Sather on Jagr, Zherdev, team building and what's next..
Some excerpts from the recent Glen Sather conference call:
On Jagr, with whom he didn't speak today: "Nothing new... He was waiting to see what happened with Hossa (who signed with Detroit this afternoon) and I guess we'll see later today or tomorrow."
On Zherdev:
"He's a very talented player, picked fourth overall (in 2003), he's a very shifty, talented winger, he's 23, got upside written all over him. As we're progressing through this, we're trying to get younger, and we're trying to get more talented and we're trying to get faster. If you look around the league. that's the way the league is going. It's not necessarily going with guys that are 35 and up. There's a certain chemistry inside the team that we're trying to get to and we're gradually getting there. That's been our goal for the last five years, to get in a position where we can move in this direction."
Does that lend itself to the possibility of Jagr leaving?
"It may be a reality. I still think it's necessary to have experienced, talented people in your lineup to help these guys develop and Jaromir certainly has been a great player for this organization and I'm not ready to say goodbye to him. He may be ready to say goodbye to us. I can't say that for sure."
How the deal went down: "Zherdev is a player we have targeted for several years. We looked at making a deal with them last year before they made the management change and we were in Columbus a couple times look at Zherdev and Fritsche and the situation just came about today. We had a little discussion about it yesterday. I wasn't necessarily trying to move Tyutin but Backman we picked up last year because we needed protection on defense and this deal sort of fell in our laps. But it's something that's been in the works for a while, although we never really got down to the players we were willing to move."
On the next moves: "We still have plenty of cap room left, we knew that when we signed Redden and Rozsival, we knew there was a possibility that we'd have to move somebody. The four defensemen who are left are all capable of playing 30 minutes each, but we're still going to sign some defensemen and we're still exploring all those routes not just from free agency but from trades. When you sign two players like that, they can both log a lot of ice time, it's just the way the economics of the game work; you can't have a pile of guys making an awful lot of money, but we want to have people who can move the puck and skate with the puck. There's still a lot going on out there."
E-mail
Facebook
Digg
Delicious
Comments (25)
was he asked about Brian Fahey?
no comments about Avery?
alright so there's about $6 million left for the cap
i hope sather leaves about 2-3 million in case its needed around the trading deadline.
anyone got any suggestions on what D-men/wingers to spend it on? same goes for you Zip, you know more than most of us
there is a lot more than 6 million left on the cap, I believe there is around 10-11 million
there MIGHT be, but it depends on how much our RFAs signed for, and if prucha/betts/hollwegg/orr leave or get sent to hartford as well
i put up another post with the numbers/figures from hockeynews.com in another section
they/i could be wrong though, i hope thats the case too
but yea, 5 guys take up over 50% of the cap....hope it doesnt come back to haunt us
Tyutin was slow, not cheap, his hits were not overly hard, and was overrated defensively.
Can Baranka re-sign and tear up his contract with Russia? We really need him.
I'm pleased with the moves, although I would have like to have Hainsey or Orpik for the deals they received rather than Rozsival. I also think Redden is a bit expensive, but time will tell. I like the Columbus deal, but we still need another sniper, I think this will have to come via trade. I'm very happy that it looks like Jagr will be playing elsewhere. He is too old to build the team around at this point and he has not taken us past the second round. We need to build around Gomez and Zherdev is a good start. I would not mind picking up Matt Cooke from the Caps to replace Avery. Maybe we could deal Prucha to Buffalo for Mad Max. I would also try to re-sign Mara since we just traded two D-men.
The logjam at center suggests more trading is on the way. Nice to have this much depth down the middle. The plan to get faster and more gritty is right on target. This team has some worker bees now and enough speed to make a difference every night. It is about time to field a team that outworks the opponent every night.
Sather is an A-Hole!
I'm still miffed on what's going on.
Zherdev gomez dubinsky
Callahan drury dawes
Korpikosk frisch pruch/ansimov Sjostrom betts 1 of the noobs
Redden rozsival
Girardi staal
Sanguinetti? Fahey? Potter?
Unless they go heavy youth movement with korp/ansimov.. They need two more top 9 forwards and at least two defense. It gets worse when you realize prucha and dawes can't be in the line up together unless its no contact 4 on 4.
the people that dont like this trade are prolly the same people that hated backman and sather for getting him. which goes to show whatever the sather regime does, people hate him regardless...so i ask, how the hell can sather win with you people?..you hate him just to hate him, it makes me sick. i wanted avery here just like evyone else, but he obviously wore out his welcome here and he will in dallas by year 2 of his deal.
i think orpik gave his team a "hometown" discount, cuz that was a great price to pay for him, he was the cheapest of all the D-men signed since yesterday.
i think jason smith is a decent fallback losing out on orpik. i know he's slow, but hes a tough s.o.b. and will protect hank. id imagine him being 3 mill or so which isnt to much considering malik/mara were that price.
i still am a loss as to why some fans have this love affair with prucha, the guy has done nothing since his rookie year when he was an unknown commodity. i suggest dealing him for a big bruiser d-man. i doubt he brings back much for the reasons i stated above, but its worth a look
id love to get bowmiester, i wonder if dubinsky and sagunetti would be enough to get him. he is EXACTLY what we need, a young dman with a serious edge that some offensive skill.
