Shanahan, Selanne, Sakic and morning musings....
Someone sent me an Andy Strickland blog which reported that St. Louis has reached out to Brendan Shanahan's agent. The Blues have the New York connection (Checketts, Davidson) and could certainly afford to pay Shanny because they are well under the cap. Shanahan is still is hanging on to the possibility that he can play one more season for the Rangers.
Listen, the Rangers have plenty of time to make some moves to create space for a $1.5 million-$2 million contract for Shanahan, but would it be worth it? I'm leaning against it.
The articulate, accessible veteran would be missed by the media and coaches and some players, to be sure, but some numbers to parse: He's still owed bonuses from last year, when he signed on July 10. Any future bonuses would be included in the cap this year.
Eight goals and seven assists of his total of 23 and 23 (in 73 games) came after Jan. 5.
At 40, and with more mobile forwards on the roster, he wouldn't get as much ice time this season, so the stats would be lower. Consider the intangibles also.
The Jagr/Straka/Avery chapter in Rangers history has been closed, for better or worse, we'll see. Management could have waited another year or two, but made some hard calls and chose another direction now, which, presumably will prove a worthy investment in the long run.
Shanahan was a contributor, but during the second half of last season, even long-time supporters saw that regrettably, from a combination of injury and age, the future Hall of Famer had slowed.
As I mentioned, the Blues have cap room, so does Atlanta, Carolina, Colorado (why hasn't Sakic signed?) Vancouver and Los Angeles---who need to add about $12 million to reach the mandated floor of $40 million. Supposedly Selanne only wants to play for Anaheim, which is already over the cap, from what I can estimate, as are Philadelphia, Calgary and Chicago. The Hawks apparently will have to move one of these players who will be UFAs in 09-10: Martin Havlat ($6 mil); Robert Lang ($4), goaltender Nicolai Khabibulin ($6.75).
Point I'm making is that despite this lull, there will be more transactions besides Mats Sundin's decision, which could have a major impact in Vancouver, where both Sedin brothers are UFAs next season.
Arbitration hearings start this week and Jay Bouwmeester, Marek Svatos and Antoine Vermette are in that mix. And did I miss something, or is 23-year-old left wing Dan Carcillo, an RFA, still unsigned by Phoenix?
OK, some appointments on tap. Back later.....
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Comments (30)
I'm surprised that he isn't signed yet. about, and its not like we havent kept or signed anyone with an injury! We have changed the face of this team alot already. If Shanny wants to stay(and I think he does) and play one more year, he would serve us well. He would be great for the younger players as a role model and as a mentor. He still has alot to offer on the ice as well. I say clear some cap space, and stop dragging our heals before its to late. KEEP SHANNY!
I am a Shanny fan, but if someone can tell me where he would play right now with the 15-16 forwards we already have, please let me know.
Shanny's a great guy but his time has past. He could help a Stanley Cup contender, which the Rangers are not, in a part time role but as one of the main cogs on the team? Those days are over.
Love to see him get into coaching or become a GM. Think he would be pretty good at either job.
Shanny is too slow for this team, being they're going in another direction. Let the past go. Shanny did great for us but it's time to move on. I'd rather see a younger faster player have his spot.
We could keep him as a 3rd or 4th line guy. You can't tell me with his experience and the drive to play one more year, that it wouldnt motivate him to go out with a BANG! I think he still has alot to offer , don't count him out.
You can't have a better send off then going out as a RANGER!
Shannystheman, NOOOOO!!!! I'm tired of the Rangers being the elephant graveyard of the nhl. No more players coming HERE to retire. No no no no no nooooooo!!!!
I agree with Lenny, it's time to say good bye to a great warrior. He is a hall of famer no doubt but he doesn't have a spot on the rangers or is he owed one.
Signing Shanny would take another year away from someone like Korpikoski, Moore, Byers, Jatmin or others cracking the lineup regularly.
I just don't think they need Shanny.
And Lenny, yes, we are contenders for the Cup because there will be no clear cup favorite in the East this year.
Sather needs to sign a BIG D'man before he signs Shanny...I like him, don't get me wrong, but we have so many up front already. question: is Shanny gonna clear the crease for Hendrik?...no way, and that's why we need a D'man more than Shanahan....and I agree w/Dude, we are Cup contenders..ok, maybe not strong ones, but we are none the less.
It would almost b an insult to Shanny to keep him for the third or fourth line, the ice time he would b taking would b crucial to the development of younger talent, when he came to new york he took a lot of prucha's ice time im not saying he woulda been an all star by now but it didn't help him develope
How can anyone look at our team and then see all the teams that have made the Cup finals in recent memory and not think we had a chance in the East?
There isn't one team in the East that doesn't have a signifigant weakness.
We have a great goalie, some good vets and some up and coming young players, of course we have a chance in the East.
hate to admit it but i actually agree witrh lenny here. definitely no to Shanny although he is a hall of famer person and player. and also agree we are definitely not a stanley cup contender
About time you wise up LI Joe. :)
With teams like Detroit, Pittsburgh and a couple of those Western teams I feel that are ahead of us, don't see us as a Cup contender but think we could make it to the 3rd round if things go well.
Lots of mystery with this team with all the new personnel.
why would you even consider measuring us against western teams? You are considered a "cup contender" if you have a chance to win your conference.
That's like a National League team saying they aren't world series contenders because they can't compete with the Red Sox.
It's silly to even concern yourself with the west.
