Dylan McIlrath era in NY maybe ushered in sooner than later...

While practicing in Hartford today with the Whale, Ranger defenseman Marc Staal told reporters per Andrew Gross that he is not in game shape and not cleared for contact which throws his availability in to question for the start of the season in Sweden against the Kings and Ducks next week. This completely changes my opinion on whether Staal should play overseas at all. The Rangers need to keep him here and get him in game shape for their first regular season game against the Islanders on 10/15. If Staal can't go, I can really see the Rangers keeping McIlrath for the time being. Although Torts says he isn't ready he may not have a choice especially with Erixon struggling.

Lets all calm down about Staal...

Yesterday at the Winter Classic press conference to announce what was quite possibly the worst kept secret in sports, Glen Sather talked to reporters about the status of All Star blueliner Marc Staal.

"Marc practiced yesterday, he looked great and his conditioning is terrific, I think he's tested, in every test that we have, he's been one of the top guys in the organization. I'm not concerned about that at all." 

He also went on to add that Staal will re join the Rangers later on this week. What is unknown at the moment is if he will be flying to the Czech Republic or Sweden for the Rangers exhibition games on Thursday or Friday, respectively, as well as his availability for those games. I'm guessing that Staal will be ready for the first two regular season games against the Kings and Ducks in Sweden on Friday 10/7 and Saturday 10/8.

Staal suffering post concussion symptoms...

It was reported earlier Sunday by various sources that Marc Staal is suffering symptoms from post concussion after a check way back last February from Marc's brother Erik in Carolina. While Rangers doctors are saying that he is cleared for contact, the Rangers aren't taking any chances and rightfully so. While it is currently unknown whether Staal will make the trip to Europe, the Rangers are correct for holding Staal out while he recovers and hopefully in time for the season. The Rangers not having Staal for an extended period of time could be devastating to the Rangers defensive corps and while that scenario isn't expected, the Rangers are stocked with talent at the minor league level that can temporarily take over while Staal recovers. If the Rangers are without Staal, I expect them to go with just 6 defensemen. I don't think they'll be looking for a trade due to cap constraints, but look for minor leaguers Pavel Valentenko to get a long look during camp and perhaps Dylan McIlrath if things become desperate.

Rangers season preview part 3: Eastern Conference predictions

1. Washington- The signing of Tomas Vokoun makes this team scary if Ovechkin can pot 50+ goals like he is capable of doing and gets the secondary scoring from guys like Semin and Backstrom. It'll be interesting to see if the Caps go back to the run and gun offense now that they have a top 10 goalie.

2. Pittsburgh- We already know what Pittsburgh is capable of, and depending on Crosby's health, the Pens could really finish anywhere from 2 to 6.

3. Buffalo- I'm buying this team as a potential dark horse to come out of the East. Alot of free agent moves however have put the team 3.5 million over the cap as of this writing so moves still have to be made. Plus any team that boasts Ryan Miller in goal has a chance.

4. Tampa Bay- An elite goaltender is just about the only thing holding back the Lightning from potentially winning a cup. I'm not saying they can't do it, but the Lightning just remind you of a Washington Capitals team before this year with elite scoring but with an average and in Tampa's case, aging netminder.

5. Boston- I debated whether or not I wanted to put the Bruins or the Rangers here at 5. The only reason I give Boston the slightest of edges here is because of recent Conn Smythe award winner Tim Thomas despite the fact that the Rangers are deeper on offense.

6. Rangers- Quite frankly this is the lowest end of the spectrum I expect the Rangers to finish the season. However I do expect the Rangers to strongly compete for the top spot in the division. Getting there is do-able however its much easier said than done.

There are a number of teams that could make up the final two spots in the Eastern Conference. I'm leaving out the Flyers and the Canadiens for a variety of reasons and inserting two teams that didn't make the playoffs last year.

