Waiting On Zherdev

July 31, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

With today’s arbitration hearing finally taking place between the Rangers and Nikolai Zherdev, it figures to be a quiet weekend as the two sides await the result.

Who will win? The Rangers who don’t want to pay a penny less than the $3.25 qualifying offer or Zherdev, who demanded a much higher $4.5 million. Figure the reward to be somewhere in the middle for the 24 year-old right wing who despite disappearing down the stretch still tied for the club lead in scoring with 58 points (23-35-58).

It’s hard to justify the Russian enigma receiving more than say between 3.7 and 4. Given the Rangers’ tight cap situation with Brandon Dubinsky still unsigned, it’s unrealistic to envision Zherdev returning for a second year on Broadway. Especially considering how unproductive he was under more demanding coach John Tortorella, who he even hinted at in a recent interview as not trusting him enough. With how little the former Blue Jacket- who Glen Sather acquired last summer for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman- competed, would you send him out for every shift when he repeatedly lost battles while teammates busted it?

Unless there’s a serious change of heart, Zherdev won’t be here this Fall. Can Slats sucker someone like Edmonton into taking him? It’s a possibility now that the Oilers have come to their senses on Dany Heatley. But if Sather’s former club is out, would he give Bryan Murray a call again and see if something can be worked out? As much as we’re against it, you can’t underestimate the Ranger GM. Especially if Murray has less leverage. I’m not even going to speculate on what the cost would be due to fear.

If Zherdev is out by say Tuesday, figure Dubinsky to get done soon. Hopefully, he’ll be centering Marian Gaborik and our choice Ryan Callahan, who we believe could hike from 24 to 30 goals if given the opportunity to play on the top line. Don’t forget too that Cally is a right handed shot which means he can one-time a Gaborik pass. He’s also a better finisher than either Chris Higgins or deterrent Sean Avery, who we like to start on the third line with Artem Anisimov and Enver Lisin. Avery can win battles and become a distraction, creating space for the two Russians. This would allow Higgins to play with Chris Drury and Ales Kotalik on a solid second line that reunites the two ex-Sabres and utilizes the Long Islander’s speed and two-way abilities, balancing things out.

If there aren’t any more changes, this is what we’d like to see:

Callahan-Dubinsky-Gaborik

Higgins-Drury-Kotalik

Avery-Anisimov-Lisin

Byers-Boyle-Brashear

Extra: Voros

Staal-Girardi

Gilroy-Rozsival

Redden-Sauer

Extra: Potter

Lundqvist

Valiquette

Assuming Rozsival is still here, playing him with Redden would be a disaster. Neither has the speed to recover in Tort’s pinching system. So, if one got caught, there’d be plenty of odd-man rushes for Henrik Lundqvist to deal with. I’d much rather split them up giving a kid some responsibility. If they’re going to make this rebuild on our blueline work, they have to see what they can do. Plus pairing two unproven players together isn’t a great idea. Working with a vet can benefit a kid’s development.

The projected lineup excludes Evgeny Grachev, who figures to start at Hartford. If he blows them away in camp, great. But then he must play enough minutes to justify keeping him. That could mean a trade. There’s also the possibility the Rangers pickup another defenseman for the power play. Anton Babchuk could be had and Marc-Andre Bergeron’s around. If not, I’m comfortable with the roster moving forward.