Langenbrunner scratched, trade in works???

Word has come down over Twitter that Jamie Langenbrunner is a scratch tonight against the Flyers. The Devil captain who came over from the Stars along with Joe Nieuwendyk in a trade for former Cup hero Jason Arnott and Randy McKay helped lead the franchise to its third Stanley Cup in 2003- stunning the hockey world by upsetting Ottawa in a great Conference Final before taking the Mighty Ducks in seven games.

Langenbrunner teamed with John Madden and Jay Pandolfo to form the top checking line in the game, stifling opponents' best while also contributing offensively. Though none of the trio won the Conn Smythe which was rewarded to losing netminder Jean-Sebastien Giguere, any of the three easily could've won it for their outstanding play. Perhaps a boat load of candidates that included Martin Brodeur, Scott Niedermayer and Scott Stevens worked against the best T-E-A-M, which better explains why Giguere won it. However, it doesn't take away from what made that Devil team so special- only further illustrating why they overcame the odds to lift Lord Stanley for great coach Pat Burns.

It's already been almost a decade since Lou Lamoriello pulled the trigger on the deal which turned his team into one of the NHL's best during this era. Langenbrunner has been an integral part of a run that's seen the Devils qualify for the playoffs 13 consecutive times. He's filled whatever role needed. Whether as a top checker, penalty killer or a scorer teaming alongside Travis Zajac and Zach Parise to form ZZ Popps, the 35 year-old two-time Cup winner has been a good Devil. Even if controversy has surrounded him since last year baffling our chief New Jersey resident Hasan, he'll arguably go down as a better No.15 than recently fired coach John MacLean.

If this is indeed it for Langenbrunner's time in Jersey, he should be remembered for all the good things he did to help make the Devils one of the best teams on the ice.

Girardi might be on move (UPDATED)

As of this morning, defenseman Dan Girardi remains a Ranger. Whether or not that changes remains to be seen. Yesterday, he was held out of practice and didn't make the trip to Ottawa for tonight's first game out of the Olympic Break. UPDATE: Girardi is in Ottawa and likely will play with both Del Zotto and Gaborik sitting out. He still could be traded with Florida a possible destination with the Rangers interested in David Booth. Our sincere apologies for any confusion!

Rumors first surfaced he could be on the move prior to the roster freeze with the Panthers a possible destination. Last night, there was talk that Glen Sather was in discussions with the Sharks. Girardi is in the final year of his contract earning $1.6 million this season (1.55 cap hit). He'll become a Group II free agent on July 1 and will be due a significant raise which could be in the $3 million range. With other defensemen in play for the club's future, that along with a list of possible replacements could be enough reason to consider trading him. In the event he doesn't re-sign, the Blueshirts would lose him for nothing.


In his fourth season, the 25 year-old Welland, Ontario native who signed as a free agent with the club on July 1, 2006, has been a solid citizen working his way into the top four on the Ranger blueline. As a rookie, he effectively worked with Fedor Tyutin while Marek Malik teamed with lone holdover Michal Rozsival, supplying the club with enough balance to have Buffalo on the ropes before Chris Drury bailed them out.
Fast forward three years later and Girardi has evolved into a steady partner for Marc Staal, who when needed are utilized by John Tortorella as a shutdown tandem. Granted, he's probably better suited as a four or five. But this is the Rangers, who are desperate to dump waste Wade Redden to Edmonton for injury risk Sheldon Souray. Then there's Rozsival, who's game has come together lately but the $5 million price tag will be a tough sell.

With the organization again recalling Corey Potter, it could mean either Mike Del Zotto isn't ready or Girardi's a goner. Factor in Matt Gilroy and Bobby Sanguinetti, who could make it possible for the club to revamp the back end. For a frustrated Ranger fan who's seen Ilkka Heikkinen and Mike Sauer jerked around, the look could've been much different. But given the hefty salaries along with Slats' huge ego, they didn't have any maneuverability. Typical.

