Rangers Claim Jeff Woywitka To Help Defense Situation

The New York Rangers have been said to be in the market for a veteran defender for the past couple of months, even before the situation with Marc Staal got to the point where it is today.  To help remedy their situation on defense the Rangers claimed 28-year old defender Jeff Woywitka off waivers from the Montreal Canadiens. 

Woywitka spent the past two seasons with the Dallas Stars before signing with Montreal over the summer on a one-year, $650K contract, but failed to make their roster.  His contract makes him attractive to the Rangers because it is such a minimal commitment.  This move is similar to Steve Eminger last season as Woywitka is best suited as a player in a limited role without excessive exposure.

This move is clearly a stop-gap type move in hopes of Staal being able to return in relatively short order.  If Staal's situation continues to be up in the air or get worse, then the Rangers will have to make another move on defense.  The hope would be that Tim Erixon shows himself well enough to have him playing full time be that move, but that is still to be seen.   The immediate move would likely be Bell or Bickel being assigned to the Connecticut Whale (AHL) to make room for Woywitka on the active roster with the possibility of Erixon going down when the team returns following the season opening games in Sweden.

Would Leaving McDonagh-Sauer Together Be Better Move For Rangers Defense?

There is no way to prepare for the absence of an All-Star defender like Marc Staal from your lineup.  The combination of the level he plays at, the competition he shuts down and the sheer number of minutes that he eats makes him one of the most valuable New York Rangers.  However, that is the situation before the Rangers now and the question is not about if they have to cope without him, but which set of pairings is the best way to do so?

The plan for now is to have Ryan McDonagh move up and play with Dan Girardi on the first pair while Michael Del Zotto will partner with Michael Sauer on the second pairing.  There is no question that McDonagh is capable of playing against the top opposition around the league, but would the Rangers be better off leaving him with his regular defense partner, Michael Sauer, and letting them become the de-facto top pair? 

Argument For Girardi With McDonagh:

Dan Girardi has been playing excellent quality defense against the top lines in the league for the past three seasons.  That level of experience playing against the best in the league is exactly what the team needs on the top defensive pairing with Staal missing.  Girardi can impart what he knows to McDonagh and they would be ahead of where McDonagh-Sauer would be in knowing how to best limit the league’s elite players/lines.

In terms of the team, there is no defender on the club, including Staal, that epitomizes the character of the team like Girardi with how he sacrifices his body on a nightly basis blocking shots.  While Michael Sauer did an excellent job last season of making himself into an integral part of the defense, he has not done anything to warrant him moving ahead of Girardi on the depth chart.  There is also the consideration that the pairing of Girardi and Del Zotto had their struggles when together in parts of each of the past two seasons

Argument For Sauer Remaining With McDonagh:

Michael Sauer was the Rangers most consistent defender on a nightly basis last season and showed that he can handle any and all situations against every level of competition.  Sauer did not have significant time against top line competition, but he had some, playing with Staal, during the brief absence of Girardi last season.  Obviously he had some on the penalty kill and during different shifts throughout games last season. 

This is not an argument to say that Sauer is better than Dan Girardi or anything of that ilk.  Sauer has less experience in the NHL in totality than Girardi does in taking shifts as a top pair defender.  The difference for Sauer is the relationship he has with McDonagh on the ice.  The two are one of those pairings that has just clicked from the very beginning as they complement one another very well.  How quickly they developed the understanding of what one another were going to do on the ice was one the most impressive aspect of last season, so it seems strange to playing around with it.

Leaving the continuity of a tremendous pairing that knows exactly what one another are going to do on the ice is something that is appealing, especially with the flux that is the rest of the defense corps right now.  The decision came down to the fact that Tortorella is more comfortable with Girardi’s experience against top line competition.  There is no arguing against that experience, but maybe that experience was better served building Del Zotto’s confidence as he in thrown into playing against better competition than expected while leaving McDonagh-Sauer together.  It is tough to argue against having McDonagh rise and Girardi stay where he has earned his place in the lineup, but maybe a little continuity might not have been so bad when the ability differential in Sauer and Girardi’s game is so slim.

