The Off-Season Is Upon Us (UPDATED)

It is 'The End' my dear Blueshirts. The Dark Ranger salutes the team, the fans and the hockey Gods.

We are officially on hockey hiatus and it hurts.

Aside from the tongue twister, in looking back at last summer, the entire season and our playoff run - all in all - I think it ended how we all expected it would end. Our demise in the second round was due to our lack of defense, simply. We knew it during the season and we wanted to ignore it in the playoffs. King Lundqvist kept us in the game with his amazing ability to 'step up' when needed, but even his worldly skills weren't enough to support an empty blueline. Our forwards were stifled having to play defense, much due to our Tom Renney defensive system - and our specialty units were some of the worst in the NHL.

The Rangers were overrated this season. Plain & simple, but we discovered a youth movement along the way that gives us hope for years to come. The future is looking bright, and one needs to look no further than today to see who might be available come free agency.

Let us assume for a moment that Jaromir Jagr, Brendan Shanahan, Michal Rozsival, Martin Straka, Marek Malik, Paul Mara and Jason Strudwick are all leaving the Rangers for free agency. With the additional cap, that leaves us around $19 million to play with and target until July 1. Enjoy some links regarding 'what's next?' for our dear Blueshirts here (NY Times, pursuing the guy who ended our playoff run), here (NY Daily News, outlining the hard work ahead in the off-season) , and here-(Newsday article and the salary cap discussion).

Below is a list of all available free agents this year post season. Assuming most of our free agents were to leave this summer I'd say we need a 'real goon'(and I 'aint talkin' Colton Orr), a solid offensive defenseman (thinking Brian Campbell), and a first class forward to support Scottie Gomez (think Marian Hossa).

The list is below. Tell me how to fill that $19 million of opportunity.

Discuss:

Centers - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player	Age	Team	07-08 Salary	Contract Notes
Joe Sakic	37	COL	$6,750,000
Sergei Fedorov	37	CLB	$6,080,000
Mats Sundin	36	TOR	$5,500,000
Bobby Holik	36	ATL	$4,250,000
Alexei Zhamnov	36	BOS	$4,100,000
Doug Weight	36	STL	$3,500,000
Martin Straka	34	NYR	$3,300,000
Brendan Morrison	31	VAN	$3,200,000
Craig Conroy	35	CGY	$2,850,000
Daymond Langkow	30	CGY	$2,442,000
Steve Rucchin	35	ATL	$2,400,000
Bryan Smolinski	35	MTL	$2,000,000
Sean Avery	27	NYR	$1,900,000
Vaclav Prospal	32	PHI	$1,900,000
Jason Williams	26	CHI	$1,600,000
Yanic Perreault	36	CHI	$1,500,000
Chris Gratton	31	TBL	$1,500,000
Mike Peca	33	CLB	$1,300,000
Chris Kelly	26	OTT	$1,262,000
Stephane Yelle	33	CGY	$1,250,000
Mike York	29	PHX	$1,000,000
Marty Reasoner	30	EDM	$950,000
Stu Barnes	36	DAL	$900,000
Niko Kapanen	29	PHX	$900,000
Ryan Johnson	31	STL	$800,000
Josef Vasicek	26	NYI	$750,000
Dominic Moore	26	TOR	$700,000
Curtis Brown	31	SJS	$700,000
Byron Ritchie	30	VAN	$675,000
Kevyn Adams	32	CHI	$650,000
Randy Robitaille	31	OTT	$625,000
Jaroslav Hlinka	30	COL	$600,000
Trevor Linden	37	VAN	$600,000
Patrick Rissmiller	28	SJS	$595,000
Kris Beech	26	PIT	$585,000
Mark Hartigan	29	DET	$550,000
Jason Krog	31	ATL	$500,000
Glen Metropolit	33	BOS	$500,000
Zenon Konopka	26	CLB	$500,000
Wyatt Smith	30	COL	$500,000
Jim Dowd	38	PHI	$500,000
Jeremy Roenick	37	SJS	$500,000
Andreas Karlsson	31	TBL	$500,000
Craig MacDonald	30	TBL	$500,000
Tim Taylor	38	TBL	$500,000	Retiring
Mike Glumac	27	STL	$495,000
Mark Smith	29	CGY	$488,000
Michael Ryan	27	BUF	$475,000
Krys Barch	27	DAL	$475,000
Brad Winchester	26	DAL	$475,000
John Pohl	28	TOR	$475,000

