Should Dubinsky Move Back to Center?

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Looking for a player capable of holding down the number one center spot is something the New York Rangers have been doing for far too long.  In the search, just this season, the team has tried a lot of different line configurations, and while many of them are generating shots and chances, they are not currently generating goals.  One thing the team has failed to attempt is moving Brandon Dubinsky back to his previous position of center.  The team is already using Dubinsky as a de facto center in terms of taking every draw when his line is on the ice and now taking most defensive zone draws with the absence of Chris Drury, so why not just leave him on the pivot after the puck drops?

While I do not think Dubinsky’s ideal position is as a first line center, he is the player best equipped among the current roster to handle the duties.  Anisimov and Stepan have shown flashes at times, but are not ready for the responsibility on both sides of the ice as a first line center.  Christensen has had so many chances, mainly by default, but has never shown any semblance of grabbing hold of the opportunity.  Vinny Prospal is another candidate, but his knee might not be up for the task of being a center as opposed to playing on the wing.

The fact is, for better or worse, Dubinsky has become the Rangers go to offensive player and the best place for him to do his work is at center.  Playing in the middle will allow Dubinsky more space on the ice to create for himself and his teammates.  I also like that it forces Dubinsky to be more in front of the net as opposed to drifting to the corners, which he has a tendency to do.   There are some negative possibilities in that he could become unfocused like was previously when he was at center, and there is the potential that he could lose some of his aggressiveness in the power forward type role he has taken on.  In the end, for right now, the potential rewards outweigh the possible risks.

This is not meant as another form of tearing the lineup apart to solve Gaborik as I believe the onus for that is on him, but with his line not working and the Dubinsky, Anisimov, Callahan line not producing goals, mixing and matching those parts might not be a bad idea.  I would surround Dubinsky with the Rangers best forward of late, Sean Avery, and their supposed best offensive player Marian Gaborik.  As I talked about yesterday, the chemistry that Avery and Gaborik have has been the closest thing to getting some consistent play out of Marian this season.  The team has tried to turn the clock back in the three games since Prospal’s return, but the pairing has not shown anything like what they had last year and honestly right now Prospal’s energy is being wasted on Gaborik.

Putting Dubinsky and Gaborik together should create space for each as long as Dubinsky does not defer to Gaborik, which I believe he has gotten over.  I think the results, leadership role, and the vocal role which Dubinsky has taken on this season allows him to and will have him be more comfortable in being more forceful with Gaborik than anyone else who has played with him can be. 

This line combination has the potential to play multiple styles at the same time.  The line can play both a dump and chase/forecheck style game, with Avery and Dubinsky being the primary players to work those battles,  and one that is capable of carrying the puck into the zone and creating offense that way.  For me it is the best mix of the two styles the Rangers have tried with Gaborik and it allows for a skill game, without being a soft line that can get pushed around.

Beyond what it does for this trio, the move has positive ramifications down the roster as well.  The move allows Stepan and Anisimov to not have the burden of being the top line guy or the one responsible for Gaborik while just playing their game.  It also eliminates Christensen from the equation as he becomes a spare part of the fourth line until other players return to the lineup or the Rangers recall a player better suited for a fourth line role.

I would run the following lines:

Avery-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Prospal-Anisimov-Callahan

Wolski-Stepan-Zuccarello

Newbury-Boyle-Prust

Christensen

It would be more likely though that coach Tortorella would go with a line of Prospal, Dubinsky, Gaborik, and work from there, in an attempt to give Gaborik and Prospal as much time to recapture last year as possible.  The move might be a long-shot to happen because of Tortorella's public statements regarding Dubinsky as better on the wing, then at center, but if the Rangers are going to try different groupings as much as they have, then there is no reason to leave a possible solution untried.

Video: Matt Cooke's Latest Dirty Hit; Charging Fedor Tyutin

The number of Matt Cooke incidents just keeps piling up.  The scary part is they seem to be picking up in their frequency and this was the second straight game with a dirty play by the Pittsburgh forward.  During tonight’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Cooke was assessed a 5-minute major for charging when he left his feet to slam Fedor Tyutin into the boards.

