NYRangers Sign Tim Kennedy!!

This is somewhat old news(only a couple of days) but since I haven't updated the blog in a week, I thought I'd post it anyway.

The New York Rangers have signed Ex-Sabre Tim Kennedy.  The deal is for one year at $550k. 

The Sabres went to arbitration with Kennedy and he was given a one year $1M deal.  After the team signed it they decided to waive Kennedy and then subsequently buy out the one year deal.  The Sabres will take on a $166k cap hit each of the next two seasons.  The Sabres reportedly only wanted to pay Kennedy around $800k. 

There are two ways to look at this deal.  One being that it is a win-win situation or that the Rangers are just adding another 3rd-4th line player.  I look at it as a win-win and here is why.  He had a solid(not great but solid) rookie season scoring 10 goals and tallying 26 points in 78 games.  If he doesn't work out then he plays a year in the minors for us and that's that.  But with Tortorella's offensive system anything can happen and the Rangers can catch lightning in a bottle and find a player for there future.  It's not like he is 35(Todd White) as he is only 24 and just came off of a decent rookie season.  We also got him for about half of what the arbitrator awarded him which is a great deal.  Also not that Artem Anisimov only had 28 points last year and you do not see anyone giving up on him granted he is two years younger.

Maybe you could look down on this deal if the Rangers paid $1M plus for this guy but they got him at the league minimum which seems to be a great deal.

Friday News All In 1 Post!!

Sorry to all my news and loyal fans/followers for no posts today but I have been spending the whole day down at the Jersey Shore with my friends.  But I have found some time to basically do a roundup/grouping of all the days news and events.

Dan David did an article on newyorkrangers.com today on Rangers Blueliner Dan Girardi.  Here is some of what Dan had to say:

"No matter what you do during the summer and how hard you train, nothing is like Torts' camp, really," he said. "I was prepared for it last year, but no matter what you do it's just so different when you get out there with the guys. It's probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, for sure. You try to do some hard skates on the ice during the summer, but it's not the same as when he's out there and the coaches are out there and everyone else is out there. The summer skates around here are not the caliber of what I will experience in camp, so I try to push myself as much as I can, and I've found that I try to do a little extra when my workout's done. Just to kind of get ready for that skating and the running."

He also continues to be on the side of almost all players and coaches in saying he likes the fact they have brought a core back and how it will signifacantly impact the team.  "There are a couple of new faces, but I'm also glad the main group is still together," said Girardi. "We can try to jell and improve every season going forward."

Stan Fischler did Part 2 of his sit down with John Tortorella today on msg.com!  They spoke about Del Zotto, Gilroy, Redden, Drury, White, McDonagh and Stepan.  It's a very good read so definitely go ahead and check it out.  Here is some of what Torts said about Drury:

In a frank admission that only a Tortorella can divulge, the coach noted, "Chris and I have grown and I can say that I now understand him a lot better.  He's not a rah-rah guy, but he is a great guy; a thinker and he cares so much. He's still growing as a captain and I know that he wants to score more in the new season. He got bounced around last year, but he'll get his chance to redeem himself offensively."

Click here for Part 2 of the interview!

HockeyBuzz.com's Juile Robenhymer(I hate HockeyBuzz but Julie is actually one of them that I respect and she does some interesting pieces) did a piece on Chris Krieder today! I found it interesting so I think you guys should check it out also.

Patrick Kane continued his bad luck in his hometown of Buffalo.  Last offseason he beat up a assaulted a cab driver over 20 cents and today he got stuck on a fire truck ladder while on his one day with the Stanley Cup. The truck apparently got stuck while going up but after about 20 minutes they were able to get him down.