Avery Clears Waivers, Sent To Minors; Staal To IR

Sean Avery, Stu Bickel and Brendan Bell all cleared waivers today after the New York Rangers put them out there for any other NHL franchise to take them. Avery was assigned to the Connecticut Whale, while Bickel and Bell will remain on the active roster for the time being. 

To make room, on the active roster to keep Bickel and Bell while also recalling Tim Erixon the team officially placed Marc Staal on injured reserve.

Erixon To Be Recalled; With Staal Out Significant Time Rangers Scrambling On D

The New York Rangers seem to be in a bit of a scramble mode on defense right now.  Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported this morning that the team could be without All-Star defenseman Marc Staal for upwards of a month and the organization is looking into lots of options to get through that time.  Talks with veteran Paul Mara have apparently been restarted and rookie defender Tim Erixon is going to be recalled this afternoon and will rejoin the team in Stockholm tomorrow.

The move with Erixon is somewhat surprising given that he was cut last week to get some more experience in the AHL, but with how badly both Bell and Bickel struggled against Zug on Monday the Rangers have decided to go with Erixon for the start the year.  Erixon will pair with Steve Eminger on the team's third pair while Ryan McDonagh is going to play with Dan Girardi and Del Zotto moves up to play with Michael Sauer.

Tortorella Giving Dubinsky Opening Assignment on Rangers Top Line With Richards, Gaborik

The question as to whom would be the left wing on the New York Rangers top line has been answered this morning as the team announced via their official twitter that coach John Tortorella Brandon Dubinsky will be the top line left wing whent he Rangers open Friday against Los Angeles. 

From a talent standpoint this is an easy move for Tortorella to make, but still somewhat surprising due to the production of the Dubinsky, Anisimov, Callahan trio.  Torts recognizes the issue in talking about the move:

"I understand it's robbing Peter to pay Paul because I really like Dubi with Cally and Artie...in my mind I am trying to settle this"

According to Dan Rosen at Dan Rosen at NHL.com the other lines will be as follows:

Fedotenko-Anisimov-Callahan
Wolski-Stepan-Zuccarello
Rupp-Boyle-Prust/Christensen

The third line is somewhat intriguing because Wolski appeared to be set for the top line assignment for much of camp until his groin issues.  However, putting him with Stepan and Zuccarello is a move that makes sense because the trio had some success when together last year.  These lines represent Tortorella going away from his two best lines last season in hopes of finding something at mnew, which is certainly a risk.  The Anisimov and Boyle lines were his most consistent performers, but Rupp in Fedotenko's spot should make for a similar line.  Fedotenko can play a physical game and will be excellent on the forecheck, but obviously doesn't have the scoring upside that Dubinsky had on the second line. 

Rangers To Waive Sean Avery

Larry Brooks of the NYPost tweeted and TSN is reporting that the New York Rangers will put Sean Avery on waivers at noon today.  There is some shock to this as Christensen did little if anything to "win" the final roster spot, but the fact that Avery is off the team should not be all that shocking.  Avery had the bigger cap hit and issues with the coaching staff trusting him not to take bad penalties, so they made the move to waive him.  If he is goes unclaimed Avery can be sent to the CT Whale.  Sad that Christensen ends up the beneficiary in this. More later.

Who Should Play With Richards, Gaborik If Wolski Can't Go In Opener?

Over the summer there was much speculation concerning the subject of who would be the left wing to pair with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik on the top line for the New York Rangers.  My position throughout was that Wojtek Wolski would get the first chance to prove he could utilize his talent playing with those two elite players.  Reports from camp have said there is chemistry from the trio, but Wolski has been battling a groin issue for the last week and is no lock to play this Friday in the season opener.  The hope is Wolski will practice tomorrow and play on Friday, but the Rangers also have to prepare in case that doesn’t happen.

While Wolski has been on the shelf, coach John Tortorella has been shuffling Brian Boyle, Ruslan Fedotenko and Brandon Dubinsky in and out with his Richards and Gaborik looking for who could fill the spot.  If Wolski is unavailable on Friday which Rangers’ forward should get the spot on the top line? 