Here’s the video:

The Cooke apologists have been complaining about how Tyutin saw Cooke and turned his back to Cooke, which is what caused the contact to happen the way it did.  There is absolutely no excuse to justify this hit where he leaped, making it a clear charging call.  Cooke had time to pull out of the hit if he wanted or just go in with his skates on the ice and it might be a different discussion, but that is not the way Matt Cooke thinks hockey should be played.  If there is a chance to take a liberty, Cooke will take it and he did here.

The fact that the NHL continues to do nothing to punish Cooke for his repeated violations is what allows this to keep going on and you have to wonder what exactly Cooke has to do for the league to slap him down. 

Thankfully Tyutin is ok, but the fact that he is should not be the basis for the penalty or any subsequent action by the league, but unfortunately that seems to be the way it works for the NHL these days.

Check out John Merrigan’s post on Cooke from this morning.

Rangers Potential Trade Targets: Calgary

The NHL trade deadline is now less than three weeks away, and with that the trade rumor mill is bound to start bursting into flames with rumors involving the New York Rangers. Speaking of flames, at least until recently, the Calgary Flames looked destined to be sellers at the deadline, though a recent winning streak has them in the thick of the playoff race.  Should the Flames fall back out of the race, do they have anything that could fix the Rangers holes for this season.  The way I see it those holes include a big shot on the point, and a guy who can win some faceoffs.

The organization has made it abundantly clear that there will be no move to sacrifice the future just to try and improve the club this year.  That position likely eliminates Jarome Iginla from the realm of trade targets given the cost in salary and assets as well as his age.  The focus should be on players that are either young, or have expiring contracts, so the team has as much flexibility this summer as possible.

Forwards

Alex Tanguay (UFA): Tanguay is a guy that many Rangers fans have wanted to bring into New York for a long time.  After struggling last season in Tampa, Tanguay took a one-year 1.7 million dollar contract from the Flames in order to try and resurrect his career in a place where he previously had success.  The gamble has worked out well for both sides as Alex has put up 14 goals, 28 assists and 42 points in 54 games thus far this season.  Those numbers exceed the point totals he accumulated in 80 contests last season.  Having previously been a top line player, Alex is more of a second line player, but his passing ability could make him an attractive target to pair with the struggling Marian Gaborik.  Tanguay has a proven track record as a solid playoff performer as well.  Combine that with his low salary cost and there is a lot to like in this kind of a move, excpet all those things add up to high demand in the trade market.  The other problem is the Rangers have a logjam of forwards as it is when they get healthy with likely Drury and Christensen or Avery being on the outside looking in, so room is an issue.  Bringing in Tanguay at the expense of Zuccarello playing time or a significant trade chip would be a bad move for the Rangers, but if Calgary has interest in Christensen that could be a potential option. 

Brendan Morrison (UFA): Morrison joined the Flames in training camp on a one-year 725K contract.  Brendan has had a solid season putting together a line of 9-23-32 while winning 48.4% of his faceoffs.  Morrision would certainly be a cheap add, but not sure he is a big upgrade over anything the Rangers have to really be worth exploring.

Curtis Glencross (RFA): Pass

Defensemen

Robyn Regehr (2 yrs 4.02 million remaining): The only player on the Flames I would consider dealing for despite the fact he is not a free agent this summer.  Regehr is a rugged crease clearing defender and the Rangers have been looking for one for a long time.  The emergence of Michael Sauer and Ryan McDonagh combined with the asking price and contract cost of Regehr makes me pass in the end.

Anton Babchuk (UFA): Babchuk’s best quality is his cannon from the point, which would certainly be a welcomed addition on the power play.  Overall on the season Babchuk has a line of 6-16-22 in 54 games, which would put him on pace for 34 points this season.  Babchuk was in the KHL last season, but the 2008-09 season with Carolina he scored 16 goals (9 PPG) and had 19 assists.  Anton’s contract is only 1.4 million this season which means the cost for the Rangers is negligible for the rest of the year and the cost of dealing for him should not be too high.  Dealing for Babchuk would give the Rangers the chance to evaluate the 26-year-old free agent this summer to see if he could help them next season as well.  Matt Gilroy has played much better of late, but Babchuk would add something Gilroy cannot, so maybe that is the kind of swap the team makes.

Steve Staios (UFA): Certainly fits the criteria of a veteran defenseman that would come cheap, but he has little left in the tank and has been a healthy scratch a number of times this year.  Pass.

