Inside The Penalty Box 05.27.08: A Busy Offseason In Store For New York
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 05.27.2008
The New York Rangers didn’t get as far as they would have liked in 2008, but it’s going to take some savvy decisions by general manager Glen Sather to make sure the team doesn’t take a further step back going into next season. In this edition of Inside The Penalty Box, Neil Borenstein examines some of what’s in store for the Rangers this offseason, in addition to looking at the first two games of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals!
Red Wings Two Wins Shy Of Stanley Cup Glory
Detroit Takes Commanding 2-0 Series Lead In Cup Finals
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports/Getty Images
Chris Osgood's made 19 saves in Game One and 22 saves in Game Two for two consecutive shutouts to begin the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are beginning to realize that they're facing a different caliber opponent in the Detroit Red Wings. With two games of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals in the books, the Penguins find themselves without a win and without even a single goal through 120 minutes.
To say the least, the Red Wings have dominated this series thus far and deserve to be up two games to none as the teams head to the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh for Game Three on Wednesday night. The Red Wings played solid all-around hockey in both games at the Joe Louis Arena. A physical brand of hockey has been backed up with prime scoring chances, an alert defensive presence and the necessary support in between the pipes from 35-year old Chris Osgood. The Penguins, on the other hand, have taken a bruising while being limited offensively.
In Game One, the first period was a feeling out process for both teams. A total of 23 shots were taken during the period, but none of them resulted in goal. Mikael Samuelsson broke the scoreless tie with his first career playoff goal at 13:01 in the second period as he swept the puck around Pittsburgh's goal and put it right past Marc-Andre Fleury, who came just short with his left leg. Samuelsson came up with the puck again, this time at the top of Fleury's crease, at 2:16 in the third period thanks to a defensive blunder by Pittsburgh and netted his second unassisted goal of the game. Special teams took Detroit the rest of the way, as Daniel Clearly scored a short handed mark at 17:18 and Henrik Zetterberg lifted a quick shot on the power play past Fleury with 12 seconds remaining to finish the Penguins off and give the Red Wings the 4-0 victory. Osgood faced only 19 shots and recorded his second shutout of the playoffs and the 12th of his postseason career. Fleury made 32 saves on 36 shots.
Game Two was much of the same, except Detroit came out early. Pittsburgh was definitely more intense early on, but the Red Wings still had a fire lit under them. Brad Stuart netted a shot from around the top of the face off circle in Pittsburgh's zone for his first goal of the playoffs at 6:55 in the first period. Tomas Holmstrom scored just four minutes and 23 seconds later, as he pushed the puck into the net after Zetterberg took a shot that squeaked through Fleury. The final nail in the coffin of this game came at 8:48 in the third period, when Valterri Filppula worked his way around Kris Letang in a diving goal that came on a 4-on-4 situation. Osgood made 22 saves in his second straight shutout. Fleury stopped 31 of 34 Red Wing shots.
This is really a new situation for the Penguins, who pretty much steamrolled to this stanza of the playoffs. They faced a cupcake opponent in the Ottawa Senators in the first round and swept them. They faced the New York Rangers in the second round, who were a caliber opponent but couldn't stop the Penguins' strong offensive presence nor penetrate their defense nearly well enough. The Philadelphia Flyers were a strong emotional rival, but barely presented any problems for the Penguins. It took Pittsburgh 14 games to get to the Finals – suffering only two losses along the way. And maybe playing against a team like Detroit, which is without a doubt a much more talented team than Pittsburgh's previous three opponents, is simply too much.
A lot of the Penguins' problems are pretty obvious. They aren't getting enough shots. They're allowing Detroit to play too physical a game against them without the necessary reciprocation. They're not taking advantage of the few great scoring chances that come their way, specifically in the case of pucks sitting in front of open nets or Jordan Staal missing the net when it was just him and Osgood thanks to a Detroit defensive blunder in Game Two. They need to play more disciplined hockey and avoid giving the Red Wings so many power play opportunities, as they afforded them eight in Game Two and 14 total through the series.
Solving those problems is not as easy to figure out. And to be honest, I think the Penguins are being so outplayed right now with zero goals and very low shot totals for their brand of hockey that I'm not sure they can get back into this series. But Michel Therrien and the rest of his coaching staff better learn a fix to this real soon. The Penguins are in a lot of trouble just being down 2-0 in this series. Another effort like what Pittsburgh offered in Games One and Two will undoubtedly have the Penguins down 3-0 no matter what building the game is being played in. And if the series goes that way Wednesday night, the NHL might as well start engraving the names of Red Wing players on Stanley Cup afterward because this series will be over.
Busy Offseason In The Big Apple
Rangers Prepare For Internal And External Transactions
Photo Credit: Yahoo! Sports/Getty Images
Jaromir Jagr, who could become an unrestricted free agent this summer, appears ready to negotiate a new deal with the Rangers.
New York Rangers general manager Glen Sather has his work cut out for him this offseason. He not only has to make sure the moves he makes doesn't put the Rangers a step back going into next season, especially after failing to go as deep in the playoffs as expected. But he also has to do make those transactions with several of the team's most important players eligible for free agency on July 1.
The Rangers, who currently have a cap hit of around $32 million going into next season according to NHLNumbers.com, also have 11 players capable of hitting unrestricted free agency and five slated for restricted free agency this offseason.
Of the unrestricted free agents, four are forwards (Sean Avery, Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Martin Straka), six are on defense (Andrew Hutchinson, Darius Kasparitias, Marek Malik, Paul Mara, Michal Rozsival, Jason Strudwick) and one is in between the pipes (Stephen Valiquette.) At this point, it's pretty much a given that Hutchinson and Kasparitias will be allowed to walk, and Strudwick will probably be joining them. But at least eight of these players should get some attention from the Rangers prior to July 1.
