How To Fix The Rangers - Part I

When thinking about this current New York Ranger team, the most obvious observation is the team's struggle to bury the puck in the net. This Ranger team has many complimentary players but no true goal scorers. Markus Naslund was a true goal scorer... before the lockout. Nikolai Zherdev has scored some beautiful goals this season, but appears to be more of a playmaker with 25 goals a year ability. Scott Gomez was a goal scorer...for one season in New Jersey, then scored 20 less goals the year after.

The need is clear - a shoot first, pass second, skilled sniper that will not hesitate to shoot when the likes of Gomez, Naslund and Zherdev would rather pass. With the Rangers right up against the cap ceiling with high-priced long term contracts, this task is impossible without the trade of one of those high-priced players. Forget Gomez, Drury or Redden, for those players are virtually untradable, and don't even mention Lundqvist, for he in the foundation of this organization and the only reason why the Rangers are currently pretending to be a playoff team. No, the answer comes in the form of Michal Rozsival, currently in his 1st year of a 4 year contract paying him a total of $20 million.

NHL Numbers is reporting that of that total $20 million, Rozsival is being paid $7 million this season, leaving the other $13 million to be even distributed to him over the next 3 seasons. While this may not seem significant to the salary, because Rozsival's cap number will be $5 million (the average number over the lifespan of the contract), it is significant to a potential team, because that team will have to actually pay him less than the cap number, also making Rozsival potentially easier to buyout towards the end of his contract. This aspect alone would make it easier for a team greatly effected by the current state of the economy to trade for Rozsival, such as the Tampa Bay Lightning.

While he may be maddening to impatient New Yorkers, Michal Rozsival is actually an above average puck moving defenseman, with solid hands and good vision, and could be sought after by numerous teams. However, with the current state of the Rangers' salary cap, Rozsival is expendable and needs to be moved. Moving Rozsival without receiving any NHL salary in return would provide the Rangers with an additional $5 million in cap money that could be used for a scoring forward. Let us look at what the Rangers might possibly look like next season:

For the purpose of this post, I have made many assumptions about the roster and who should be resigned, who should not be resigned, and who should be traded. I have made guesstimates as to what salary certain RFA's deserve and have given necessary raises to those players who warrant a raise. The following is not what I believe the lines will be, but rather more of a depth chart. Also, I have put every player's cap number, courtesy of NHLnumbers.com, and have put RFA's Qualifying Offer (QO) in italics, and what I believe the player deserves in bold. Regarding the calculation of Qualifying Offers, I used the formula found on NHL.com under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA): Players earning $660,000 or less will be entitled to qualifying offers (QO) at 110% of their prior year's salary; players earning more than $660,000 and up to $1 million will be entitled to QOs at 105% of prior year's salary; players earning more than $1 million will be entitled to QO at 100% of their prior year's salary.

Here we go:

LEFT WING--------------------CENTER-------------------RIGHT WING
Markus Naslund-----------------Scott Gomez ----------------- ____________
------$4m------------------------ $7.357m------------------------ $__

Sean Avery----------------------Chris Drury-------------------- Nikolai Zherdev
$1.9375m-----------------------$7.050m----------------------QO $3.250m

Lauri Korpikoski-------------- Brandon Dubinsky----------------Ryan Callahan
QO $1.0332m-------------QO $0.6985m - $1.5m---------QO $0.660m - $0.75m

___________------------------Blair Betts----------------------Colton Orr
-----$__------------------08/09 $0.615m - $0.8m--------08/09 $0.550m - $0.85m

---------------DEFENSE-------------------------------GOALTENDER
Wade Redden-------------Daniel Girardi----------------Henrik Lundqvist
--$6.5m--------------------$1.55m-----------------------$6.875m

Marc Staal-------------------Paul Mara------------------Steve Valiquette
$0.827m-------------08/09 $1.95m - $2.4m---------08/09 $0.725 - $0.75m

Bobby Sanguinetti----------____________
$0.855M-------------------------$__

Assumptions:
-Sjostrom and Prucha not resigned, Voros put on waivers and assigned to Hartford, Nigel Dawes Traded for picks.
-Sean Avery is successfully acquired off re-entry waivers, with Dallas paying half of his remaining salary.
-Nikolai Zherdev accepts his Qualifying Offer.
-Lauri Korpikoski accepts his Qualifying Offer.
-Brandon Dubinsky and NY Rangers agree on two year deal worth $1.5mil per season.
-Ryan Callahan gets more than his Qualifying Offer in two year deal.
-Greg Moore, Tom Pyatt and Dane Byers battle for 4th line wing.
-Blair Betts resigned to 2 year deal, with well deserved raise.
-Colton Orr resigned to 2 year deal, with well deserved raise.
-Paul Mara is resigned, with a well deserved raise.
-Bobby Sanguinetti makes team.
-Steve Valiquette resigned with modest raise.

Salary Cap:
Forward Total=$28.5277m (w/out 1st RW and 4th LW)
Defense Total = $12.132m (w/out 6th D)
Goalie Total = $7.625 m

TOTAL = $48.2847m
08/09 cap=$56.7 M

Available=$8.4153 million


Check back later this week for How To Fix The Rangers: Part II

Dawes Quietly Turning Season Around

Up until December 4th, the word "disappointing" would have been too kind of a term when talking about Nigel Dawes' season.

After being beaten out for the final roster spot to Brandon Dubinsky last season, Dawes absolutely dominated the AHL, scoring 14 goals and 20 assists in just 20 games, and earned himself a roster spot on the big club for the rest of the season. Dawes responded positively, skating in the final 61 regular season games for the Rangers while adding 14 goals, 15 assists, and a plus/minus of +11. Because of this, many Ranger fans felt certain that Nigel Dawes was ready to take the next step and become a producing top-6 winger.

However, through the first 19 games of the season, Dawes had tallied just 2 goals, 3 helpers and had seen himself slowly slip into the press box as a healthy scratch. After not dressing since November 22th, Tom Renney re-inserted Dawes into the lineup against the Montreal Canadiens on December 4th. The result for the Ranger as a team was a disaster, a 6-2 loss. However, it was the start of Dawes' resurgence as a contributor for the Rangers. Dawes scored one of the two goals for the Rangers that game, earning him a few more starts.

Dawes has taken full advantage of his most recent opportunity, and has since scored 5 goals and 11 total points in in the 16 games since that point, including the game winning goal in his most recent game against the Islanders (1/13). Having been put on a line with Petr Prucha and Chris Drury, Nigel Dawes may have finally found his niche with this 2008/09 New York Rangers team.