Defenseman - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player	Age	Team	07-08 Salary	Contract Notes
Wade Redden	30	OTT	$6,500,000
Rob Blake	37	LAK	$6,000,000
Adam Foote	35	COL	$4,600,000
Mattias Norstrom	35	DAL	$4,250,000
Brad Stuart	27	DET	$3,500,000
Darius Kasparaitis	34	NYR	$3,116,000
Paul Mara	27	NYR	$3,000,000
Aaron Ward	34	BOS	$2,750,000
Teppo Numminen	38	BUF	$2,600,000
Oleg Tverdovsky	31	LAK	$2,500,000
Marek Malik	32	NYR	$2,500,000
Bret Hedican	36	CAR	$2,432,000
Michal Rozsival	28	NYR	$2,300,000
Dmitri Kalinin	26	BUF	$2,250,000
Keith Carney	37	MIN	$2,100,000
Dick Tarnstrom	32	CLB	$2,000,000
Jason Smith	33	PHI	$1,976,000
Brian Campbell	28	SJS	$1,750,000
Mark Eaton	30	PIT	$1,600,000
Bryce Salvador	31	NJD	$1,500,000
Aaron Miller	35	VAN	$1,500,000
Andrei Zyuzin	29	CHI	$1,475,000
Glen Wesley	38	CAR	$1,400,000
John-Michael Liles	26	COL	$1,400,000
Karel Rachunek	27	NJD	$1,400,000
Richard Matvichuk	34	NJD	$1,368,000
Mike Commodore	27	OTT	$1,300,000
Jim Vandermeer	27	CAL	$1,225,000
Nolan Baumgartner	31	DAL	$1,200,000
Jaroslav Modry	36	PHI	$1,200,000
Petteri Nummelin	34	MIN	$1,200,000
Jan Hejda	29	CLB	$1,000,000
Andreas Lilja	31	DET	$1,000,000
Ron Hainsey	26	CLB	$900,000
Chris Chelios	45	DET	$850,000
Branislav Mezei	26	FLA	$850,000
Steve Montador	27	FLA	$800,000
Steve McCarthy	26	ATL	$725,000
Bryan Berard	30	NYI	$725,000
Kurt Sauer	26	COL	$719,000
Joe DiPenta	28	ANA	$700,000
Magnus Johansson	33	FLA	$700,000
Patrice Brisebois	36	MTL	$700,000
Alexei Semenov	26	SJS	$650,000
Sandis Ozolinsh	34	SJS	$625,000
Joel Kwiatkowski	30	ATL	$600,000
Mark Streit	29	MTL	$600,000
Matt Walker	27	STL	$600,000
Mike Weaver	29	VAN	$600,000
David Hale	26	CGY	$590,000
Nolan Pratt	31	BUF	$550,000
Rory Fitzpatrick	32	PHI	$550,000
Jassen Cullimore	34	FLA	$535,000
Alain Nasreddine	31	PIT	$535,000
Freddy Meyer	26	NYI	$525,000
Rob Davison	27	SJS	$525,000
Bobby Allen	28	BOS	$500,000
Dan Jancevski	26	DAL	$500,000
Jeff Jillson	26	COL	$500,000
Wade Brookbank	29	CAR	$500,000
Sheldon Brookbank	26	NJD	$500,000
Andrew Hutchinson	27	NYR	$500,000
Jason Strudwick	31	NYR	$500,000
Luke Richardson	38	OTT	$500,000
Micki DuPont	27	STL	$500,000
Garrett Stafford	27	DET	$500,000
Andy Wozniewski	27	TOR	$500,000
Kevin Dallman	26	LAK	$490,000
Jeff Finger	27	COL	$475,000
Allan Rourke	27	EDM	$475,000
Sean Hill	37	MIN	$475,000
Mike Mottau	29	NJD	$475,000
Matt Carkner	26	OTT	$475,000
Ryan Caldwell	26	PHX	$475,000
Brad Norton	32	SJS	$475,000
Doug Janik	27	TBL	$475,000
Bruno St. Jacques	26	ANA	$475,000

Goaltenders - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player	Age	Team	07-08 Salary	Contract Notes
Jose Theodore	30	COL	$6,000,000
Olaf Kolzig	37	WAS	$5,450,000
Cristobal Huet	31	WAS	$2,750,000
Dominik Hasek	42	DET	$2,050,000
John Grahame	31	CAR	$1,400,000
Johan Hedberg	34	ATL	$1,150,000
Johan Holmqvist	29	DAL	$1,000,000
Patrick Lalime	32	CHI	$950,000
Jocelyn Thibault	32	BUF	$760,000
Stephen Valiquette	29	NYR	$635,000
David Aebischer	29	PHX	$600,000
Alex Auld	26	BOS	$600,000
Curtis Sanford	27	VAN	$600,000
Michael Leighton	26	CAR	$550,000
Jean-Sebastien Aubin	29	ANA	$525,000
Mike Morrison	27	NJD	$525,000
Fred Brathwaite	34	ATL	$500,000
Frederic Cassivi	32	WAS	$500,000
Scott Clemmensen	29	TOR	$500,000
Ty Conklin	31	PIT	$500,000
Dan Ellis	27	NAS	$500,000
Jordan Sigalet	26	BOS	$500,000
Wade Dubielewicz	28	NYI	$500,000