On the restricted market, I anticipate everybody – Nigel Dawes, Fredrick Sjostrom, Greg Moore, Pierre Parenteau and Ivan Baranka – getting news deals. However, only Dawes and Sjostrom will receive anything substantial (peaking over $1 million) in deals that will actually count against the Rangers.
Besides the in-house challenges ahead of Sather are the ones he'll run into in free agency, where I'm sure a puck-moving defenseman like Brian Campbell and John-Michael Liles are at the top of his shopping list. There are also rumblings that Marian Hossa is on Sather's radar. I don't despise that notion, but would much rather the only $7 million player the Rangers pursue is Jagr.
An expected rise in the salary cap for next season from $50.3 million to $55-56 million should aid Sather in manufacturing these moves. But it's still obvious that not everybody is coming back and some important players could be lost.
The most publicized negotiation taking place now revolves around Jaromir Jagr. According to The Sports Network in Canada, the New York Rangers and Jaromir Jagr are about ready to begin negotiations on a new contract. It's believed that the 36-year old is seeking a deal in the two-year range. Though open about his interest in testing unrestricted free agent waters and about receiving interest from Avangard Omsk in Russia, Jagr has also stated that the Rangers are his No. 1 option for at least the next few years in his pro hockey career.
Bringing Jagr back is really a no-brainer for New York. He may have had the worst offensive season of his career last year since his rookie campaign in 1990-91. But Jagr still managed to come on strong down the stretch of the regular season and through the playoffs. He led the Rangers in points with 71 during the regular season and he also managed to post 15 points in 10 postseason contests, which was also tops on the team. Though not the offensive force he was as recently as two years ago when he broke the Rangers single-season goals record (54) and posted 123 points worthy of Hart Trophy nomination, Jagr still has NHL-level talent that can continue to be of great benefit to New York.
The problem rests in the amount of money he's going to pursue. Since Jagr is intrigued by the prospect of testing free agency, he clearly has his sights set on at least one more big contract. As a result, I can't possibly see Jagr seeking any less than $7 million a year. On a two-year deal, that's not such a heavy commitment for a player the caliber of Jagr. For the Rangers, however, that's a contract that won't fit in well with the team's current salary cap situation.
Jagr might be getting the attention first, but the most important free agent this year is Avery. Not only does Avery set a tone for the Rangers that translates into wins, but he also puts up great offensive production. You might not like Avery, but you can't deny the guy battles his ass off and is one of the NHL's most effective players in what he seeks out to do in every single game. The only problem is that he takes that tenacity to the negotiating table. In February, the Rangers tried to work out an extension with Avery, but the two parties were far apart in numbers and couldn't get anything done. The New York Post had Avery seeking a three- to four-year deal worth about $3.75 million per year, while the Rangers were offering one million dollars less. The simple solution is $3.33 million per season just to sort of meet in the middle. But things don't get accomplished that easily and I recognize that. Unfortunately, if Avery isn't re-signed and brought back to New York, it will go down as one of the worst decisions Sather has made since joining the Rangers. And boy, has he made some doozies.
As far as Shanahan and Straka are concerned, there might need to be a parting of ways. While Shanahan is a strong leader and I'm sure has a great presence in the locker room, he's slipped in production. His age and health are factors behind that. But I'm sure the at least $2.5 million it would take to re-sign him could be spent in other areas. Plus, his spot on the second line could be used for some of the younger talent making an impact. Straka has also had some injury troubles recently. But when able to suit up, he's still a very capable hockey player. The only problem is that without Jagr, I doubt Straka will be as effective with the Rangers. As a result, I think Straka should only be re-signed if Jagr is brought back.
At best, only one of the defensemen headed for unrestricted free agency gets re-signed. As previously established, Kasparitias, Hutchinson and Strudwick are all probably done. Malik is disliked by fans and this is the perfect opportunity to part ways even though I fear the organization still has a thing for him. I like Mara and feel he's a strong offensive producer, but he's not going to fit in with the Rangers and he could use a change of scenery. I think the only defenseman that has a shot of being re-signed by New York is Rozsival. He might not have had the greatest postseason. But Rozsival developed well with the Rangers. He logs a lot of minutes and is a great goal scorer from the point. In fact, he isn't too shabby on defense, either, sporting a plus-35 rating just two seasons ago. I fear he could attract a lot of interest and cost well over $4 million to sign, which could very well hinder the Rangers bringing him back. But otherwise, if feasible, I think Rozsival is the only blue liner Sather should really try to actively pursue bringing back.
And as far as Valiquette is concerned, he should not only be brought back after a solid year of backing Lundqvist up, but he should also receive a bit of a raise from the $635,000 he made last year.
Ideally, if Sather makes the necessary moves to produce a lineup like this for next year …
Line 1: Straka-Gomez-Jagr Line 2: Avery-Drury-Callahan Line 3: Dawes-Dubinsky-Sjostrom Line 4: Hollweg-Betts-Orr/Prucha
and still has about $2-3 million of wiggle room just in case some moves need to be made around the trade deadline, the Rangers should be good for another strong run. Plus, this doesn't even considering some of the young talent from the minors or overseas that could possibly be ready to crack a spot in the Rangers' lineup, like defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti, center Artem Anisimov and 2007 first round (17th overall) selection, right wing Alexei Cherepanov.
This is one offseason the Rangers really need the experience and savvy of Sather to get the team geared up for a strong 2008-09 instead of one where the team takes a major step back after failing to meet some high expectations for a deep postseason run this year.
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Until next week, you have just been Inside The Penalty Box!
