Rumor: Rangers Scouting, Looking To Acquire Sheldon Souray; Is It Worth It?

The trade deadline is approaching and with that comes news of old consistently rumored target of the New York Rangers coming back to life again.  According to Mark Spector of Sportsnet.ca, the Rangers are actively scouting and could be on the verge of attempting to acquire Sheldon Souray.  Rumors of Souray to New York are nothing new as over the course of the last two years there has been speculation of the kind, but nothing has ever come of it.

From Spector’s report…

Rangers pro scout Kevin Maxwell is credentialed for tonight’s game in Atlantic City between the Hershey Bears and the Albany Devils, and another Rangers scout is on his way to Hershey for back-to-back Bears games Saturday and Sunday against Manitoba.

Rangers general manager Glen Sather has already passed through Hershey to have a firsthand look at Souray, who is healthy and back playing for the Bears, after suffering a pair of injuries this season.

The arguments in favor of Souray are the same as they have ever been, which is his one tool; a big shot from the point.  On the flip side, if people think that Del Zotto struggles on defense, Souray makes Del Zotto look like Chara in terms of defensive coverage.

I have been against the idea of acquiring Souray each time this idea has come up and nothing has happened this season to dissuade that notion.  If anything, the development of the Rangers young defenders should make a move like this less likely.  Let us realize we are talking about a player who in the AHL has compiled a line of 3-10-13 in 19 games and is plus-5 with 37 PIMs.  Not exactly lighting things up down there and has not shown any penchant for staying healthy.

Contractually claiming Souray on re-entry waivers and the Rangers would have to make a claim while hoping that no one below them in the standings would also put in a claim.  If they won the claim on Souray it would cost the Rangers 2.7 million per year with one year left on his contract after this season.  For this season the cap hit would approximately 900K.

The 2.7 million in cap hit is something the Rangers cannot afford next year if they are going to retain all of their RFA’s, and certainly not if they have designs on signing Brad Richards.  Yes, it is possible that he could be buried in the minors next year, but there are negatives to that as well.  Stashing him in the AHL next year does not help the fact that his 2.7 along with Redden’s 6.5 will count against the Rangers cap this summer and further decrease their flexibility in signing their own players as well as any others.  Beyond the financial concerns he would be eating up a roster spot for the Whale.  Next season with the Whale you would have to figure Kundratek, Valentenko, Niemi, Klassen are locks to be there with Redden likely (if he reports) and possibly Maggio as the sixth.  There also have to be some character/influence concerns when Edmonton shipped him off to Hershey this season because they did not want him around their young players.

Sheldon Souray is not the missing piece between the Rangers and winning the championship this year, so there is absolutely no reason to bring on the headache.

Drury Out With Convienently Timed "Knee" Injury To Save Indignity of Healthy Scratch

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

The precipitous decline in the performance and production of New York Rangers captain Chris Drury has been startling to see and depressing to watch.  It is inevitable that players will decline as they get older, but the difference in many is the rate at which that decline occurs.  For Drury it has been rapid and wrapped in the cloak of an already bloated contract for his prior level and the bright lights of being captain to an original six team on Broadway.  Today that saga took a very ugly turn in my opinion because beyond the problems with production you expect that accountability and team come before the pride of an individual player; especially the captain of a team.  That does not appear to be the case right now for the Rangers.

Over the past few weeks and even more the last week everyone has been doing the number count and wondering when it would be that captain Chris Drury would finally have his utter lack of production cause him to be scratched from the New York Rangers lineup.  In recent days there has been pushback by the club against that idea of scratching Drury and talking about what he brings to the club.  Conveniently now that Erik Christensen is ready to return to the lineup Chris Drury suddenly has a balky knee for the past few weeks and now it has flared to the point where he will miss the road trip.  That excuse does two things at least on its face; gives excuse for his poor play while being able to claim his absence is strictly the knee without having to call him a healthy scratch. 

Per the teams official twitter

Torts on Drury: "He has had cranky knee and has progressively gotten worse...gone a few weeks & flared up last night"

Torts: "He's played this game hard for a long time and I think it's a little bit of wear and tear...and it's just acting up on him now"

Sometimes you wonder when you follow an organization what they think about the intelligence of the fans they have and you look at this and it is hard not to take offense.  I understand the intent to save the captain’s pride and I even understand there is likely some legitimacy to the knee issue, but to encase what is going on here as solely that insults the intelligence of a loyal fanbase.

In the absence of Drury the team’s lines in practice today per Jim Cerny:

Prospal-Stepan-Gaborik

Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan

Wolski-Boyle-Prust

Avery-Christensen-Zuccarello

In other practice news Lundqvist stayed after practice to work on some things with MZA and Boyle.