If Girardi goes, the question is what for? What exactly is Sather planning? Our D isn't good to begin with. The big picture is moving forward instead of backwards, which is why I'm not crazy about acquiring Souray. Even if his $4.5 M comes off a couple of years from now. I could care less about making the playoffs. Trades like the deals for Nik Antropov and Derek Morris were useless because he wasted assets for rentals.

That can't happen this time. If there's a deal to be had, it has to be with the future in mind. Otherwise, we're stuck in neutral. Don't hold your breath.

Deadline heating up

One day later with the roster freeze lifted, teams are already quick to make moves. Especially with the chaotic 3 PM Wednesday deadline. There's already been a couple of noteworthy deals.

1.The Pens  acquired D Jordan Leopold from the Panthers for a 2011 2nd Rd pick, bolstering their blueline.

2.The Predators picked up D Denis Grebeshkov from the Oilers for a 2010 2nd rounder. Most expect Nashville to unload future UFA Dan Hamhuis.As for Edmonton, they're in discussions with the Rangers revolving around Sheldon Souray and Wade "Tinman" Redden. The 32 year-old Souray is still hurt and has two years left at $4.5 million per. Tho I'm no fan of his, if Slats can unload one cap headache, fine. But what else would be involved?

Also see the Isles and Jackets swung a "blockbuster" swapping Greg Moore for former Ranger draft pick Dylan Reese.

Other moves of interest included Calgary inexplicably re-signing Matt Stajan for four years at $3.5 per. Yikes. He's a nice player but come on. Likewise, Dallas re-signed Avery clone Steve Ott for four years, $11.8 M. Uh. Almost three million for him? Woh.

A couple of days ago, Glen Sather predictably claimed vet backup Alex Auld from Dallas. So much for Chad Johnson getting to stay up. Typical. In other Battle news, the troubled career of Rick DiPietro is once again in limbo with the career Islander out indefinitely due to knee swelling...Just hot off the press...David Freeman steps down as Nashville Predators chairman. Why exactly remains a question.

And finally, today February 28, 2011 has already been declared National Hate Sidney Crosby Day. Over 27,000 34,000 are already confirmed. We might be the only non-Canadian/Pen fan not to.

Stars acquire Lehtonen, Turco Era about to close

Earlier tonight, the rumors that Kari Lehtonen would be coming to Big D finally came to fruition. The Stars acquired the oft-injured Finnish goalie from Atlanta for D prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy and a 2010 fourth round pick. Full credit to Atlanta writer Chris Vivlamore on breaking the story over on Twitter.

As he also noted in a story for AJC, the 26 year-old Lehtonen who Atlanta tabbed with their '02 No.1 pick (2nd overall) was the franchise's all-time leader in wins (94), games played (204) and shutouts (14). In '06-07, he won a career best 34 games in 68 appearances, posting a 2.79 GAA, .912 save percentage and four shutouts helping the Thrashers to their only postseason. However, it was brief as they were swept by the Rangers. Since the breakout season, he's struggled with injuries including back surgery during preseason which sidelined him until a late January conditioning stint in the AHL. With Hotlanta having Johan Hedberg and Ondrej Pavelec, he became the odd man out.

“As the season went on, we had two guys that proved they were capable of carrying the load,” GM Don Waddell explained while also adding,. “ … One hundred percent (Hedberg and Pavelec) are doing a good job for us.”

Vivlamore also notes that combined with the blockbuster trade that sent Ilya Kovalchuk to the Devils, there are only four members left from that playoff team (Hedberg, Slava Kozlov, Jim Slater and Eric Boulton).
While the Thrashers revamp with Niclas Bergfors, Johnny Oduya, Patrice Cormier and Vishnevskiy, it looks like the end of the Marty Turco Era in Dallas.

