It’s been a while…

June 27, 2008   ·   Lenny   ·   Jump to comments

Hello all.

I have not posted in quite some time. College graduation, full time summer job and a little bit of relaxing and celebrating took over for about a month and unfortunately, I put this blog on the back burner.

I have now returned, ready for the free agency period to begin. There are some great stories and posts below, which should have kept you up to date. The NHL versus the Dolans and the Rangers, Mats Sundin as a potential NYR target this offseason and a whirlwind of trades are all covered below.

In the last few days, there have been numerous newsworthy items coming out of Ranger camp. On paper the Rangers made some quality picks in the draft, including Evgheny Grachev, who may have been a steal in the draft according to several analysts. The prospects and recent draft picks are in New York now, working out in a mini-training camp.

Also coming out in the last couple of days, Marty Straka may have fled the NHL and moved back to the Czech League. The Rangers are currently denying it, and no one knows for sure, but several sources have said that he has in fact left the league. I am a huge fan or Straka’s hustle and work ethic, but it appeared last year that his best years may be behind him. Should the Rangers resign Jaromir Jagr, and this signing isn’t official yet, I would expect Straka back in Broadway blue.

Speaking of Jagr; There have been unofficial reports of him getting a contract offer from Omsk in the Czech League in the neighborhood of three years, $35 million. That may be two years and $30 million more than the Rangers are willing to offer him, so if it’s money that the Rangers’ captain wants, he may no longer be with the team either.

One of the more surprising stories that came out of yesterday was that Mats Sundin was prepared to sign a two year, $5 million deal with the Rangers on July 1st. I didn’t see the story, but it was apparently first reported on ESPN.com. That story has since been removed and it said to be untrue. Should the Rangers sign him, either Chris Drury or Brandon Dubinsky would shift to a wing, most likely on the top line. Personally, I say pass on him and spend the money on a solid, physical defender.

Other news around the league, Brian Rolston may in fact become available on July 1, as talks have broken down between him and the Minnesota Wild. Barry Melrose was named coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning and soon after Vinny Lecavlier was signed to a massive, extremely smart deal. Brooks Orpik also became the latest Pittsburgh free agent to reject offers from the club. Evgeni Malkin, Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone were the previous members of the team to do so.

Free agency is only a few days away, which means things could get real interesting, real soon. Sources are saying the Nigel Dawes and Stephen Valiquette are already resigned, but those won’t be announced until after the big rush of free agency is over. (P.A. Parenteu was resigned the other day.) I don’t expect much to happen in the next couple of days, and anything that comes out will most likely be strictly speculation. I do expect the free agent period to be hectic on the first day, probably within the first few hours, much like it was last year. I don’t expect the big Gomez and Drury-like splash this year, but we could make a decent impact.

Tune back in this week for more updates which will hopefully include a resigning of Sean Avery, a reduced role for Brendan Shanahan, an acquisition of a physical defenseman and the resigning of other, smaller role players. Until then…