Blueshirt Boggle

Nedved Invited to Training Camp

Petr Nedved told Denik Sport in the Czech Republic that Ranger GM Glen Sather has agreed to invite him to training camp to give the NHL one last try. "We agreed that the Rangers will try," the two-time former Ranger said. "Sather does not give me any certainty. It is a huge challenge for me. I do not have a guarantee, but I'm going to do it. I have nothing to lose and neither do the Rangers, whether this works out or not. I will not disguise anything, it attracts me terribly. Even though I have some age, I still believe I can play in the NHL."

He said that coach Tom Renney confirmed for him what he (via his agent, J.P. Barry, who suggested the idea) had already heard from Sather. "He confirmed to me that he will give me the chance and is curious to see me for himself," Nedved said. "He knows that I played for the Rangers, and I want to prove to him that I have something I can give them. I'm no fool, I know I'm not going to crash the first line, or even play a few minutes on the fourth line -- but I could be on the third line." Blueshirts Blog has a more precise translation of what Nedved said as well as an analysis of his chances (somewhere between slim and none, leaning more toward none). Blue Notes reports that the Rangers have confirmed that Nedved is coming to camp without any guarantees.

Elsewhere, Blue Notes examines the ongoing possibility of Mats Sundin coming to New York. And there's a great story in the Glasgow Daily Record of Director of Player Personnel Gordie Clark returning to Scotland to seek out his roots -- the first story appeared in June about his search, and a follow-up story a few days ago reported that he was successful in locating the Scottish branch of his family.

Taking Care of Business

UPDATE: Hartford has signed David Skokan, the Rangers' 2007 seventh round draftee, to an AHL contract -- see Howlings. For an in-depth look at Skokan, see Prospect Park.

That's what the Rangers will have to do -- take care of business -- during a busy pre-season that has them playing eight games in twelve days, including four in four nights and concluding with a pair of back to back games in Switzerland against two European teams. As in so many cases, things could go either one way or the other under the circumstances -- the abbreviated training camp that precedes the crammed exhibition schedule could hinder the newly reformed roster from learning Tom Renney's system, or the extensive travel to Ottawa, Tampa, Bern, and then Prague for the opening of the regular season may allow all the new personalities to jell quickly. Only time will tell. Newsday has a good report on the schedule -- see also Rangers Report and NYR.com.

Elsewhere, business developments dominated the news coming out of the Garden and Cablevision yesterday. An executive shake-up that appears to primarily affect the Knicks will in fact have some ramifications on the Rangers -- former NBA VP Scott O'Neil takes over for the re-assigned Steve Mills as president of MSG Sports (see the Times and News for details). We all know what a former NBA executive can do to hockey (cf. Gary Bettman). Mills, often seen around the Ranger locker room after Garden games, was not demoted because of his role in a Garden lawsuit, according to Cablevision management. Yet on the same day, another Knicks-related sexual harassment suit was launched against MSG -- see Newsday. And speaking of Newsday, Cablevision's acquisition of the Long Island daily was finalized yesterday -- time will tell how the paper will cover its new owner and its subsidiaries like the Rangers and Knicks.

Currently available at Blueshirt Bulletin+ is an article on the Rangers' offensive defensemen of the future, recent first round draftees Bobby Sanguinetti and Mike Del Zotto. Blueshirt Bulletin subscribers who have not yet learned how to access BB+ should send an E-mail with your name and address to Blueshirt@mindspring.com to get details. If you would like to subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and gain access to BB+, send us an E-mail or click here to download a form that has subscription rates and contact information (note that we are unable to process phone orders during the summer since our offices closed).

Finally, check out Prospect Park for a pep talk that harkens back to where the Giants were at this time last year, check out Howlings for the Wolf Pack's latest signing (Harvard grad Mike Taylor), and check out Beyond the Blueshirts for more translations from Russian of Jaromir Jagr interviews in which he jokes about being "warmly seen off" by the Rangers and a video of how Ranger draftee Alexei Cherepanov reacts to practicing with Jagr.