7. Carolina- As we all know the Hurricanes missed the playoffs when they lost the last game of the season at home against the Lightning and put the Rangers in the playoffs. I'm sure those guys have had to endure a long offseason after that loss and have been chomping at the bit to get back on the ice. Besides, with Eric Staal, super rookie Jeff Skinner entering his second year and underrated goalie Cam Ward, the Canes will make it back to the playoffs.

8. Devils- This year could mark the end of an era for the Devils. With Martin Brodeur entering the last year of his contract, I can't see the Devils not in the mix for the eighth seed and perhaps sneaking in on game 82. The talent is there, its up to Marty and how much he has left.

As I wrote in Part 2, I don't like the Flyers this season at all. Montreal is too inconsistent, you never really know what to expect out of Carey Price. I'm not going in depth into the Winnipeg Jets since they aren't going to be in the conference next season although I don't think they are too far away from returning to the playoffs. Florida, Toronto and the Islanders are light years away from contending.

Rangers season preview part 2- Atlantic Division

Atlantic Division Predictions
Pittsburgh (104 points)-This is purely based on Crosby being healthy to play. If he plays at the level he did before his concussion, the Pens take the division. However if they are without Crosby for an extended time then the Rangers could be breathing down their necks all season long.

NY Rangers (100 points)- I think this is the season the Rangers begin their push. The team filled two huge needs with one player. If the Rangers stay healthy getting to 100 points is not out of the question. If the young guys improve from last season the Rangers can have three lines that can score. Wishful thinking?

NJ Devils (93 points)- Can't see the Devs starting off this season the way they did last year. Kovalchuk makes this team dangerous. Hottest NHL team post all-star break and nearly made playoffs. With Parise and Brodeur in contract years do the Devils "go for it" one last time? How much does Marty have left?

Philadelphia (90 points)- The Flyers traded away their top two scorers, only to replace Richards and Carter with Jagr and Brayden Schenn. Unless Briere, Giroux, and Van Riemsdyk all score 50 goals each wheres the scoring coming from? With Pronger hurt with a bad back is this the beginning of the end for him? Can Bryzgalov shake off the bad playoff series he just had against the Red Wings? Too many questions for me to put them in the playoffs.

NY Islanders (79 points)- Tavares, Grabner, and Moulson are all nice pieces to build the team around, however ownership issues will continue to plague the Isles until they get a new stadium in the area or move elsewhere. Constantly picking high in the draft has to get them somewhere eventually right? Lets not get started on Rick DiPietro...

Rangers to announce captain and alternates... (update)

Per Jim Cerny of newyorkrangers.com, the Rangers will announce the 26th captain in franchise history tomorrow, Monday 9/12/11. When the news is announced an updated blog will be posted here.

UPDATE 9/12/11 11 am
The Rangers have just announced that Ryan Callahan has been named the 26th captain in franchise history. Also named as alternates are all-star defenseman Marc Staal and newly acquired free agent center Brad Richards.

I couldn't be happier about the state of this Rangers team right now. Especially with the Rangers prospects tearing up the Traverse City tournament. The sky is the limit for this Rangers team and when we look back 5 years from now, we can say that the road to the Stanley Cup was paved with this offseason.

The Rangers taking a gamble on defense?

I came across an article this afternoon on SI.com about teams taking the biggest gambles this season and the last team on this writers article was the Rangers. This persons concern is if the Rangers defense is too young and inexperienced. If they were young and inexperienced this year, what was last year? The Rangers biggest gamble was promoting Sauer and McDonagh to the big club last season and they did little else but succeed. In fact, Sauer and McDonagh are two huge reasons the Rangers even made the playoffs. If you remember, Sauer scored the game winning goal in their incredible comeback win against the Bruins on April 4 and McDonagh scored the game winner, his first of the season against the Devils in the last game of the season. I know in the mind of fans, the defense on this team is the last thing we have to worry about, plus any mistakes that the defense may make are usually bailed out by Henrik Lundqvist in net. The Rangers last season were one of seven teams to give up less than 200 goals. Leave it to the national media to make up reasons to put a team down.