Marc Staal Will Miss Rangers Regular Season Games In Europe

For anyone holding out hope that Marc Staal would somehow make it into the New York Rangers lineup for the beginning of the regular season, coach John Tortorella put an end to that by telling the media after the game that Staal is not going to Europe.   Tortorella added that Staal will not be placed on IR, which is somewhat confusing because after the games this weekend the Rangers wont play for a week when they are on Long Island which would be enough time to satisfy the IR requirements and allow the Rangers to carry an extra player in Europe, but not that big a deal since they have enough right now.

Staal Doubts Own Ability To Play In Rangers Opener

The New York Rangers are in Europe preparing to open the season on Friday, defenseman Marc Staal is skating with the Connecticut Whale in hopes of joining the team for the regular season.  However, according to Andrew Gross in today’s Bergen Record, Staal does not seem too confident that will happen while the team is in Europe. 

"It’s skate and see how I feel and then kind of go from there," Staal told The Record. "If I’m not feeling ready to play a game, it’s doubtful that I’ll make it over there. I’ll know more [today] as it goes on."

That is certainly not good news for the Rangers faithful as losing Staal for any game action is a huge loss to the team.  That said, the patient approach is the right one for Staal to take and he knows how ready or not ready he is at this point to play against NHL competition.  That is part of the problem in Staal’s judgement that his lack of being cleared for contract due to his headaches he cannot gauge his level of game fitness.

"I haven’t physically touched anybody on the ice yet so, from that standpoint, I’m not ready," Staal said. "Once I’m cleared to start taking hits and battling guys down low, I can better gauge when I could be ready."

While the talk from the organization has been very positive and upbeat about when Staal will be able to play, hearing Staal himself doubt where he is right now is a more honest assessment.  Glen Sather is talking up how soon Staal could be in Europe while the player himself has no plans to even make it there at all.

"Nothing’s booked right now," Staal said. "Honestly, there’s not really a plan. It’s going by how I feel. If I improve drastically tomorrow and feel good, maybe I’ll head over there."

Rangers Cut Prospects As Trim Roster to 25

The New York Rangers made their second round of cuts this morning and the result is a resulting roster of 25.  The cuts today were defensemen Tim Erixon, Dylan McIlrath and Blake Parlett along with forwards Ryan Bourque, Carl Hagelin, John Mitchell, Kris Newbury and Dale Weise.  All were assigned to  to Connecticut (AHL) except for McIlrath who was returned to the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League.

For some this will look like the Rangers taking a step back in the youth movement because no prospects will make the opening night roster this season, but I do not view it that way.  Erixon, Hagelin and Bourque were all given their chances to make the team.  Erixon did not show as much in camp/preseason as he did in Traverse City, so he will get the opportunity, like Ryan McDonagh last season, to go down tot he AHL and play big minutes to be ready for a call-up during the season.   The competition for Hagelin, Bourque and even Weise was a little more stacked against them as 11 forwards were locked into the roster and Mats Zuccarello claimed the 12th spot with his strong play.  Putting Bourque or Hagelin on the roster as a 13th forward would be a disservice to them both now and going forward.  They will go to Connecticut and play big minutes continuing to get better and waiting for their opportunity.

With Weise the situation is a little different because he has to pass through waivers and it is possible that he showed enough in his preseason performances that another team will claim him on waivers this week.  If he does not get claimed, then I would still look for him to be moved out of the organization through trade to clear a veteran spot on the AHL roster.  It is possible with Kolarik's injury they could keep him, but Weise will likely get moved elsewhere to see if he can crack the NHL.


Goalie (3): Marty Biron, Henrik Lundqvist, Scott Stajcer
Defensemen (8): Brendan Bell, Stu Bickel, Michael Del Zotto, Steve Eminger, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Sauer, Marc Staal
Forwards (14): Artem Anisimov, Sean Avery, Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Erik Christensen, Brandon Dubinsky, Ruslan Fedotenko, Marian Gaborik, Brandon Prust, Brad Richards, Mike Rupp, Derek Stepan, Wojtek Wolski, Mats Zuccarello

The Rangers will assuredly make two more cuts before opening night with Stajcer being the guaranteed one to be sent back.  Avery and Christensen are battling for the final forward spot while Staal's situation leaves the defense decisions up in the air.  If he can play, then it is said that Bickel or Bell will be the one cut while Del Zotto is safe.  The Rangers could also carry 8 defenders early in the year just in case there is any further issues for Staal once he returns.