Has Del Zotto Failed The Rangers or Have They Failed Him?

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Right now it has become popular to blame Michael Del Zotto for his current struggles and look to him as a scapegoat for the New York Rangers power play struggles.  What gets lost in the simplicity of that arrangement is the idea that Del Zotto himself is solely to blame for where he is at this stage of his development.  It is time for the New York Rangers to stop the Michael Del Zotto experiment and send the young defender down to the Connecticut Whale and leave him there for the rest of the season. I am not suggesting that they even explore trading him at this point because the talent is clearly there, but the moment appears too big right now for where he is in his development. The time has also come to blame the organization along with Del Zotto for where he is at this point.

The team sent him down a month ago in order to work on a multitude of problems he was having at the NHL level this season; confidence, defensive positioning, making the simple pass, overall decision making and hitting the net with his shot more consistently. After having my doubts in the build up to the move, I was in favor of sending Del Zotto down to work on his game and give him some space from coach John Tortorella. The combination of being scratched from games and playing scared to not make a mistake was making Michael useless to the NHL club. 

He was sent down and was there for a grand total of eight games.  His play in the AHL was inconsistent from game to game, but he was recalled just before the All-Star break as insurance for Dan Girardi and his injured ribs.  When he came back John Tortorella clearly stated that he was only up because of injury and not because his play warranted the recall.  Del Zotto ended up playing both games before the break and was not good in the first, but solid in the second.  When the Rangers sent him back to the AHL so that he could play during the NHL break I had this nagging feeling in my gut, based on comments from Tortorella that they were going to bring him following the break.  My thought process was that they were looking for an excuse to keep him because of the pitiful power play and the hopes that he could help solve some of the issues with point play.  

Prospal Great In Return, But Lundqvist Falters As Rangers Fall 3-2 To Devils

Scott Levy/NHLI via Getty Images

The Rangers can talk about the chances and how close they came both at the end of the first and the end of the game, but the reality is this team has blown five prime points in their last three games by getting complacent in their play.  Good teams, playoff teams, beat the teams they are supposed to beat and take every game with a sense of seriousness and urgency to not let inferior teams hang around.  The Rangers have failed to do that in each of the last three games and only have one point as a result.

There is no doubt that on this night the blame starts in net with Henrik Lundqvist.  Fact of the matter is that he simply was not good enough tonight and his coach said so after the game.  Those who will seek to use a performance like this to bring up nonsense like Henrik is garbage and the Rangers should trade him are morons and not fans of the team.  Plain and simple it was a bad night and everyone is going to have them.  The key for the Rangers is to hae it stop right here because they are going nowhere without Lundqvist at the top of his game.

If there is a bright spot to take from this game it is clearly the play of Vinny Prospal.  For a guy who has missed the entire season to this point, Vinny played like he was at full speed in this one.  There was some rust, but that was to be expected.  What I did not expect was for Prospal to be able to go through the whole game with the kind of impact he had tonight as for me he was clearly the Rangers best forward in the game.  We will find out tomorrow if the game for Prospal was the adrenaline of being back or it was something he can build on, but on this night he was clearly the positive note.  The celebration after his goal was pure Prospal and the kind of enthusiasm this team could use more of.

Details of the game below.

Video: Tortorella Calls Out Henrik Lundqvist Post-Game

Following a lackluster performance from his star goalie Rangers' coach John Tortorella was not afraid to "call a spade a spade" and call out Henrik Lundqvist for not being at the level the club needs him to be right now.

“Let’s call a spade a spade." Tortorella said. "Our goaltending hasn’t been there, certainly not at the level it needs to be this time of year. The Florida game we did everything but win it. The last game, too, prior to this one, we played well enough to win…We get five out of the six points if we get just decent goaltending.”

Thursday Night Fights: Bruins Stars Three Fights First Four Seconds of Game (Video)

Tonight’s contest between the Boston Bruins and Dallas Stars did not take long to get interesting. One second after the puck was dropped to start the game, Boston's Greg Campbell Dallas’ Steve Ott squared off in a scrap that Ott would win. 

Following the next faceoff, all of one second later, the Bruins' Shawn Thornton took on Dallas' Krys Barch in a battle that the Bruins would come out on top off. 

Obviously they had not had enough as just two seconds later it would be Adam McQuaid and Brian Sutherby’s turn to do the dance, which would end with McQuaid knocking down Sutherby to give the Bruins a 2-1 edge in the three bouts in the first four seconds of the game.

