Blueshirt Bulletin

Moore Re-Signs as Writers Size Up Summer Moves

UPDATE: Hugh Jessiman re-signed -- see Howlings for a couple of quotes from Huge. Blue Notes reports on the Blues possibly being interested in Brendan Shanahan. Prospect Park says look for the Rangers' youngsters to take team leadership roles during the season. MSG.com quotes readers who have already moved on past Jagr and Avery (including two Blueshirt Bulletin copy editors, Pat Hoffman and Dan Akeson).

News in Rangerland is pretty light these days, what with the Rangers having already used up all their cap space in remaking their roster. The depth chart is being filled with the re-signing of RFAs -- Greg Moore became the second to last to re-up today (see NYR.com), leaving Fred Sjostrom as the lone remaining player left to be inked. With the dearth of hard news, some observers have turned toward analyzing what has been done to the Blueshirts this summer -- Larry Brooks in the Post and Sam Weinman in Rangers Report express their reservations, evoking the ghost of the bad old days from before the lockout.

We have begun the process of analyzing the moves as well. But we cannot bring ourselves to rush to judgement in advance of seeing how things shape up on the ice, not after what we witnessed coming out of the lockout when the Rangers were reshaped in the image of Jaromir Jagr back when his reputation was still tarnished by his unfortunate tenure in Washington. We were as surprised as anyone when the Rangers did not finish last, as widely predicted, and made the playoffs three years running. This year, the strategy has changed, as we write in the first installment of our series of analyses at Blueshirt Bulletin+:

The Rangers have made over their team drastically this summer, and in the process have chosen to bank heavily on the "change of scenery" theory. Wade Redden was just about run out of town in Ottawa and has explicitly stated that a new start was the best antidote to a game that had grown stale. Nikolai Zherdev had been on the trading block for at least a season and half while in Columbus, where demanding coach Ken Hitchcock had him in and out of the dog house and was never going to trust him. On a lesser scale, Dmitri Kalinin had run afoul of Sabres fans in Buffalo and needed a new team with which to prove himself.

Then there is Markus Naslund, a goal scorer and point producer whose numbers have dropped by nearly half since his career season of 2002-03 and by more than a third of his five-year pre-lockout averages. We've barely seen Naslund play and therefore know little about him, even though we had an au pair helping us raise our daughter a number of years back who went to high school with him (and Peter Forsberg) back in the small northern Swedish hockey town of Ornskoldsvik. But we've caught up with him on video and researched what was being said about him by the Canuck organization, the Vancouver press, and the team's fans, and there is little question that his (and the Rangers') big hope is to be revitalized by a change of venue.

To read the complete article, go to Blueshirt Bulletin+. You must be Blueshirt Bulletin subscriber to access BB+ -- if you have already subscribed but have not yet learned how to access BB+, E-mail your name and address to Blueshirt@mindspring.com to get the details. If you would like to subscriber to Blueshirt Bulletin and gain access to BB+, drop us an E-mail or click here to download a form that has subscription rates and contact information. Please note that we are unable to process phone orders during the summer, with our offices closed -- quick access can be gained via E-mail, PayPal, or Fax. You can also send a check via regular mail (remember to include your E-mail address), but there will be delay in processing orders received that way.

By gaining access to BB+ you will not only be able to see our analysis of Naslund and his change in scenery, as well as upcoming installments on Zherdev and Redden, you will also be able to read recent entries, which include interviews with prospects Mitch Gaulton and Max Campbell and an interview with Glen Sather about Jagr, Zherdev, and Mats Sundin. Another upcoming BB+ posting will be an interview with first round draftee Mike Del Zotto. Our traditional wall-to-wall training camp coverage will also appear mostly on BB+ this year, as will coverage of the Rangers' European road trip if we are able to travel there with them.

Finally, if you are in need of some hearty laughs, check out the Islander Follies at SI.com (thanks to BB reader PJ for directing our attention to this priceless photo series).

Legal Wranglings

The Rangers have responded to the NHL's attempts to strong-arm them, attempts that include threatening to remove the franchise from the hands of ownership. The case for an independent web site may have been shot down left and right, but we cannot imagine a court in the U.S.A. upholding a provision that prohibits litigation, to the point of causing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage. See the Daily News, Newsday, and Blueshirts Blog for more. Meanwhile, while Bettman bashes the league's top U.S.-based franchise, he now stands accused of negligence in the Nashville ownership fiasco, having perhaps allowed a deadbeat owner to take over a team without doing the proper homework -- see the original story here.