You know whats scary? Watching the THN video preview of the Rangers season. It's the first time I've ever seen them talk positively about the Rangers in quite a long time.

Enough already...

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours... you know that the KHL team Lokomotiv Yaroslavl was involved in the plane crash yesterday in Russia killing all but 2 aboard as of this writing. We all know and read the statements and tweets that were put out yesterday by teams and players and I'm not going to re-hash every little thing that was said and done yesterday. It truly is unfathomable that one sport could be exposed to so much tragedy in the 3 short months since the Cup Finals. I could only hope the NHL does the right thing by somehow honoring all those who have passed on.

What does Brad Richards have to do to live up to the contract??

If you took out Lebron James in the above Nike commercial after he signed with the Miami Heat and replaced him for Brad Richards after he just signed his monster deal in New York, there would be very little difference in the commercials message. Give Richards a chance to show what he can do for the Rangers to push this team closer to a title, perhaps closer than Lebron James did in Miami last season.

Rangers season preview part one

This is my first installment of a three part series previewing the upcoming season. This entry focuses solely on the Rangers roster before zooming out and going over the division and finally the conference and predictions.

Imagine what could have potentially happened if the Rangers could just stay healthy last season. Losing Drury and Gaborik in the first week, Prospal, who wasn't ready for half of the season. Callahan was out twice for long periods, Biron getting hurt in practice forcing Lundqvist to play way more than he should have down the stretch. It was just one injury after another. Lets imagine for the sake of this article that the Rangers top 9 play 70+ games and we'll assume the same stats from last season. If the younger guys like Stepan (45 points), Anisimov (44 points) can crack 50 points and Zuccarello (23 points) improves from last year, nothing drastic. That potentially buys the Rangers 2-3 wins that they didn't have last season. Now with the addition of a first line center in Brad Richards and assuming that he gels with Gaborik and Gabby can score 40 goals like he is capable of doing that's another 3-4 additional wins that they did not have last year. Adding in Brad Richards and a potential 70-80 point season, the Rangers are at the top of the conference right? Sure looks good on paper. Barring sophomore slumps from Stepan and Zuccarello, the Rangers look very deep this season.

Potential top 6 line combinations are endless. If neither Wolski nor Zuccarello work out on the top line, Dubi moves up with Gabby and Richards and look for Wolski or Zuccarello to be moved before the trade deadline and one of the Connecticut kids called up. Chris Thomas i'm looking at specifically here. I expect Torts to have a quick hook on both players especially if the Rangers are in contention around deadline time. I would love to see Stepan with Callahan extensively at some point. Regarding Stepan, I'm curious to see if Torts gives Stepan time on the wing. We all know about Stepan's horrible faceoff percentage from last season and I don't think he's suited for third line duty on this team. After all, Dubinsky moved to wing last season and thrived. Hopefully the same can happen for Stepan as well if that does happen.

As for bottom 6, the fourth line is basically written in stone with Prust-Boyle-Fedotenko. As for the third line, lets just say its going to be interesting watching Avery and Rupp on the same line together.

There isn't much that needs to be said regarding the Rangers defensive corps. Staal-Girardi, Sauer-McDonagh, Del Zotto-Erixon with Eminger back as the seventh defenseman. If Del Zotto continues to stuggle as he did last season, I wonder how long it takes before they send him to Hartford. Pavel Valentenko will get a long look at training camp and compete with Erixon for the final spot with the loser likely being the first injury call-up. If 2010 first round pick Dylan McIlrath impresses in camp do the Rangers give him a call-up in the middle of the season just to see what he can do?

Do we need to say anything about the goaltending? Hank and Biron are probably the best 1-2 in the league. Canucks Luongo-Schneider and Sabres Miller-Enroth aren't far behind either.

Next week we take a look at the rest of the Atlantic division.