If that was enough of a reason to make sure you are watching an NHL game as at the start the Bruins would then score two goals in the first 1:20 of the game.

Newbury Back To Connecticut; Predictions On Lines for Tonight

The New York Rangers have announced that they have sent Kris Newbury back to the Connectict Whale.  Newbury registered one assist and 35 penalty minutes in eight games with the Rangers.  In the early games Newbury showed himself well and played hard in each game, but was reckless at times in trying to make something happen.  The move to send him down is mainly due to the returns of injured forwards over the last few games and specifically the return of Prospal tonight, which would have made Newbury a scratch from the lineup.  This move is the last “easy” decision the Rangers will have when it comes to the roster as injured players get healthy.  When Christensen and Fedotenko get back then it will be a regular who would have to get benched to make room for guys.

Based on practice yesterday thinking tonight's lines will be:
Prospal-Stepan-Gaborik
Dubinsky-Anisimov-Callahan
Zuccarello-Boyle-Prust
Wolski-Drury-Avery

Are Rangers Asking Too Much of Vinny Prospal?

The soon to be 36-year-old Vinny Prospal, a man who has missed the entire season recovering from a major knee will make his return to the New York Rangers lineup tonight looking to pick up where he was last season.  Prospal was tremendous for New York last season as he finished second on the team with 58 points.   Based on practice the expectation is that he can since Prospal will be thrown right back in there with Marian Gaborik in hopes of rekindling the magic the two shared last season.  Of all the players that have tried to fill the role of Gaborik’s playmaker since he arrived in New York, Prospal has been bay far the most successful.  His absence has been evident in the struggles Marian has had this season.  The number of combinations coach John Tortorella has tried to get Gaborik going to this point is verging on the absurd at this point, so there should be no surprise that when his security blanket is finally ready to play that the coach pulls it out and tries to wrap Gaborik in it.

There is no telling if going to the past will help the Rangers today or in the future, but it was a move that was destined to happen for anyone that really follows how Tortorella operates.  The question for me was never if Vinny would be put with Gaborik, if he got back, but for how long he could remain there and how effective he would be. 

Certain things about Vinny Prospal will go without question.  There is no doubt that Prospal will bring energy, intensity and enthusiasm to the team.  Prospal is a player who while he looks like he would be a flashy type player does the blue collar things that this particular Rangers team is known for.  He is not afraid to work in the corners, is hard on the puck and his vision, passing and wrist short are all very good weapons when he is at the top of his game.

The problem is everything about what he can do this year, not last year or in his career, is unknown.  It is a lot to ask of a guy who has not played in ten months to fix the team’s inconsistent star, who has not meshed with any combination this season for more than a game at a time. 

“I hope he jump-starts me because I’m the one that’s coming back,” Prospal joked after practice. “Obviously we need (Gaborik) to start scoring important goals for us just like he did all of last year. He knows himself that he’s been a little slow in that regard so hopefully (my return) will help. I am going to try everything that is possible to help him, as well.”

Vinny is right on all counts and it should be Gaborik that is getting Prospal going, but unfortunately Marian has been unable to get himself on track this year so the pressure is on Vinny.  It is a lot to ask of a guy who just a few weeks ago openly wondered if he would ever play again to slot in as a top line player on a team that is seeking to make and advance within the playoffs.  It is a lot to ask of a knee that was constantly failing to respond to rehabilitation to jump back in and play the approximately 20 minutes a night that Gaborik plays and expect it to withstand.  Add to that, Prospal will be asked to do all of those things while wearing a knee brace for the first time in his career.  Tonight and going forward we will find out if it is too much to ask.

Henrik Lundqvist & Justin Bieber at Knicks Game (Photos, Video)

I guess I am too old to know or understand who Bieber is, but I certainly know who Henrik Lundqvist is and to have him supporting the local NBA team is a good thing, just like CC Sabathia coming to Tuesday's Rangers game.

They put Bieber on the big screen and he got a mixed reaction to say the least as many in the crowd booed the popstar. Henrik Lundqvist leaned over and talked to the kid and probably told him that he knows what is like to be booed in the Garden. He could tell them about the morons who gave him the mock cheer a couple weeks ago against the Flyers. Very classy move by Henrik as was pointed out by Mike Breen.

Video: Brent Johnson One Punch KO on Rick DiPietro

There is little that is more fun in an NHL game than a hockey fight and since it had been four years since the last goalie vs goalie bout it was long overdue.  Penguins goalie Brent Johnson challenged Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro and then proceeded to drop him with one punch.



via Crash The Crease


The fight in slow motion.


via Puck Daddy