Calgary does not have a lot that is attractive in terms of expiring contracts, but Tanguay and Babchuk both have the ability to fill needs for the Rangers if the price is right.  The problem is if you are Calgary your bigger concern is unloading some of your longer term deals and the Rangers must say no to any of those types of offers.  It will be interesting to see if Calgary can stay in the race the next few weeks, and if they fall out who they attempt to move.

Whether Decision On Del Zotto Is NHL or AHL, Rangers Must Stick To It This Time

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

At this point it is becoming painfully clear that the New York Rangers have no idea what to do with second-year defenseman Michael Del Zotto.  The number mixed messages the team is sending to him and about him is reaching staggering proportions right now.  All we do know for sure is that at some point over these three days off the Rangers will make a decision on whether to send Michael back to the Connecticut Whale or keep him here with the NHL team.  We have no idea if a decision in either direction will be stuck with for any length of time because they cannot stick with the ones they have already made, or at least the public comments about him. 

When Del Zotto was initially brought back due to the rib injury to Dan Girardi, coach John Tortorella went out of his way to tell anyone who would listen that the reason for his return was purely about the injury and not improved play.  It was a clear statement of intent and an accurate assessment of the fact that the six games he had played in Hartford had not cured the ailments that forced him to be sent down.  Following the two games in which he filled in for Giardi, Del Zotto was sent down to the AHL to play while the NHL All-Star Break happened.

Based on what Tortorella had said upon Del Zotto’s initial recall, and the play of the Rangers defensive core before the Girardi injury, one would not be out of bounds in expecting Del Zotto not to return after the break with all six defenders healthy.  Well, he did.  The Rangers initially recalled Del Zotto again while claiming him as a sort of insurance for Girardi if he was not fully healed in time for the their next game.  Turns out he was, but Del Zotto was in and Steve Eminger was scratched. 

After an up and down first two games following the break, before Saturday’s game against the Canadiens coach John Tortorella made a declaration of sort when it came to Del Zotto.

Tortorella said, “We’re in the process of developing him, too. When it comes to younger guys and older guys, though Emmy is not 35 years old, we’re going to continue to work with the younger guy if we see fit. He’ll continue there unless we see fit to make a change.”

Just two days after that statement, and off a decent game for Del Zotto against Montreal, Tortorella said before Monday’s game that Michael could head back to Connecticut.

"We've been keeping our eye on all the 'D,' and we'll make decisions over the next few days. With Michael, it's still part of a process. Is it best for him here, is it best for him there [in Hartford]? We have to figure what's best for him because eventually, that's what's going to be best for the organization."

My thoughts on what the team should do with Del Zotto are very clear from last Friday and the way this is being handled only furthers the stance I have not only on what they should do, but who is to blame for this scenario. 

The organization needs to bite the bullet one way or the other when it comes to Del Zotto.  Either you commit to leaving him for the whole year and taking the ups and downs that go with it or you send him down to develop and leave him there for the rest of the year.  All these mixed messages are not good for Del Zotto’s psyche and neither is the dance of sending him down and calling him up.  Make a decision before you end having the lack of one ruin this tremendous talent.

Rangers Should Promote Avery to Play With Gaborik Permanently

This season has seen a lot of players for the New York Rangers accept their roles and thrive in them.  There has been no Ranger who has accepted his role, whatever it might be better than Sean Avery.  There has been no complaining about how no matter what he does on the ice he somehow continually ends up on the fourth line to give other players of more skill opportunities over him.  The interesting thing about it is both last night and possibly against Montreal, there has been no Rangers forward that has played better than Sean Avery. 

I have never been the biggest Avery guy, but this guy is working his tail off this season to do whatever it takes for the betterment of the team.  He has played the skill game when he has been asked.  He has played the agitator when asked to do that.  He has fought when he felt the need was there.  Instead of basically patting Sean on the head in the press for what he has done, it is time that coach John Tortorella put his lineup where his mouth is and move Avery up the lineup.  The man has more than earned it.