For almost a decade, the unpredictable yet fun netminder has been with career Star Mike Modano the face of the franchise. The 34 year-old who Dallas selected in the fifth round back in 1994 out of the University of Michigan has had a stellar career establishing franchise marks for games (498), victories (257), shutouts (39), minutes played (28,456) and assists with all three coming this season, which speaks to his uncanny nature to keep play moving turning defense into offense.

Turco supplanted Cup-winning netminder Ed Belfour after sharing duties. In his rookie year of '00-01, Marty posted a 13-6 record, three shutouts with a miniscule 1.90 GAA and .925 save percentage. Two years later in his first full season as starter, his 1.72 GAA became a modern NHL record which Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff broke the following season ('03-04) by posting a 1.69 GAA. That same year, Turco followed it up by getting into a career best 73 games winning over half (37) while posting a 1.98 GAA, .913 save percentage and recording a career high nine shutouts. However, he lost out on the Vezina to Devil great Martin Brodeur. Despite an impressive resume that also included a 41-win season ('05-06), Turco has never won the award. It could be argued that he could have but the same might be said for San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov, who was edged by Brodeur two years ago.

If this is it for Turco who made 37 saves in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Blackhawks, he's had a tremendous Dallas Star career guiding them to five postseasons including a Western Conference Final six-game defeat to Cup champ Detroit in '07-08. It was that Spring and a gut wrenching seven-game first round loss to Vancouver the year before in which his series record three shutouts weren't enough at least put a halt to the criticism that he couldn't perform when it counted. With Lehtonen coming and Alex Auld also still around to backup, his likely destination is Philadelphia where the Flyers could be pinning their hopes on him with Ray Emery probably requiring hip surgery.

How did his opponent Kris Versteeg, who netted the shootout winner- characterize him?

"Turco, he’s a heck of a goaltender. You don’t want to do too much in the shootout. Go down and keep it simple.”

Including tonight, Turco's appeared in 42 games posting a 17-15-10 mark with a 2.73 GAA, .911 save percentage and three shutouts. The Stars' next game is Thursday in Calgary while the Flyers are scheduled to visit the Devils in the back half of a home-and-home if it's not postponed due to the blizzard. Figure it to get played with not much chance of rescheduling due to the Olympic Break and the remaining hectic sched the rest of the way. If Marty does wind up in the City of Brotherly Love, Scott Hartnell has been mentioned as a possible return. We'll just have to wait and see.

Kovalchuk on way out, Canes/Sharks close in on deal

Well, it looks like we shouldn't have to wait too much longer on Ilya Kovalchuk. The electrifying 26 year-old Russian superstar appears to be on his way out of Hotlanta. According to TSN, Thrasher GM Don Waddell told Kovy to expect a trade very soon. Whether it's hours or days, the former 2001 No.1 overall pick who's spent his entire eight-year NHL career in Atlanta looks to be concluding that phase. If you like funny images, be sure to check out this one of the sniper looking over the prospects.

In 594 career games, Kovalchuk has scored 328 goals becoming one of the game's most explosive finishers. The list of accomplishments includes Olympic bronze ('02), Young Stars MVP ('01-02), All-Rookie Team ('01-02), Second All-Star Team along with the Rocket Richard in '03-04 (41 goals) and three All-Star appearances ('03-04, '07-08, '08-09). Along with the 328 markers, he's closing in on 300 assists with his 287 just 13 shy. Earlier this season, he reached a career milestone hitting 600 points. In 49 contests, Kovy ranks fifth in goals (31), 12th in points (58) and tied for sixth in power play goals (10). His 19 power play points and 179 shots on goal pace the Thrashers, putting him at atop five different offensive categories with his 27 helpers tied with Rich Peverley.


There are at least half a dozen clubs interested in the soon to be 27 year-old UFA this summer. Not surprisingly, LA, Chicago and the Flames lead a list that includes the Devils, Rangers, Bruins and Flyers. Does this mean the Caps have dropped out and the Pens aren't in? If they had the resources, Kovalchuk would be perfect for the Islanders, giving them a marquee attraction to help build around. Their system is loaded but given the uncertainty surrounding the arena, figure them to be on the outside. It would be a shock if the Rangers had enough to land him. We'd much rather see Slats chase a crease clearer to bolster a weak D.