..all that said, i dont see how this ends the off season by any stretch. we all need to be patient and let whatever chips fall.
Zherdev is a stud. Watching him the last couple of years, I would always wonder 'how come the Rangers can't get anybody like that'. I guess I got my wish.
Go Rangers!!
Trade Fritche, Betts, Prucha, Baranka/Pock for a very good defenseman (maybe Bowmeester)
Did Blue Jackets gave up Zherdev so cheap because they think he will bolt to Russia next year?
not bad:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=CRExQYvvZGc
trade dubi and sagunetti are you on something
prucha will have a great year if given the chance to play.
rangerville posts sound like he is a dev fan IE no sense
Dubinsky should be untouchable, he is perfect.
sign Lance Ward, he is a great hitter and very physical defensive defenseman.
Rangerville, Trade Dubinsky - No way. He's the closest we have to a power forward. I do agree that Jason Smith is the best option. He and Sather have history, he adds leadership to the blueline and plays mean. We haven't had anyone play mean back there since Beuk or Pilon (for that year or so).
Sather should have kept Avery although it was probably more than money at play with him. My only concern is that the Rangers were a soft team and we haven't seen any grit added. They beat the Devils by beating them up. The Penguins beat the Rangers by being more physical. The Rangers need toughness. Tyutin wasn't kinown much as a gritty player, but he was all they had.
We have to like the moves so far, but more needs to be done to call this offseason a success.
bob,
you have to give something to get bowmiester. none of what you suggested is even remotely close to what it would take to get him. and i love how you throw betts in a deal for him, when you think betts is the most useless piece of crap in NHL history.
siropinion,
not a devil fan by any stretch, i live and die with this team. i said dubinsky in a deal for bowmeister because you'd have to give up something really good to get him. believe me there isnt a bigger fan of dubie than me. but bowmeister is the young stud defenseman we need, center is our position of strength...and sanguenetti is a prospect who could bomb like many prospects do. just imagine our top 2 defenseman being staal & bowmeister for the next 10 + years. reminds me of pronger and neidermyer, and oh yeah they won a cup together didnt they?
jd,
the fowards they added are tough and gritty. not zherdev, i mean voros, rissmiller and fritsche. voros can fight, take the body and score a smidge unlike HELL-weg and orr. the defense needs someone i agree, lke jason smith or luke richardson type guy. and like i said earlier, be patient bro..no way is sather done.
bob,
who is lance ward?..is he some cyclist guy turning in his wheels for ice skates...if you mean aaron ward, NO THANKS!, been there done that. he re-upped with beantown anyways.
Hey everybody. I wrote an opinion blog on Mark Streit vs. Wade Redden...and I also wrote a little piece on Doug Weight. If you get some time, go over to:
http://islesnet.blogspot.com
and check it out. Leave a comment by clicking on Comments link at the bottom of each blog and let me know what you think. It is greatly appreciated! Check back every-day too for some new updates! I am looking to see if I get a good response from Rangers fans, because I might blog on the Isles and Rangers on that one website in order to bring together some good hockey conversation. Please let me know! Thanks again!
Lance Ward:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=lance+ward&search_type=&aq=f
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php3?pid%5B%5D=20213
Dan Fritsche looks very impressive, reminds me of Adam Graves when he scored 38 goals. He goes to the net, gets garbage goals, and also can score from longer distance with a quick and accurate shot. I hope his injury problems are in the past.
The Roszival signing alone is grounds to be commited to a sanitarium. Sather is a joke! Enjoy the early playoff exits Sather suporters cause it will continue until Sather and Renney are gone.
Rangerville.... You are kinda confused, huh? If you are Dubinsky's biggest fan, as you stated, you are a terrible supporter! While I will admit Bouwmeester is a very solid player, he has an undisclosed injury, and in no way , shape or form is of the caliber of Dubinsky. Dubie is one of the best young Centers in the game, and is only getting better. Bouwmeester is a terrific skater, passer, and all around player. However, he is ovverrated as a hitter, and with our cupboards full of Offensive-minded D-men already, there is not much room. Hey, I would love to see Bouwmeester here, but giving up Dubinsky is absolutely ludicrous!! Oh, and by the way, have you ever SEEN Voros fight? He gets stomped EVERY time! So, yeah, he CAN fight, but he is not good at it.... He will be an ECHL enforcer, at best... Especially with Orr in our lineup, there is no place for him here.