Freddie in the Fold

Fredrik Sjostrom has accepted the Rangers' one-year $840,000 qualifying offer, according to Blue Notes, which had previously reported that the was trying to negotiate a two-year deal at a lower salary. Sjostrom was the last remaining unsigned Ranger. Ranger draftee Mitch Gaulton (interviewed at BB+) will miss the entire upcoming season and possibly a portion of the following season after undergoing a tendon transplant in his injured elbow (better known as the Tommy John procedure), according to the Erie Times-News. He will need more than a year of recovery and rehabilitation from the procedure.

Elsewhere, Beyond the Blueshirts has the translation of an interview with Jaromir Jagr in which he jokes that he left the Rangers for Russia because he couldn't keep up with Alexander Ovechkin and to be closer to home. There is also news about Belarussian defenseman Vladimir Denisov and a posting on former Ranger Darius Kasparaitis. NJ.com's Frank Della Femina has some excerpts from our Blueshirt Bulletin+ analysis of Nikolai Zherdev.

Now available over at BB+ is a new article on the Rangers' offensive defensemen of the future, recent first round draftees Bobby Sanguinetti and Mike Del Zotto. Blueshirt Bulletin subscribers who have not yet learned how to access BB+ should send an E-mail with your name and address to Blueshirt@mindspring.com to get details. If you would like to subscribe to Blueshirt Bulletin and gain access to BB+, send 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).

Ex-Files

Some news on ex-Rangers today. Brendan Shanahan doesn't want to be an ex-Ranger yet -- SI.com reports that he wants to play next season and still hopes to return to New York, having already turned down offers to work for media outlets (TV we presume). Jaromir Jagr is already down in the history books as an ex-Ranger, but Laurie Carr (who has provided us with excellent translations from Russian over the past year) goes Beyond the Blueshirts in her recently launched blog with a photo essay of Jagr's Beatlesque arrival in Omsk -- scroll down her page for other good postings about Rangers in Russia and the Wolf Pack.

He was only allowed to sully the Ranger all-time register for three games before his NHL career came to an ignominious end, but the ever-amusing Fedor Fedorov (who ranks up there with Billy Carter and Roger Clinton among the all-time lesser halves of successful brothers) is trying to make a comeback with the rival Devils. Starting over from the beginning, the 27-year-old is in Devil development camp, and got into a fight with an unknown -- which prompted Two-Line Pass to recall an earlier training camp fight that Fedorov got into that launched a career (other than his own, that is).

Meanwhile, Mike York, who was reported to have signed in Russia and was close to signing in Germany too, has signed with Columbus, which is fast turning into the Ex-Files' western outpost. Finally, going from ex's to futures, Prospect Park gets the skinny on Ranger draftee Chris Doyle from the PEI reporter who covers him in the QMJHL.

Zherdev Will Be a Plus For Rangers

Things remain quiet around the Rangers, so we continue our series of analyses of new players who hope to benefit by the change of scenery in moving to New York. Today, we look at Nikolai Zherdev over at Blueshirt Bulletin+, and this is how it starts off: They say Nikolai Zherdev needed a change of scenery. We say he just needs a birthday. Luckily for the Rangers, that birthday arrives on the day after Election Day, and we nominate Nik-Z as the player most likely to break out big time this season. Before you think we've lost our marbles completely, allow us to explain.

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+, please send an E-mail with 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 Markus Naslund and Zherdev and their change in scenery, as well as upcoming installments on Wade Redden and other newcomers, you will also be able to read other recent entries, which include interviews with prospects Mitch Gaulton and Max Campbell and an interview with Glen Sather about Jaromir 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.

In other Ranger reading around the web, Marc Staal is the subject of articles in Newsday, Blue Notes, and NYR.com, and Mark Messier is interviewed by NHL.com's Dan Rosen, a frequent Blueshirt Bulletin contributor. Howlings has news of Dave Liffiton's departure from Hartford, and Prospect Park takes on the subject of chemistry.

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+.