If nothing happens tonight and it looks like it may hold off for the time being, at the very least, the Canes and Sharks are closing in on a deal that would send defenseman Niclas Wallin to San Jose. The 34 year-old vet has valuable Cup experience having helped Carolina win it all in 2005-06. He'd have to waive his no-trade which is likely considering he isn't in the Canes' lineup tonight versus Calgary.



Hitchcock Fired: In other news which was expected, the Blue Jackets fired coach Ken Hitchcock, who just a year ago guided the franchise to their first ever postseason. This year, it's all fallen apart under Captain Kangaroo. With little scoring and no goaltending with Steve Mason falling into the dreaded sophomore jinx, it was all too predictable. I wouldn't mind seeing John Tortorella axed given his baffling in-game decisions.

Trade Could Happen

Based on what's been said tonight by TSN's Darren Dreger and other reliable sources including Bob McKenzie on Twitter, looks like that trade between the powerless Flames and Rangers could be a go.

If you based this listless performance in which they can't even reach 20 shots about to be blanked 3-zip by the Flyers, Calgary definitely needs another shakeup. With the horn sounding and boos coming down at Pengrowth Saddledome, it's official. The first game for new Flames Ian White, Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers was epic fail. Shutout on your own home ice with just 10 shots the first two periods and only mustered eight more, making it a light night for world beater Ray Emery.

Olli Jokinen may have played his final game in Alberta, finishing with three shots and a minus-one in 15:08. Rumored 'mate Brandon Prust got 7:28. Will they finally be on the move here for Ally and Higgs? Bigger question is if it does happen, what exactly is Calgary's plan to acquire Ilya Kovalchuk? Like in Jeopardy, we should have a final answer soon.

No Deal Yet (UPDATED)

For now, there's nothing new to report. According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the deal that would send Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust to the Rangers in exchange for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik is on hold. As to why, more from McKenzie:

There are reports that Kotalik isn't prepared to waive his no-trade clause to go to Calgary but the indication is the Rangers were fully able and prepared to do this deal, but Calgary backed away at the last moment.

 It's worth noting that the Flames play the Flyers tonight in Alberta and Jokinen is in the lineup. Prust may or may not play depending on what Brent Sutter opts to do. As McKenzie alluded to, usually players about to be traded don't play which makes one wonder if this deal is kaput. Perhaps Calgary had a change of heart. But it's uncertain what's going on.

In today's NY Post, Larry Brooks reported that the original trade included Matt Gilroy with Kotalik but the Flames changed their minds and asked for Higgins.The former Hobey Baker winner has been a disappointment posting four goals and five assists with 21 penalty minutes in 51 games this season. While the 25 year-old defenseman has a respectable plus-four rating, he's struggled defensively rarely taking the body. The skating that we saw in an impressive preseason is there but the BU product hasn't been consistent, even getting sent down to Hartford earlier.

It probably doesn't help much that he plays with Wade Redden. However, it's still his first pro season making the jump from college. While younger teammate Michael Del Zotto has turned heads straight from junior, it's been more of an adjustment for Gilroy who signed a multi-year $3.5 million contract as a free agent to play with his favorite team. It would be a mistake to give up on him while dead weight (Redden and Rozsival) continue to embarrass the logo. Besides, he still has one more year to prove himself.

If the Jokinen trade is off, it would be typical. As I said earlier today, it's the Rangers. The Dolan/Slats Error has been disastrous. Anything that can go wrong will. Hopefully, we'll get some good news for once. Just don't count on it.

UPDATE: Per Darren Dreger, it sounds like the trade might still be on and could be completed after the Philly-Calgary game tonight. Whether it is or not, could something please happen so we can end the suspense? 

