats it has some recent highlights and stories regarding Rangers prospects.

Only one video today and it is a whopper as Benn put school in session on a Sunday as he undressed Barker on his way to scoring a goal in a 4-0 win.