Sather Trying To Bring In Familiar Faces!!

This offseason it seems as if Glen Sather has decided to go back to something that worked coming out of the lockout for the Rangers.  In 2005-2006 most of the Rangers squad was new except for the younger kids coming up.  The Rangers already had Jaromir Jagr under contract from a trade they made with the Washington Capitals before the lockout.  At the time Sather decided to put pieces around Jagr that he was familiar with from previous teams. They added Michael Nylander and Michael Straka.  Nylander and Jagr played together in Washington and Straka and Jagr played together in Pittsburgh.

These three would start out together and have some of the best years of there respective careers until Sather decided that an over payed Gomez would be a better center for Jagr and so he let Nylander leave.  Thus Jagr proceeded to have his worse year as a Ranger and he left to go play in Russia.

To a lesser degree during the 2005-2006 season Sather traded for Petr Sykora to play along side former teammate Steve Rucchin.  They also traded for Sandis Ozolinsh who played on those same Ducks teams.  Ozolinsh actually added some offensive punch to the Rangers game but struggled defensively and flopped in the Rangers short playoff experience.

Join me after this to continue to read more about what Sather has done to bring in some familiar faces while keeping the main core intact......

Gaborik Endorsing His New Teammates!!

Today Gaborik finally came out of the woodwork to let everyone know that he is endorsing the signing of Derek Boogaard and the trade for Todd White.

On The New York Rangers official Twitter account Gaborik had some kind words for each of his former teammates. 

Gaborik on White "He can both very well defensively and offensively" he continued "I think he's going to be a good fit for us because he's a good skater and he's strong."

Then Todd White had some words about joining the Rangers that I am not quite sure are true but he said them anyway "They always have a hard-working team. Tortorella holds them accountable and they are a tough team to play against" he continued "I'm looking forward to being a part of it and helping out wherever I'm needed."

Then Gaborik had some kind words about former Minnesota teammate and Tough Guy Derek Boogaard "He opened up the ice for Wild scorers by putting fear into opponents. He's the best at what he does" he continued on "People won't want to play against him. When he gets going and hits somebody, it's scary."

While it is nice to hear Gaborik talk about his former teammates, what else did we expect him to say? It's not like he was going to bash his former and now current teammates.  But it is nice to see he endorses the deals and is on board with what the Rangers are doing.

It was also good to see that Todd White realizes that he might have a smaller role with the Rangers and that he will need to help out wherever needed. 

Hopefully they can find some chemistry here on the Rangers as well...

Rangers Acquire Todd White From Atlanta!! (UPDATED!!)

UPDATE: The Rangers have acquired Todd White from the Atlanta Thrashers in exchange for Donald Brashear and Patrick Rissmiller!!)

UPDATE: Well I really do not see why the Thrashers would do this trade.  They are getting two players who will most likelynot make there team in exchange for a player who has scored 20 goals twice and had 73 point season a year ago.  The salary is basically a wash.  As Brashear+Rissmiller is $2.4M and White is $2.375M.  All three contracts expire at the end of the season.  Personally I like the move as now we will get something from that $2.4M cap hit instead of two players sitting in the AHL doing nothing for us.  White also played with Gaborik in Minnesota which is something to consider.

As most Rangers fans know by now (well at least those of us that have awoken from our sleep) the Rangers have acquired 35 year old veteran center Todd White from the Atlanta Thrashers.  What has not come out yet is exactly what the Rangers have sent back to Atlanta in the trade.

Is this a good trade or bad trade?

Well it really depends on what the Rangers gave up to get White. Rumors are floating around about Roszival and maybe even Redden or Drury.  I think Redden or Drury would be a crazy thought but it is very likely that Rozsival is involved in the trade.  With that being said if Rozi is in fact in the trade then it should be classified as a very good trade. 

White is a free agent at the end of this year and his $2.3M cap hit will only affect us this year.  We will save a little less then $3M this year and then $5M the next. 

White has had some good years as only a year ago while centering Kovalchuk he had 22 goals and 73 points.  But he had some injuries this year which led to him only playing 65 games and only tallying 26 points.  He had some good years with Ottawa tallying 50 and 60 points in 01-02 and 02-03 respectively.

Of course not all the details have come in yet and if one of Roszival/Redden/Drury is not involved then I can not get behind this trade and the $2.3M cap hit but if they are they it looks like a good deal.  I will update this blog when more news about the trade comes in and we will come to a conclusion at that time.