There is no player on the club who has had better chemistry this season with Marian Gaborik than Avery and yet at every turn, with every new or returning player to the lineup, Avery is moved away from Gaborik to try and use that person in the spot.  I am not saying Avery is a top line player because on pure skill he is not.  However, I am saying that Avery has been the best partner for the player they cannot seem to get going consistently and it is time to reward him for that fact as well as his other contributions to the team.  When you are constantly tinkering with lines because you are failing to have Gaborik find chemistry, it is time to keep it simple and put him with those whom he has had it with this year, and Avery tops the list.

Until such time as Avery forgets to play disciplined hockey and loses his focus there is absolutely no reason to separate him from Marian Gaborik.  Think of the two of them in the same fashion that you do Boyle and Prust and work on combinations from that point forward.

Later I will examine which center should work between these two.

Rangers Cannot End The Skid in Detroit

In private conversations over the last couple of days the discussion has been about how important tonight’s two points were to the New York Rangers at a critical juncture of the season and the different ramifications that could result.  The team had the chance to go into Detroit with only two possible outcomes to be had.  They would either secure a huge win against a great team to snap a skid, or they would walk out having gone winless in five straight.  Despite a very good effort, the Rangers would fall short in yet another 3-2 loss in which the ineptitude of the power play would play a critical part.  Now the team is left without a game until Friday against the also struggling Thrashers, having not won a game since January 24^th.

While the Thrashers continuing to lose is a slight saving grace for the Blueshirts, they cannot take those kind of moral victories as Carolina is on their heels and suddenly Buffalo, while nine points back, has five games in hand on New York.  Friday will obviously be a crucial game, but it will also be very interesting to see what the team does over these three intervening days.

In terms of the game, the Rangers came out of the gates playing their style of hockey.  The pressure was creating turnovers, they were forechecking and cycling the puck and had plenty of chances to get the early goal on Jimmy Howard, who came in struggling.  Unfortunately, as has been the case a lot of times of late, the Rangers were unable to get one in and make all their work pay dividends on the scoreboard.  Detroit started to play their game in the latter half of the period, but at the end of one the score was tied and the Rangers had a penalty that was going to carry over.

After failing to convert on the carry over penalty, Detroit had some momentum and Pavel Datsyuk would make that momentum grow with a beautiful individual effort.  Datsyuk would use the physics of the game instead of the force of the game to work the puck free from Brian Boyle and then work a give and go from the corner in which zero Rangers picked him up.  Biron would stop the initial shot, but after Boyle did not follow him out of the corner, Avery failed to pick up the stick in front and McDonagh was caught high guarding another player, Pavel would put home the rebound.

The Rangers would have some beautiful chances to score, including one for Sean Avery that was created by a beautiful stretch pass from Martin Biron to Mats Zuccarello who played a perfect saucer pass to Avery, who was in alone on Howard, but could not finish. 

The Rangers would once again head to the third down a goal.  It marked the 15^th time in the 18 games the Rangers failed to have a lead after two periods.  They would get on the board early in the third, Matt Gilroy played a saucer pass to Derek Stepan for the finish which tied the game at 1-1.

Less than two minutes later the Red Wings would score a highlight reel goal on a tic-tack-toe passing play where Hudler would start the play at the point, the puck would work to the far side of the ice and the winger on that side never followed Hudler as he broke to the net and he would end up with the easy finish.  Detroit had the lead back at 2-1, just over five minutes into the final period.

After that goal the Rangers would get a power play on a delay of game call, generate little and fail to score.  I actually joked when they took the penalty with 13:30 remaining in the game that it would be the first of seven consecutive penalties they would take to ice the game.  Little did I know how prophetic that would become.

Late in the third, Drew Miller would make it 3-1 and almost every Rangers’ fan I know thought that was surely the end of the game.  Brandon Dubinsky and Sean Avery would combine to bring back hope or prolong the agony, depending on how you look at it, when Avery fed Dubinsky for a goal to cut it to 3-2 with just over four minutes to play.  Even though Dubinsky scored, I thought Avery should have taken the shot on the two-on-one, but Dubinsky would convert from the tough angle.

With 3:40 to go in the game, Sean Avery was hit with a high stick giving the Rangers a 5-on-4 power play.  When the clock read 2:24 the Rangers would get a 5-on-3 advantage for 44 seconds as once again it was Avery who was high sticked.  This time Avery was cut (ended up with four stitches) so it was a double-minor which meant the Rangers would either score or end the game still on the power play. 

