Dac Vee Daniyah Zherdev???

July 7, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

It’s early Tuesday morning a couple of days removed from everyone’s favorite Russian enigma Nikolai Zherdev filing for salary arbitration.

According to NY Post’s Larry Brooks, the Rangers were hesitant to even qualify their leading scorer. In his first season on Broadway after coming over from Columbus for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman, Zherdev finished with 23 goals and 35 assists for 58 points, tying with ex-Ranger Scott Gomez for the club lead in scoring.

That’s not all. Apparently, Brooks believes Zherdev’s Ranger stay in New York could be brief-strongly indicating that the Rangers will decline his arbitration reward making him a free agent. He goes onto add:

Maybe that’s the end game envisioned by Zherdev’s agent, Roland Hedges, who has not responded to a series of voice mail and e-mail messages left by The Post over the last three months.

Maybe Hedges believes Zherdev, who was even less effective for Tortorella than he was for Renney and who failed to register a point in the Blueshirts’ seven-game first-round defeat to the Capitals, will hit a home run on the free agent market, though $3.25M for a 23-goal scorer whose work ethic comes and goes without notice would seem to clear the fence.

I don’t often agree with LB but that’s an accurate assessment of this classic tease. Sure. Zherdev has great talent which maybe tough cop John Tortorella can harness. But the fact that his magic vanishing act continued following the coaching change doesn’t make a strong enough case. Especially if he’s somehow rewarded in excess of $3.5 million.

When he first put on the Ranger jersey, the former Blue Jackets’ 2003 fourth overall pick performed well at near a point-per-game clip the first three months including more than half his goals netting 12. Once the calendar year changed, he was never the same disappearing for stretches as production significantly dropped.

Following Tort reform when he was benched in a comeback road win over Nashville, he initially responded with six points in his next eight games. Sadly, that was it. He finished with just one helper the rest of the way. That’s 20 games counting the seven-game first round. No points the last 14.

Russian Enigma 2008-09 Rangers Breakdown (incl. playoffs)

GP      G   A    Pts

Oct. – Dec.   39      12  22  34

Jan. – Apr.   50     11   13  24

Totals            89       23   35*  58+

*led team

+tied for team lead

Would you keep this guy if the cost becomes too much? Especially given our cap situation with more hardworking types like Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Lauri Korpikoski also needing to be re-signed. Expect both Cally (arbitration) and Dubi to get significant raises while Korpedo takes a slight bump up.

The Blueshirts also have plans for Brian Boyle. Otherwise, Glen Sather wouldn’t have sacrificed a third round pick for another 2003 failure him. With Blair Betts done, the former King is expected to compete for the club’s fourth line center with former No.1 pick Brodie Dupont. They also intend to bring Corey Potter back to compete for a job on the blueline with Matt Gilroy, Michael Del Zotto, Bobby Sanguinetti, Mike Sauer, Ilkka Heineken Heikkinen and recent acquisition Ryan McDonagh.

Brooks also asserts:

The Rangers have held conversations with Dallas regarding Brad Richards, who has two years remaining on a contract carrying an annual $7.8M cap hit, and with San Jose concerning Patrick Marleau, who has one year to go at $6.3M on his deal, but there’s no indication at this time that either player is on his way to Broadway.

There’s also interest in 34-year-old Montreal free agent Saku Koivu and in 39-year-old Dallas free agent defenseman and power-play point specialist Sergei Zubov as the Rangers look to bolster a roster that is not especially imposing.

I’m not a fan of bringing in another center because it will hurt our cap situation even more. I like Saku but let’s face it. He’s 34 already and will probably seek a 3-4 year deal which just won’t be worth it. Especially for a player who’s on the downside. Let another team take that risk. Marleau’s another guy I like but he’s not the answer. When has he ever proven he can be the man? Now, Richards is a No.1 caliber pivot who has won a Cup under Tortorella, taking home the Conn Smythe. But he’s already 29 and his salary would put our club in dire straits. Plus he’s returning from injury. So, you just don’t know.

The other reason I’m not opposed to going with Dubinsky, Chris Drury, Artem Anisimov and Boyle/Dupont is cause at some point this organization needs to turn the page. By adding another vet center in a weak market, it hurts Anisimov’s development. What does another year of the ‘A’ do for a guy who was the only 21 year-old to place in the top 10 in goals scored (37-4th) and points (81-5th)? Zilch. Let him sink or swim.

As for Zubov, like most Ranger fans, I love the guy because he’s just the kind of defenseman we lack. Even at 39, if he was willing to take less for a Broadway revival, it might be worth it. He knows how to run a power play and still can log big minutes. Though I’d limit it a little so that he stays fresh. If that means sitting him sometimes so they can get a kid in, that would work. True enough, he’s even more of a risk than Richards but a veteran like one of the couple of  ’94 Cup holdovers (Kovalev-Ottawa) who knows how to play and can teach our kids a lot about how to play the point.

No matter what, the Blueshirts do need to bring in a veteran presence. Paul Mara can always be re-signed but at what price? He can’t run the power play. That’s why I’d consider Zubov.