Someone show me a team in the East that doesn't have a weakness. The Rangers have as good a team right now as anyone.
Anything can happen once the playoffs start, we have all seen mighty teams go down in early rounds.
Pitt for one is much better than us. so it's not only about the west.
as for the east there are 5 teams I'd be shocked if they made the playoffs meaning the isles, fla, atl, tor, buff. so we should be in top 10 of east. but don't see us as competitive vs the pens at the very least. unless the pens have major injuries.
so, you think Pitt is better than us and that doesn't make us contenders?
Henrik is better than Fleury
You guys are crazy if you don't think we have a chance.
we committed a big space in the cap for Redden now forget Bouwmeester.
Dammit
Dude, the Rangers do not have the top heavy lineup they had last year. Straka, Shanny, Jagr, Avery are gone and are replaced by Zherdev, Naslund........ and thats it.
Im not saying the Rangers dont have a chance, but I dont think they are better than last years team (on paper, which we all know means nothing).
I look forward to Dubinsky, Callahan and Dawes getting even better.
We have a much better defense than we had last year and I look forward to Staal getting better.
This Rangers squad is much more balanced, I am glad people seem to be writing them off already, much better than the predictions for greatness last summer.
Dude - what is a chance. there is a chance that the Royals will win the WS next year or The Jets winning the super bowl. are either likely no. so there is a chance for the Rangers - a good chance no but a chance yes.
but when a team like Edm can make the finals like they did recently I suppose anything can happen. I just would not bet on it.
What is top heavy about those guys? Jagr was the only real scoring threat in the 2nd half, aside from Avery who played well alongside Jagr. I'd rather have Zherdev, Naslund, Drury (with a bigger scoring role), Gomez (with say a scorer like Zherdev), and youngsters like Dawes, Dubisnky, and Prucha given a chance to score. Their powerplay is going to be a lot better because it can't get worse, Jagr is gone which will give Roszival more confidence to do what he wants, Shanny might be gone which is good for the same reason as Jagr, and they have Redden. While he might not be what he used to and all that, he can still quarterback a powerplay. They're are going to score more goals in my opinion and I don't see them much different defensively. To me, that adds up to a better team.
We had a chance to beat Pittsburgh, but Fleury played great and the refs sucked (and Hollweg was Hollweg). Now look at them, they lost Hossa and Malone, along with the players in the Hossa deal. I think they got weaker. So I don't see why we can't compete with them. I consider us at least top 4-5, at least.
LI Joe,
how are we the KC Royals of the eastern conference, explain that to me.
To use a baseball team reference, just by where they stand, I think we kind of compare to the Mets lol. You have the Caps as the D-Backs, the division sucks, they aren't that good, but they will make it. The Habs are the Cubs, running away with the division. Penguins are the Phillies, who compete with us (the Mets) for 1st place. The Flyers are like the Marlins, they will hang around but they really aren't that good either, so its gonig to be the Penguins and Rangers (Phillies and Mets) duking it out for first. Hopefully, the Rangers and Mets both do pull it out. That's why they aren't less than the 4-5 seed. No one else is better than them.
Dude - realistically we're the Cleveland Indians. a team that in most years is about 6th best in the AL. we're certainly not the Yankees, Bost or Angels.
so we can catch a miracle. they do happen in sports sometimes like 1969 and 1980.
we are no where near as good as we were in the early to mid 1990's.
the Islanders are really the Royals not us.
LI Joe,
but in the Eastern Conference, who is the Red Sox, Yankees or Angels?
The Flyers? HA, nice goaltending
The Penguins? HA, replaced Hossa, Malone and the guys they traded to Atlanta with Satan and Fedetenko
Montreal? Lost Streit and Ryder
Every team has a weakness in the East.
The Rangers winning would HARDLY be a miracle.
Dude - Pitt is still loaded. don't kid yourself. and you can say we lost Avery and Jagr among others and Shanny's 20 + goals. and the free agents are coming off some bad years (Redden and Naslund especially). and Zherdev is an enimga.
so for everything to go right for us and things to go wrong for other teams like Pitt and the western finalists is a lot to ask for. I just don't see it. Of course I hope for it but my expectations are much lower this year than last. We were very competitive with Buffalo a couple of years ago. And we were not with Pittsburgh last year.
the miracle is us winning the cup in 2009 not making the palyoffs or getting by the first round.
Eventually, there comes a time where you just have to face it when people aren't going to get your point.
that time has come
We are going to kick the Penguins arse this year that's all I know.
And I will be there cheering them on as always.
You guys wanna give up already, that's up to you.
you missed it Carcillo is signed,sealed and delivered for two years-but to Sather's old buddy Don Maloney.Stay tuned.
I guess you guys, both positive and negative about the coming season, are smarter than me since I have no idea at this point how this team will jell.
I didn't like the signing of Rozsival and would like to get it official one way or another whether Sather did make an offer to Orpik or not.
I've read conflicting reports on this.
As far as moving ahead, I hope both Shanny and Sundin sign with other teams so we don't have to talk about them anymore.
If the team jells and does well, Sather gets credit, if not, he will get blasted which is not new to him. That's his job, to be right on the first guess, only fans are allowed to second guess.
hey Zip, you mentioned Martin Havlat of the Blackhawks. Is there any chance the Rangers could move some salary and engineer a trade for him? I think he would look great on a line with Zherdev and Naslund would have less pressure playing on a 2nd line. Maybe we dangle Prucha and a pick or a mid level player?