If there was anything that typifies the Rangers struggles beyond the power play itself it was the fact that they have a 5-on-3 for 44 seconds and they lose the faceoff, then three players get outhustled by Henrik Zetterberg and basically kills of 30 seconds of the two man advantage.  The Rangers would fail to convert and the game ended.

The most interesting things of note about the power play were that both Marian Gaborik and Michael Del Zotto were mainly glued to the bench during them.  Gaborik had plenty of time on the power play, but not much of it during the late opportunities.  I thought the main purpose for Del Zotto being here was to help the power play, but he only played 51 seconds with the man advantage.

• Sean Avery was the Rangers best player
• Gaborik once again had an excellent first period and then basically disappeared.

Video: Matt Cooke Knees Alex Ovechkin

There is no debate that Matt Cooke is a dirty player with a history of plays that go beyond the bounds of clean play, but there is certainly no player that plays the innocent as well as Cooke does.  Yesterday was the latest in the line of plays that crossed the line when Cooke intentionally stuck his knee out to take out Alex Ovechkin.

 

Cooke after the game said: "I just checked the puck. He tried to cut back on me, and we clipped skates."

That is hilarious considering their skates were nowhere near one another.

Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau was very candid in his assessment of Cooke. 

"It's not like it's his first rodeo. He's done it to everybody and then he goes to the ref and says, 'What did I do?' He knows damn well what he did. There's no doubt in my mind that he's good at it and he knows how to pick this stuff. And we, as a League, buy into this like it's an accidental thing."

At some point the league will punish Cooke or someone on another team will be the one that does it one has to assume.  Sad because Cooke has skill to be a very solid contributor, but this is what people remember about him.  The fact that on Versus tonight neither Jones or Milbury had the guts to call him dirty and then Milbury sought to justify the move because Ovechkin has done it is atrocious.  Ovehckin's were dirty and illegal when he did them and so is Cooke's now.

Thankfully Rangers Take A Pass On Souray

There has been a lot of talk about Sheldon Souray over the last few days and whether he would eventually end up a New York Ranger.  Hopefully now all of that discussion will stop.  Over the weekend the Rangers did send scouts to watch Souray play in the AHL for the Hershey Bears and according to Mark Spector, the Rangers came away severely unimpressed with what they saw.  The game at the AHL level was said to be significantly too fast for Souray, and the NHL level is much faster than the AHL, so there is no way for him to transition to being an NHL player right now.

This is great news for the Rangers next season, and shows that while Glen Sather is going to look under every rock to try and improve this team, he is also going to do his due diligence to make sure any potential addition will actually add to the team.  Thank you for your hard work Mr. Sather and the scouting department.  Now we move on to see if anything else might help the club this year or in the future with an eye on bringing back our own players.

Biron Will Start vs Detroit; Right Move For Sliding Rangers

Al Bello/Getty Images

Having gone winless in their last four games (0-3-1) the New York Rangers are facing a huge game tonight against the Detroit Red Wings, and one of the big questions was would it be Martin Biron or Henrik Lundqvist in the net.  The team is dire need of a win and two points.  The fact that the Rangers do not play against until Friday only increases the importance of this game for team morale and maybe more importantly what could be a sense of panic to change things up.  With those facts being as they are, the best move for the team against Detroit would be for Martin Biron to back between the pipes.  It appears based on this morning's  optional skate, per Andrew Gross, that John Tortorella agrees with that assessment, since Martin Biron was the first goalie off. 

I am not trying to start a goalie controversy or anything of that ilk because Henrik Lundqvist is the unquestioned number one goalie for the Rangers.  With the team in desperate need of a win, the team must put his best lineup on the ice and right now Biron is playing better than Lundqvist.  This is not a vote of no confidence in Lundqvist either.  This is simply letting the hot goalie play while the number one gets extra work to fix the mechanical things going wrong in his game.

This will not be the first time this season that coach John Tortorella has employed this kind of tactic as a way to get Henrik back on track either.  Back in November when Lundqvist was going through up and down performances coach John Tortorella turned to Biron for two straight starts to give Lundqvist the better part of a week to work on his game in practice.  It was after that move that Lundqvist went on his tear for the better part of the next two months. By playing Biron against Detroit it would give Lundqvist a full week off from the time of his last start until the game against Atlanta on Friday.