Elsewhere, the Ranger schedule is dissected in various news outlets -- see the Daily News, Newsday, Journal News, Times, and Record. Stan Fischler looks at the greatest Ranger goalies ever at MSG.com. Hockey Rodent takes on the subject of leadership at FoxSports. Prospect Park takes its own look at the Rangers' and Predators' legal situations. And Mitch Beck talks to the newest Wolf Packer, David Urquhart, at Howlings. The Rangers finally announced the signing of minor league defenseman Brian Fahey -- see Howlings for a quote on the new Wolf Packer from Bob Crawford. Mitch also directs us to this Connecticut Post article on Steve Valiquette.

Sjo Seems to Fit After All

Freddie Sjostrom is apparently more clearheaded than we are -- he is not seeking a big raise over last year's $800,000 salary, he is actually ready to accept a cut to $650,000 in exchange for a two-year deal, with negotiations over those terms still ongoing. Kudos to Sjostrom -- those are the right terms for him. This news comes courtesy of Blue Notes updating their original report about Sjostrom's ongoing negotiations and the Post, both in items about Nigel Dawes re-signing for $587,500 for one year, a bit more than his qualifying offer of $522,500. If Sjostrom comes in at the $650,000 figure, the Rangers' cap situation is as follows:

Gomez @ $7,357,143; Drury @ $7,050,000; Lundqvist @ $6,875,000; Redden @ $6,500,000; Rozsival @ $5,000,000; Naslund @ $4,000,000; Zherdev @ $2,500,000; Kalinin @ $2,100,000; Mara @ $1,950,000; Prucha @ $1,600,000; Girardi @ $1,550,000; Voros @ $1,000,000; Rissmiller @ $1,000,000; Fritsche @ $875,000; Staal @ $826,667; Valiquette @ $725,000; Pock @ $667,500; Sjostrom @ $650,000; Dubinsky @ $633,333; Betts @ $615,000; Dawes @ $587,500; Callahan @ $575,000; Orr @ $537,500. That's a full 23-man roster -- fourteen forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies who total just about $55,175,000, leaving just about $1.5 million.

However, Jaromir Jagr is believed to be owed a buyout of his contract option that is worth $760,000 and Brendan Shanahan's bonus overage from last year is believed to be in the $750,000 range, leaving the Rangers right up against the $56.7 million cap. The only room to move would be to replace Pock with a slightly cheaper option at #7 D (e.g. Corey Potter or Vladimir Denisov), to replace one of the new million dollar men, Voros and Rissmiller, or Fritsche, with a cheaper option from Hartford, or to make a cap-friendly trade, of which Prucha seems to be the only viable candidate. Even so, there appears to be no room whatsoever for re-signing Shanahan or adding another high profile player like Mats Sundin.

A couple of other links for today: The Winnipeg Sun on hometown boy Dawes, Stan Fischler evaluating the newest Rangers at MSG.com, Howlings on the newest Pack signee, David Urquhart, the Post on Yankee Stadium's bid for the 2010 Winter Classic, and Prospect Park on just saying nyet.

Sjo Should Take the Money or Run

Fact: Blue Notes reports that "Freddie Sjostrom's qualifying offer was extended past yesterday's 5 p.m. deadline to Aug. 4. 'We're still negotiating,' Sjostrom said in an email late yesterday." Opinion: Uh, excuse me -- what is there to negotiate? Freddie wants more than the 10% raise he automatically got with the $880,000 qualifying offer that the Rangers considered not even tendering to him because they wanted to re-sign him for less?

Sjostrom might be a speedy and hard working winger, but a guy who scores a goal and an assist once every seven or eight games should not be asking for more at this point, not with the team right up against the salary cap already. With Sjostrom's $880,000, there is no room for Lauri Korpikoski to make the team with his $1.1 million NHL cap hit or Artem Anisimov at $850,000. Johan Franzen, Anze Kopitar, and Alexander Radulov (were he to play in the NHL) make what Sjostrom is asking for.

Sure, signing Aaron Voros and Patrick Rissmiller for $1 million apiece falls into the same category -- in our opinion, no way the Rangers should have signed two guys at that level to play their roles, not with so many players like them already on the roster. Sjostrom would not be an issue had only one of them been signed. On the other hand, Nigel Dawes will have to be far more important to this Ranger team than Sjostrom if the club is to have any success this season and he just re-signed today for somewhere in the $600,000 (according to a Blueshirts Blog item devoted mostly to the Brendan Shanahan situation). If Sjostrom is not satisfied with his QO, let him find some other team to negotiate with. That's our opinion.

Elsewhere, Howlings has an article on recently re-signed Packer Mike Ouellette.

Fritsche Re-Signs, Shanahan Still Seeking Ranger Contract

The Rangers have avoided going to arbitration with newly acquired forward Dan Fritsche, signing the 23-year-old Ohio native to a contract that Blue Notes believes is worth $875,000, a raise from the $750,000 he earned last season and the $825,000 qualifying offer he received from the Blue Jackets before they traded him to New York (see NYR.com for more). In other news, Brendan Shanahan's agent said the only team his client is talking to is the Rangers in denying a report that Vancouver offered him $2 million. And Howlings reports that the Wolf Pack have re-signed forward Mike Ouellette.