Rumored deal with Flames could make Jokinen Blueshirt

As was reported by many outlets last night during the Rangers' win over the Avs, they were set to make a trade with the busy Flames, who earlier yesterday finally traded much rumored Dion Phaneuf to the Maple Leafs in a seven-player extravaganza that excluded picks. A rarity in the Cap Era. More on that blockbuster later along with Brian Burke reuniting with Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

With Calgary unloading Phaneuf along with former Ranger PK fixture Freddy Sjostrom plus D prospect Keith Aulie for a package that included Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White, it allowed Darryl Sutter enough maneuverability to consider dumping Olli Jokinen on our team, who desperately lacks a No.1 center. Something Joke-inen used to qualify for. With the Blueshirts having their own headache in failure Ales Kotalik, the two sides hammered out a deal that would bring Jokinen and enforcer Brandon Prust to Broadway filling two voids in exchange for Ally and Chris Higgins.

As of late last night, the deal was on hold pending Kotalik's willingness to waive his no-trade and accept a deal back to Alberta where he spent part of last year with Edmonton before agreeing to the preposterous three-year $9 million contract that Glen Savior handed out. As we noted in our game story, Larry Brooks reported that Ally left the team after hearing that he would be dealt. The story which appeared on the NY Post's site was published before the Rangers and Avs faced off with Kotalik's teammate Higgins participating in what might have been his final game of an exasperating stint after coming over in the Scott Gomez salary dump last summer.

If the trade goes through, the Rangers would rid themselves of Kotalik, who had become the odd man out in John Tortorella's lineup. Being able to find a taker for such an insane contract would be a miracle of epic proportions. As for Higgins who has never stopped working despite a severe lack of finish (6 goals), he would be on his third team in less than a year with his contract ($2.25 million) up, giving Calgary necessary space to go after Ilya Kovalchuk.Combine that with subtracting Phaneuf's hefty $6.5 million salary along with both Stajan ($1.75 M) and Mayers ($1.4 M) turning unrestricted while White (850 K) would be an RFA and the Flames just saved a ton.

For the Blueshirts, even a 31-year old Jokinen looking on the downside would be low risk due to his $5.25 million salary coming off the books this summer. The former Panther hasn't been the same since he was traded to Phoenix, who dumped him to Calgary less than a year in. It would also be his third team in a year. Though underwhelming, his 35 points (11-24-35) would rank third behind Marian Gaborik (33-32-65) and Vinny Prospal (9-30-39). Such a deal would take heat off centers Brandon Dubinsky, Chris Drury and Artem Anisimov, allowing Jokinen to play with Gaborik. Only question is what happens to waiver bargain Erik Christensen, who's meshed well with Gabby in limited duty. With Brian Boyle anchoring the fourth line, Tortorella would have more options available, balancing things out up front for a roster that's produced only 141 goals, ranking near the bottom.

All these questions are moot until it becomes official. It's too good to be true. Don't forget this is the Rangers we're talking about.

Rangers Sign Lundquist to 1 Year Deal

Franchise goaltender, Henrik Lundquist, has agreed to a one year $4.25 Million contract. This signing ended up being a compromise for both sides - allowing the Ranger a little more cap room for this year than a long term $5 Million+ contract would have provided. It is also probably more than Lundquist would have received in arbitraton, which obviously both parties preferred to avoid. It is expected that the two sides will hammer out a long term extention after January 1, which will not effect this year's cap.

The Blueshirts can probably now avoid arbitration hearings by signing Avery and Hossa and still stay under the pre-season limit of $55.33 Million. But even under the assumption that Kasparaitis is sent to Hartford at the beginning of training camp, they will almost certainly have to shed some more salary by trading or demoting at least one more player, in order to stay below the regular season upper cap limit of $50.3 Million. The most tradable player right now is Matt Cullen, whose $2.8 Million cap hit, could do the job nicely. This is assuming that the Rangers feel that Dubinsky, Pyatt or Anisimov are ready to step up now.