The easy choice would have been to go back to Lundqvist because he is the number one guy, but the right choice for tonight is to let Biron, the goalie who is playing better, be the man between the pipes.  The team brought Biron in to be a backup they were not afraid to use in any situation and tonight is proof of that, so instead of taking the negative on Lundqvist, let us appreciate the quality Biron has given that Tortorella can make this move.

As expected, Henrik Lundqvist took the decision with professionalism.  Per the Rangers official twitter:

Lundqvist: "This is big for the team...to have two great goalies...Marty is playing well"

"this is my time to work hard and get good practice in...I want to be a part of as many wins as possible"

You can bet that Henrik will be read come Friday.

Gaborik Must Rise To the Occasion or Rangers Will Fall

Paul J. Bereswill

The struggles of Marian Gaborik have been well chronicled over the past few months.  The New York Rangers sniper has been AWOL far too often this season and that must change if the Rangers are to break out of this slump they are currently mired in.  The current four game winless streak (0-3-1), is the team’s longest drought this year and their best offensive player needs to step to the forefront immediately or the team will soon find itself in danger of falling out of the playoffs completely.   These are the moments where the teams stars are needed the most, and we will find out what Marian Gaborik is made of in this stretch.

The overall numbers for Gaborik still look reasonable as he as a line of 16-17-33 in his 41 games this season.  The problem is still a consistency and impact issue.  Despite the fact that he has 16 goals on the season, Gaborik’s name has absent from the list of goal scorers a whopping 32 times in those 41 contests; including 14 of the last 16.  That simply is not good enough. 

Delving deeper into the numbers for Gaborik the results you find make the cause for concern and the lackluster nature of his totals even more startling.  One expects that players might produce at a slower rate against better competition, but Marian Gaborik has only managed to tally five goals against teams that are currently in the playoffs.  Compare that with how he has done against non-playoff teams and specifically the worst five teams in the current standings and you see just how disappointing the production is.  The statistical breakdown is as follows:

	GP	Goals	Assists	Points	Plus/Minus
vs. Playoff Teams	19	5	4	9	-6
vs. Non-Playoff Teams	22	11	13	24	+7
vs. Bot-5 Teams	11	10	8	18	+7

Based on those facts saying that Gaborik’s totals are inflated would be a gross understatement.  Those numbers have to change and change now because seven of the Rangers next nine games are against teams currently in the playoffs.

Throughout the season there have been excuse makers and apologists trying to come up with reasons why the Gaborik of last season has not shown up on a consistent basis for this Rangers’ team.  The notion was more than understandable given the season that he had and wanting to give him the benefit of the down.  At this point it is getting tougher and tougher for those people to keep going.  All of the excuses are gone. 

There has been no talk and there is no reason to believe there is any sort of injury to Gaborik.  Vinny Prospal whose absence was pointed to as a missing piece for Marian to get going again is back.  Prospal is playing like he has not missed a step despite missing so much time and battling back from knee issues, while Gaborik no matter what they try cannot seem to find his.  There may not be a combination of lines that the Rangers have yet to try to get Gaborik going and yet the results are what they have been.

The Rangers were always going to be a team that was going to struggle to consistently find offense, but Gaborik was supposed to be the one constant figure.  With many of the guys when they struggle to score you notice the effort and other things they do on the ice, but not with Gaborik.  There are many points in games where it appears the desire is just not there for him.  Maybe that is not a fair criticism because he is a goal scorer and not a grinder type, but I do not mean it in terms of hitting or failing to block shots, but a desire to go to the tough areas; take the hits necessary to make plays and score goals.  Too many times you see Gaborik content to play along the wall or pull up for the shot instead of drive the net.  There is no explosion to his stride or belief in his shot and those things have to change.

There is nothing else the coaching staff or the team can do for Gaborik that they have not tried already. The results and the burden for them are on Gaborik’s shoulders.  The level of consistency that is necessary is also with him.  Whether he can handle that burden and turn things around is yet to be known.  What is known though is if Gaborik cannot turn himself around, for more than a game here or there, any hope for this Rangers team to make a legitimate run this year disappears with their AWOL sniper.