To read more about the recently traded Ryan Hollweg, see the Journal News, Newsday, Post, NY Sports Day, and Prospect Park. Those zany Islanders are at it again, firing coach Ted Nolan, the only reason the Isles had a sniff at the playoffs in each of his two seasons at the Mausoleum. Apparently, the overachieving coach was no match for puppethead GM Garth Snow, the former backup goalie who was chosen to replace a real GM, former Ranger manager Neil Smith, when Smith lost a power struggle. In both cases, underachieving egotistical goalie Rick DiPietro is believed to have been in the middle of it all -- see the Post and Newsday for more.

At Blueshirt Bullletin+ we have an interview with Ranger prospect Max Campbell courtesy of Jess Rubenstein. Blueshirt Bulletin subscribers who have not yet learned how to access BB+ should send an E-mail to Blueshirt@mindspring.com for more information. If you don't have a subscription yet, click here to see a form that has all the information you need to get Blueshirt Bulletin as well as access to BB+.

Hollywood Shuffle

The Rangers have traded Ryan Hollweg to Toronto for a 2009 fifth round draft pick that originally belonged to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The trade of Hollweg brings to a close one of the great stories from the Rangers' first post-lockout season, the HMO line (or OHM line as some would have it) that energized the veteran contingent of mostly Czech players with their hard work and diligent skating. Dominic Moore was traded after that first season, Jed Ortmeyer left via free agency after the second season without ever getting an offer from the Rangers, and now the hard-hitting but often reckless Hollweg makes his exit. The Rangers will get to see what kind of impact he makes in an enemy uniform four times next season.

For our take on Hollweg's exit, see Blueshirt Bulletin+. The Hollweg trade is one step toward relieving the glut of third and fourth line wingers the Rangers have amassed, one of the Ranger-related subjects in Larry Brooks's Sunday column in the Post that come after his analysis of NHL revenues. For other New York area reports on the trade, see Blue Notes, Rangers Report, Blue Seats, Slap Shot, Howlings, and NYR.com. Slap Shot also has an item on Alexei Cherepanov's agent explaining that his client will continue to hone his craft in Russia this season before considering an attempt at the NHL and is looking forward to playing with Jaromir Jagr in Omsk -- thanks to Laurie Carr for providing us with a translation, but because of technical difficulties here in the home office, the Times blog had it up first.

Sather Looks Past Jagr to Next Season

Glen Sather spoke to a Russian reporter at championat.ru about Jaromir Jagr, saying that his situation was water under the bridge as he looks at rebuilding the Rangers for next season. For more on what the Rangers' GM had to say about the former captain, about the trade for Nikolai Zherdev, and about negotiations with free agents Mats Sundin and Marian Hossa, see Blueshirt Bulletin+ (thanks to Laurie Carr for her expert translation).

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Rangers Add Tough Belarussian Defenseman

SUBSCRIBER UPDATE: Thanks to everyone for the tremendous response to Blueshirt Bulletin+. One important notice: we are having trouble getting access information to people using Yahoo Mail accounts, our messages probably being filtered as spam. If you have placed a request for access but have not gotten a reply, please contact us again so that we can try to find a way to work around the problem. Another notice for those who have sent in subscription orders by fax: To register for BB+, we need an E-mail address, so please contact us at Blueshirt@mindspring.com for access. A reminder that BB+ is currently in test mode -- with limited news during the summer, expect only the occasional posting there until things get heated up again. We'll do our best to keep things interesting during this slow period.

For today, news of more comings and goings, although nothing earth shattering. Jason Strudwick, who was valued as much for his locker room presence as his play on the ice (maybe even more), has signed with his home town team, Edmonton -- see Rangers Report for more. Former Ranger Mike York, finished in the NHL at age 30, is joining the exodus to Russia. NYR.com has more on the newest member of the Rangers' front office, Mike Barnett. THN.com has a couple of lists of interest to the Rangers -- in one, Wade Redden is named the second worst signing of this free agent season because of the way his game has degraded (gotta hope the change in scenery theory works), and in the other the Ranger draft is graded as an A by the chief scout of North American Central Scouting, in part because of sleeper pick Mitch Gualton, interviewed at BB+.

The Rangers have signed Belarussian defenseman Vladimir Denisov, who played in the AHL last season after skating in the Russian League the prior year. The physical 5'11, 207-pound stay-at-home defender, who just turned 24, played 66 games with the Lake Erie Monsters after signing an AHL contract with the Colorado organization. His teammates included former Rangers Jamie Lundmark and Dale Purinton. And like Purinton, Denisov likes to fight -- at least 45 of his 137 penalty minutes were earned in fights. He also played a few games in the ECHL for the Johnstown Chiefs, a team owned by former Ranger GM Neil Smith.

