Rangers recap

I have not posted about the Rangers-Caps series at all. As hectic as high school sports are right now, I have just not had the time nor the inclination. Suffice to say this. Coach John Tortorella is the biggest reason the New York Rangers made the playoffs. And with the upstart Blueshirts ahead 3 games to 1, Coach John Tortorella is the biggest reason I had to watch Pittsburgh playing Washington in the first game of the second round this afternoon. Between benching Sean Avery for Game 5, benching Colton Orr for Game 6, and being stupid enough to squirt water at the Capital (lowercase) fans in Game, thus getting him suspended for Game 6.

I was completely unexcited for Game 7, which for me is crazy. The Rangers did not show up for Games 5 or 6 and it was completely disheartening for me and every Rangers fan. And Game 7 was incredible. The Rangers outplayed the Caps for 40 of 60 minutes. But as we've seen all year, there is no go-to goal scorer on this team. And with the score tied 1-1, the Rangers had so many chances in the second and could not get the puck in the net. And then Sergei Fedorov kills the season with five minutes left in the third.

So now we have to look ahead. This team is in salary cap hell. As I remember, the UFA's are Morris, Mara, Betts, Orr, and Antropov. The RFA's who will get some raises are Dubinsky, Callahan, Korpikoski, Zherdev, and Potter. They have to re-sign Dubi and Callahan, who are restricted free agents. For UFA's, I let Morris and his 4 m go right now. Antropov, I would keep for 2.5 m per or less, he earned 2 m this year. I want to bring back Mara since he actually has cojones. Betts is the team's best defensive forward, but I don't see him coming back. My hope is they will rid themselves of Naslund and his 4 m and Gomez and his 7 m. Also, they have to cut Rissmiller and Voros and swallow the 2 m they wasted on them. Redden, sadly, is going nowhere and I don't want to lose Drury. Let's play Stay or Go.

GM Glen Sather: Will Stay, but I wish James Dolan would wake up and get him out.
Coach Torts: Stay
Henrik Lundqvist: Stay
Steve Valiquette: Stay
Chris Drury: Stay
Markus Naslund: Go
Scott Gomez: Go
Aaron Voros: Go
Blair Betts: Go
Colton Orr: Stay
Brandon Dubinsky: Stay
Ryan Callahan: Stay
Fred Sjostrom: Stay
Lauri Korpikoski: Stay
Nik Antropov: Stay
Niklai Zherdev: Go
Sean Avery: Stay
Wade Redden: Go
Dan Girardi: Stay
Marc Staal: Stay
Derek Morris: Go
Michal Rozsival: Stay
Paul Mara: Stay

As for acquisitions next year, I can't expect more than two or three new players. Some possible scorers on the market include Gaborik, Havlat, Cammalleri, Hossa, Gionta, Afinogenov, Tanguay, Kotalik, and Cole. For a reasonable price, I could see the Rangers getting Afinogenov, who of course killed us in Game 5 three years ago. I don't know what will be brought in or more importantly, what can be brought in, but Sather has to realize that while this team has an outstanding goalie and a solid defense, they need offense in the worst way. Not to mention size and speed.