Ranger Tradewinds: A Hurricane or a Bunch of Hot Air?

On another slow news day for the Rangers, I offer up this speculative tidbit.

With Carolina reportedly seeking a third line center and former Hurricane, Matt Cullen, one of the three most likely Rangers to be traded (along with Marek Malik and Paul Mara) in order to free up cap space, could Cullen be headed back to Carolina? There are no specific rumors out there (other than this one) regarding this potential trade, but depending upon the priorities of GMs Glen Sather and Jim Rutherford (who apparently is shopping a defenseman to acquire the center), it could make sense for both of them.

Sam Weinman, the Rangers beat reporter for The Journal News, expects the Rangers “to close in on something fairly soon”. However, it remains anyone’s guess as to which one of the known “somethings” is closed first.

Sather's Game: Musical Chairs or the Old Rabbit Out of the Hat Trick?

As this is my first post, I will start with a brief introduction. I’ve been a “die hard” Ranger fan long before Bruce Willis borrowed the term for his movie titles. I’m old enough to have seen Rod Gilbert on TV playing in a Rangers’ uniform, but too young to remember any of the details. The pinnacle, of course, was in 1994, but unfortunately that great triumph is fading more and more into history, so let’s move on the present.

Although today has been a slow one around the NHL and for the Rangers, the month of July so far has been a roller coaster ride for the Rangers with no end in sight. Obviously, the most exciting part of the ride has been the free-agent acquisitions of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury. Despite the hefty price tags, partially due to the precedent set earlier in the day by Philadelphia with the Briere signing, these were great acquisitions by the Rangers. They added speed, offense and defensive skills, good face-off men, leadership, character, Stanley Cup championship experience, and much more. It was tough to see Michael Nylander leave, but Scott Gomez is a great playmaker himself and a better two-way player - not to mention being seven years younger.

These two great acquisitions, however, did not come without an enormous cost, which in a sense, the Rangers will be paying off all year long. I'm talking, of course, about the deadly tight-rope walk that Glen Sather will be doing all season with the salary cap.

Before getting into the details of whom the Rangers still need to sign and for how much, it is important to take a quick look at a salary cap itself. Having looked at the salary cap rules from every angle, the simplest way to summarize it is that it is very complicated. For openers, there are different rules for the off-season than for the regular season. In the off-season, right up until opening night, a team can exceed the upper cap limit by 10%. However, many signed players, whose contracts you might never expect to count against the cap, actually do – either partially or completely. Once the season starts, teams must be below the upper cap limit, which is recalculated on a daily basis. If a team stays below the upper cap limit during the season, they can actually accrue additional cap space that can be used later in the season.

One of the more common misconceptions is that the cap value for a year is equal to the salary paid for that year. This is incorrect - the cap value for each year in a contract is the total value of the contract divided by the number of years of the contract. Therefore, neither front loading nor back loading a contract does anything to affect the cap value for each year. Another common misconception is that the bonus part of a bonus-laden contract given to a player over 35 years old does not have any cap implications. This also is not true - any bonus money that is earned by the player in the current year counts against the team's upper cap limit for the current year, but allows the team to exceed the cap by up to 7.5% for the year. However, the amount that the upper cap limit is exceeded in the current year due to this bonus, will be subtracted from team's upper cap limit for the following year - regardless of whether the player has retired. This just scratches the surface of the cap rules. For more detailed information go to: http://www.nhlscap.com/ .

Now back to the Rangers’ situation. If you ask 10 different experts on exactly where the Rangers currently stand in terms of their cap space, you will get 10 different answers. So we might as well go with Larry Brooks’ number from today, which is that the Rangers have $9 million left to sign Henrik Lundquist, Sean Avery, Marcel Hossa, and Brendan Shanahan. It’s not clear whether this number accounts for the extra two or three players needed to round out a 23 man roster, or even the $1 million or so “wiggle room” needed during the season to deal with unforeseen events. Regardless, it is clear that Rangers have left themselves with little to no chance of keeping all their players by opening night. Unless Sather can “pull a rabbit out of his hat”, at least one player (in addition to Kasparaitis), whose cap value this year is over $2 million, will have to go via trade or demotion to Hartford - or in the case of Brendan Shanahan may not be signed at all.