In an interview roughly translated from Russian, conducted after he signed with Colorado a year ago, Denisov explains why he left Russia for North America: "The only plus in the Russian hockey -- its financial side. That is my opinion. At least there is nothing else that the Superleague game can give me." He had three assists and was +4 in six games for Belarus in this year's World Championship, playing with NHL defenseman Ruslan Salei on his nation's top defensive pair. With the Rangers in need of a sixth or seventh defenseman, one would expect Denisov to get a good look in training camp, though it is more likely he is meant for Hartford. For more, see Howlings.

Comings and Goings -- Mostly Goings

Things remain quiet in Rangerland ten days after the opening the free agent signing period, with the club having used up most of its salary cap space retooling itself dramatically for next season. One of the players who was a fixture in New York since the lockout finally made official what has already been reported as a foregone conclusion, Martin Straka signing with his hometown team in Plzen in the Czech Republic, bringing his NHL days to an end along with his good friend and longtime teammate Jaromir Jagr.

Another European player at the other end of his career got offers to play there too, but Thomas Pock told Howlings that he turned them all down to continue to pursue his dream of playing in the NHL, even though he also said he has yet to hear from the Rangers about his future. Pock is getting married this summer. Howlings also has news about a couple of other Wolf Packers signing with other organizations -- Chris Holt has moved to St. Louis's farm team, and Josh Gratton (acquired in the Al Montoya deal) signed with Nashville [navigate back from the Pock article to read about the others].

Jim Hammett, who had been the Rangers' head amateur scout the past year, moved to Tampa to take a promotion to Director of Player Personnel for the Lightning (report here). Prospect Park takes a look at Paul Mara re-signing with the Rangers, and has full details about ticket sales for the inaugural Victoria Cup games in Berne, Switzerland, where the Rangers will play twice, once against the hometown hosts SC Berne on September 30th, and then against European club champion Mettalurg Magnitogorsk of the Russian League on October 1st for the Victoria Cup. Tickets are currently available through ticketportal.com.

Blueshirt Bulletin+ kicks off its premium coverage of the Rangers today with our first article, a profile of and interview with Ranger draftee Mitch Gaulton. We had originally planned to publish this article in our September issue of Blueshirt Bulletin, but are making it available earlier in order to test out BB+ and give our subscribers a taste of the kind of coverage we hope to provide there. Click here to read Smile Along With Mitch at BB+.

If you are a Blueshirt Bulletin subscriber and have not yet gotten information on how to access BB+, send an E-mail to Blueshirt@mindspring with your name and address. If you are not currently a Blueshirt Bulletin subscriber, click here to download a form that will help you subscribe. We are up to date with all requests to access BB+ except for the last few that have rolled in, which we will get to now, so please be patient.

Ranger beat writers and frequent Blueshirt Bulletin contributors Sam Weinman and Steve Zipay ran live chats at their blogs over the past couple of days -- you can replay the sessions and get their insights into the Rangers at Rangers Report and Blue Notes.

Jagr Didn't Want a One-Year Deal

Jaromir Jagr is gone, but his story refuses to go away with him. One reason for that is a good reason -- with his NHL career at an end, paeans are coming in, as they should, the latest at NHL.com. But then there is the other side of the story, the one about how Jagr ended up going to Russia instead of coming back to New York. In an interview published by Sovjetsky Sport in Russian, Jagr said his insistence on a three-year contract, not money, was why he couldn't come to agreement with the Rangers. Explaining how the economics of over-35 players under the CBA was a stumbling block, he said he didn't want go year to year with his contracts because of the uncertainty. And he noted the enormous commitment the Rangers made to four players with huge contracts -- Gomez, Drury, Lundqvist, and Redden. Otherwise, he had only good things to say about his time in New York.

Also on the Jagr front, Prospect Park takes on some of the revisionist history coming out of both Omsk and New York. Elsewhere, ESPN looks at the changes in the Eastern Conference and likes what it sees of the Rangers. Rangers Report says that scout Frank Effinger has moved from the Rangers to Phoenix. And Howlings reports that Jordan Owens will be returning to the Wolf Pack. We've gotten mixed reviews on the new color scheme here, so let's take a poll and see which you guys actually prefer:

Opinion Polls & Market Research

BB+ Update: We have processed all BB+ requests that have been received through 10:00 AM this morning -- please be patient as we work to keep up with the requests as they keep coming in! We hope to get our first BB+ posting up some time tomorrow. Thanks to all existing subscribers for your support and your kind words. Thanks to our new subscribers for helping the cause. If you are only now checking in, please scroll down to the next posting for more information on BlueshirtBulletin+.