NEW YORK, NY – The 2009 NHL Entry Draft is completed and the free agency season is over its frenzied activity. The draft was a success for the New York Rangers but free agency has left many scratching their heads. With the 19th pick in the first round of the entry draft the Rangers chose forward Chris Kreider, a Boston native. Kreider is 18 and is on track to skate with Boston College beginning in 2010. He is enrolled in Andover Academy in Massachusetts and has only just completed his junior year so the Rangers were picking for the future. At 6’2″, 201 pounds, Kreider is a lot to look forward to for the Rangers. In addition to Kreider, the Rangers selected Ethan Werek, Ryan Bourque, Roman Horak, Scott Stajcer, Daniel Maggio, and Mikhail Pashnin. Each of the selections requires some continued seasoning and their ages suggest the Rangers are looking to the future rather than a quick fix on Broadway. That’s a good thing because the Rangers went shopping in the free agent market again this season. The big move was early and needed. The Rangers traded Scott Gomez, his lethargic play and hefty salary cap hit to the Montreal Candiens. In the 6-player exchange, New York acquired Chris Higgins who had an off year in 2008-09. Higgins, 26, is a New York native and is looking forward to coming home to play in front of friends and family. Last season, injuries limited his playing time to 57 games for the Habs. Gomez’ departure was just the first of the big moves for Rangers General Manager Glen Sather. With the waving of sufficient cash, Mario Gaborik, late of the Minnesota Wild, signed a deal to skate for the Rangers. Gaborik has been moody and unproductive of late and the change of scenery is viewed as a good thing for the talented and speedy forward. His scoring touch, even in a bad year, would exceed anything Gomez produced on Broadway. The head scratching really came with the signing of Donald Brashear who will ply his pugilistic trade in New York rather than the younger, more talented and less vicious Colton Orr. Orr left via free agency for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ranger fans and Blair Betts will recall that Brashear once leveled Betts in a game and left him with a broken orbital socket. Captain Chris Drury has seemingly survived the purge on Broadway as has defenseman Wade Redden, though for Redden it may be a case of not finding anyone who is willing to take on his high salary and poor overall effort. For Drury there is survival and indeed maybe some thriving in the future. With Higgins and Gaborik in the fold the Rangers have the promise of more offense. Though “promises” have been broken all too often in the past. The salary cap space freed up by Gomez’ departure has permitted Sather the luxury of spending that cash. Ales Kotalik was signed away from the Edmonton Oilers, Brian Boyle bolted from the Los Angeles Kings, and Corey Locke followed Gaborik out of Minnesota. One more head scratcher for the New York fans was the signing of Tyler Arnason from the Colorado Avalanche. Arnason picked five goals and 17 assists in 71 games for the Avs last season. Those were average for a player on a bad team. Boyle, 24, is listed at 6’7″ and 252 pounds. He skated in 28 games for the LA Kings last season and picked up four goals and an assist. With the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, Boyle registered 31 goals and 62 points in 71 games in the 2007-08 season. After six seasons in Buffalo, Kotalik was traded to the Oilers in March. The move did not keep him from reaching the 20-goal mark this season. The native of the Czech Republic is a strong skater and hardworking player according to Sather. Those are qualities the Rangers always seem to lack. So where does all of this leave the Rangers for 2009-2010? With cap space freed up, the Rangers have added moody, talented, hardworking players. What they lost was a lethargic, talented player. They gained size and some youth and speed. They also added a shadow to watch over the offensive players in an effort to give them more room on the ice to work their passes and scoring touches. The coming season will be another redrafting of the Blueshirt roster. Time will tell if this shuffling will pay dividends in a post season run. Final Grade: B+ Contact lm.davis@prohockeynews.com .
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