In order to get resolution and/or regroup for further negotiations, Avery’s, Hossa’s and Lundquist’s cases have been filed for arbitration. In Lundquist’s case it was the team that filed, partially in order to ward off any potential RFA poachers. Lundquist’s salary for this year would seem to hold the key. If he makes the $5 million or so that he is requesting, and probably deserves, it will be impossible to keep everyone. If, as Larry Brooks suggests, the Rangers actually do take Lundquist to arbitration, they will be looking for a salary in line with Cam Ward’s and Ryan Miller’s $2 million to $2.5 million. Should this happen, they might just squeeze under the cap with Avery getting about $2 million, Hossa getting about $1 million, and Shanahan getting about $2 million in base plus bonuses.

However, arbitration is a very risky business, and pissing off Avery and Lundquist could end up backfiring in the nastiest of ways. There are many possibilities, including settling all three contracts before arbitration. In the event that the Rangers can't ultimately fit under the cap, speculation is that the most likely candidates to go would be Marek Malik, Paul Mara, or Matt Cullen. This would probably be settled in training camp, depending on the readiness of their young defensemen and centers.

Needless to say, with this mess so unsettled, you can almost certainly forget about Sheldon Souray. The Rangers would practically have to move mountains in order to sign him. With the pros and cons, as well as the plus/minus involved with Souray, it's probably just as well. By the same token you can probably forget about any other free-agent signings. There's just nothing left with which to sign them.

In other Ranger news this week, to show that not every thing is in stagnation, the Rangers did manage to sign Peter Prucha to a 2 year $3.2 million deal. There is also speculation, although I haven't seen confirmation, that the Rangers signed highly touted Russian prospect Artem Anisimov to a 3 year $2.55 million deal. Despite rumors that the Rangers are going to buy out Alexei Cherepanov’s Omsk contract, so that he can play for the Rangers this year, I highly doubt that this is going to happen. By his own admission, Cherepanov is not physically ready for the daily rigors of the NHL - he needs a year to strengthen up. It would be great if he could get acclimated to playing in North America by playing this year in Hartford, which is where I think he would end up if the Rangers do miraculously get him out of Omsk this year.

The Rangers Prospects Camp recently concluded with a number of youngsters who were impressive enough to get a good look from the coaches at the Rangers upcoming training camp this year. The Prospects Camp was a difficult environment to judge exactly where each prospect stands, especially Cherepanov, who wasn't even able to play with his own equipment. There were even two Japanese cultural exchange-type players at the camp, but don't worry, they do not count against the salary cap this year. It is rumored that the only thing they were counting was how many hot dogs 6 time defending champion, Takeru Kobayashi, would eat on Nathan’s July 4th Contest (for the record - 63 in a second-place effort).

The one thing that was clear to those who observed the Prospects Camp – Marc Staal is looking more and more like the stud we all thought he would be, and it seems very likely that he will make the team this year.

I will continue to keep you posted as all these stories unfold. And fear not, future posts will not be this verbose. It's been a busy couple of weeks, and we had a lot of catching up to do.

Lightning deal Lukowich

He really became irrelevent once Rachunek signed.

Lukowich signs 3 years, $4.7 M per year.

Darren Dreger reports that Sidney Crosby is in talks with Ray Shero and the Penguins on a contract extensions, rumored to be between $7.5-9.5M per year. But Dreger reports that he may take less if Shero promises to surround him.

Brian Smolinski's deal with the Habs kills Yashin's deal there.

Edmonton, Washington maybe interested in him.

Ed Jovonovski may be being shopped around by the Coyotes. He has 4 years left on his contract. He's not crazy about it.