Rangers sign Heikkinen

May 25, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

Make that a Heineken. Alright. I admit to borrowing Rick Carpinello’s punchline over at the wonderful Rangers Report. But it’s easy to be reminded of the classic Holland brew I sometimes get at games when it comes to the newest Ranger.

That’s cause the club signed defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen a few days ago. Here are the particulars. He’s 24 and totaled 34 points (8-26-34) along with 22 penalty minutes in 54 games for HIFK Helsinki of the SM-liiga this past season. Most notably, the 34 points ranked third best among blueliners in the Finnish Pro league. It followed up 2007-08 in which he posted career highs in goals (11), points (37) and PIM (96) with his 26 helpers topping all HIFK skaters.

Heikkinen is listed at 6-2, 200 pounds and is a lefthanded shot. He had a very respectable career overseas netting 31 goals and 82 assists for 113 points plus 255 PIM in 283 career SM-liiga games with Luuko Rauma and HIFK Helsinki.

What this all means I don’t have a clue. Is he being viewed for a possible spot on our suddenly crowded blueline along with prospects Matt Gilroy, Mike Sauer, Mike Del Zotto, Bobby Sanguinetti and perhaps Corey Potter if the club re-signs him?

Color me confused. We already got Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. Plus we’re stuck with Glen Sather’s albatross Wade Redden no matter what silly rumors indicate. Michal Rozsival is the one defender that could be moved with his more cap friendly 4.33 million salary. Whether that comes to fruition we won’t know for a while. Paul Mara would love to return but at what cost? Everyone knows the cap is going down and our club is royally screwed unless they can move some expensive salaries like Scott Gomez or Chris Drury plus Rozy. Derek Morris is likely headed home to Alberta or back to The Desert.

So, what exactly is the plan? On one of the most historic anniversaries in team history in which Brian Leetch was a big part of Mark Messier’s Guarantee, fast forward 15 years and there remains a huge void on the blueline. All these years later and the team still lacks a true power play quarterback which speaks volumes about how miserable a job Sather has done. Remember what his first solution was replacing Mathieu Schneider with Vladimir Malakhov? Scary as it might sound, he’d actually be an upgrade over Tinman.

Is Heikkinen any good or will he evolve into AHL Fodder like my old fantasy hockey name in NJ Devs? The last Finn D this club inked was Hannu Pikkarainen, who lasted one year in North America getting in 17 combined games with ECHL Charlotte and AHL affiliate Hartford. That doesn’t exactly instill much confidence.

The encouraging news is that Heikkinen has put up better numbers for the same exact team. What that translates to who knows. He is 24. So, I highly doubt they brought him over to provide veteran leadership with the Wolf Pack.

Does this mean the Blueshirts think Sanguinetti will be a bust? The former 2006 first rounder totaled six goals and 36 assists for 42 points in his first full season in the ‘A’ pacing all Hartford blueliners. But compared to Sauer, who went a steady plus-29 and Vladimir Denisov (+18), the 21 year-old Trenton, NJ native was a minus-eight on a first place team. Alarming. Maybe he still needs work. Whatever the reason, it seems other players have passed him on the depth chart.

It’ll be interesting to see what the club does with the back end. Are they willing to go young and give realistic shots to two regular spots? Or will they again dip into the FA market and bring in a vet? I’m lost.