Bucci On the Rangers

Switching over to hockey for a bit, wanted to go over John Buccigross's analysis of the Rangers. I disagree with Bucci when he says he does not see Marc Staal's potential. I've watched this guy closely for a while now and I do nothing but like what I see. He may never turn into a Leetch-like offensive-defenseman, but I think that his potential as a stay-at-home defensemen is much more important for the Rangers who have failed to develop a good one of these for a long time.

Regardless, I meant to post a few days ago in light of Markus Naslund's retirement freeing up a ton of cap space. Naslund saved Sather BIG TIME on that one (as he did on the Avery situation) as he seemed to have disappeared by the end of last season and took WAY too many dumb penalties. So I do blame Sather for this mess. But he can make it up to me and the rest of the Rangers fans if he can find a scorer and a point man on the power play (this should be two different people). I don't think Zherdev or Antropov are the answer, though both could be back at the right price. Naslund's signing helps out that process, but I'll let Bucci get into that in his mailbag answer (and a nice job by one of the readers going through all the recent Rangers draft failures):

 

Dear Mr. Buccigross,

I am a lifelong Rangers fan trying to find a reason. I am quickly tiring of the "it's all Glen Sather's fault" line and tried to dig for a deeper reason for our lack of depth. I searched through the Rangers' draft picks from 1998 [through] today and found that with the exception of Marc Staal in 2005, not a single one of our first-round draft picks has ever had a meaningful NHL season with the Rangers. So instead of blaming Sather or the coaching staff, should Rangers fans turn their vitriol onto the scouts? Who are these invisible men and how is it that some teams in the East, Philly, the Pens, the Devils and the Caps seem to do such a good job at it?

A more extensive listing of the Rangers' picks and players they missed out on:

Let's start in the 1998 draft:
Rangers pick seventh: Manny Malhotra (games in a Rangers uniform: 0)
Who we could've got:
Alex Tanguay (12th pick Colorado)
Simon Gagne (22nd pick Philadelphia)
Scott Gomez in his prime (27th pick Devils)
Jonathan Cheechoo (29th pick San Jose)
Brad Richards (64th pick Tampa Bay)

1999
Rangers pick Pavel Brendl fourth (GIRU: 0)
Jamie Lundmark ninth (GIRU: forgettable)
Who'd we miss:
Martin Havlat (26th)
Alex Auld (40th) \

2000
No first-round pick (traded away)

2001
Rangers pick 10th: Dan Blackburn (GIRU: a couple; retired)
Who'd we miss:
Ales Hemsky (11th)
Chuck Kobasew (14th)
R.J. Umberger (16th)

2002
No first-round pick (traded away)

2003
This is the one that really hurts the most:
Rangers pick 12th: Hugh Jessiman (GIRU: 0)
Who'd we miss:
Zach Parise (17th)
Ryan Getzlaf (19th)
Mike Richards (24th)
2004
Rangers pick sixth: Al Montoya (GIRU: 0)
Who'd we miss:
Travis Zajac (20th)
Andrej Mezsaros (23rd)
Mike Green (29th)

2005
Rangers pick 12th: Marc Staal (GIRU: our one shining moment; a whole lot of good ones)

2006
Rangers pick 20th: Bob Sanguinetti (GIRU: 0)
Who'd we miss:
Claude Giroux (21st)
Simeon Varlamov (22nd)

2007
Rangers pick 17th: Alexei Cherepanov

Thanks,
Matt
New York, N.Y.

Well, you could argue T.J. Oshie over Marc Staal in the 2005 draft. I just don't see the Staal potential Rangers fans see, but he is very young and maybe he will turn into a Nicklas Lidstrom-type player. Otherwise, that is some good work, Matt.The Rangers did get some good news when Markus Nasland announced his retirement. That is $4 million in cap savings. That helps as some of their role players (Brandon Dubinsky, Blair Betts, Ryan Callahan) will be up for raises.

One question surrounding the Rangers is their plans for Nikolai Zherdev and Nik Antropov. Zherdev will command a raise from his $2.5 million salary. Zherdev tied Scott Gomez for the team lead in regular-season points, but was held scoreless in the Rangers' seven-game series against the Capitals. He looked scared and disinterested. He is arbitration eligible and turns 25 in November. Personally, I would not sign him to a long-term deal. He has a lot of talent, but I would not trust him to be one of my high-salary players. I would look to trade him and open up more cap room.

Antropov, who just turned 29, will command $3.5-4.5 million on the open market, and someone, say the Islanders, can probably get Antropov if they slightly overpay him and convince their fan base Antropov is NOT Oleg Kvasha. This next contract will be the biggest of Antropov's career, so I'm sure he will go to the highest bidder. It looks like he has evolved into a somewhat dependable player who can be counted on for 25-30 goals. It's a tough decision. Antropov seems to disappear a bit at times, but overall I think he could live up to his contract if he can stay healthy, which has been a problem in the past.

Antropov will probably get a five-year offer at around $4.5 million a year and would probably lead the Rangers in goals next season unless they sign a 30-goal scorer over the summer. The Rangers could do a seven-year deal at $5 million for four years and $1 million for the remaining three. That would give Antropov a more than fair salary for four years and bring the cap number down to $3.3 million. I think that would be a win-win unless the Rangers make a trade or sign a Marian Hossa-type player. Unless I'm missing something, the only way the Wings can sign Hossa is if Lidstrom retires and frees up $7.4 million. But if Lidstrom were to do that and I were the Red Wings, I would look to sign Jay Bouwmeester before I would sign the 30-year-old Hossa.