Left Wingers - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player	Age	Team	07-08 Salary	Contract Notes
Markus Naslund	33	VAN	$6,000,000
Ladislav Nagy	28	LAK	$3,750,000
Sergei Samsonov	28	CAR	$3,525,000
Martin Rucinsky	36	STL	$3,000,000
Ruslan Fedotenko	28	NYI	$2,900,000
Brendan Shanahan	38	NYR	$2,500,000
Gary Roberts	41	PIT	$2,500,000
Petr Cajanek	31	STL	$2,000,000
Cory Stillman	33	OTT	$1,750,000
Andrew Brunette	33	COL	$1,600,000
Matt Cooke	28	WAS	$1,525,000
Geoff Sanderson	35	EDM	$1,500,000
Scott Thornton	36	LAK	$1,500,000
Ryan Malone	27	PIT	$1,450,000
Kristian Huselius	28	CGY	$1,400,000
Martin Gelinas	37	NAS	$1,250,000
Jarkko Ruutu	31	PIT	$1,150,000
Donald Brashear	35	WAS	$1,100,000
Jason Chimera	28	CLB	$1,000,000
Antti Miettinen	26	DAL	$885,000
Pascal Dupuis	28	PIT	$880,000
Todd Fedoruk	28	MIN	$875,000
Jay Pandolfo	32	NJD	$836,000
Jan Hlavac	30	NAS	$700,000
Niklas Hagman	27	DAL	$675,000
Jody Shelley	31	SJS	$650,000
Eric Boulton	30	ATL	$525,000
David Koci	26	CHI	$525,000
Brad Isbister	30	VAN	$525,000
Darcy Hordichuk	26	NAS	$517,000
Kip Brennan	26	NYI	$500,000
Steve Kelly	30	MIN	$500,000
Matt Murley	27	PHO	$500,000
Jeff Taffe	26	PIT	$500,000
Ryan Bayda	26	CAR	$475,000
Raitis Ivanans	28	LAK	$475,000
Chris Simon	35	MIN	$475,000
Mathias Tjarnqvist	28	PHX	$475,000
Mathieu Darche	30	TBL	$475,000
Noah Clarke	28	NJD	$475,000
Jeff Giuliano	28	LAK	$475,000

Right Wingers - Potential 2008 NHL Unrestricted Free Agents
Player	Age	Team	07-08 Salary	Contract Notes
Marian Hossa	28	PIT	$7,000,000
Pavol Demitra	32	MIN	$4,500,000
Miroslav Satan	32	NYI	$4,500,000
Michael Ryder	27	MTL	$2,950,000
Brian Rolston	34	MIN	$2,432,000
Martin Lapointe	33	OTT	$2,400,000
David Vyborny	32	CLB	$2,200,000
Owen Nolan	35	CGY	$1,750,000
Mark Recchi	39	ATL	$1,750,000
Teemu Selanne	37	ANA	$1,500,000
Georges Laraque	30	PIT	$1,300,000
Radim Vrbata	26	PHX	$1,225,000
Andre Roy	32	TBL	$1,000,000
Shean Donovan	32	OTT	$925,000
Brian Willsie	29	LAK	$900,000
Trevor Letowski	30	CAR	$800,000
Mike Johnson	32	STL	$750,000
Arron Asham	29	NJD	$700,000
Matt Bradley	29	WAS	$700,000
Branko Radivojevic	26	MIN	$680,000
Wade Belak	30	FLA	$625,000
Niko Dimitrakos	28	OTT	$575,000
Dallas Drake	38	DET	$550,000
Darren McCarty	35	DET	$535,000
Aaron Downey	32	DET	$525,000
Adam Hall	26	PIT	$525,000
Josh Langfeld	29	NAS	$500,000
Junior Lessard	27	TBL	$500,000
Jeff Hoggan	29	BOS	$495,000
Mark Mowers	33	ANA	$475,000
Darren Haydar	27	ATL	$475,000
Keith Aucoin	28	CAR	$475,000
Eric Godard	27	CGY	$475,000
Scott Parker	29	COL	$475,000
Jesse Boulerice	28	PHI	$475,000
Kyle Wanvig	26	TB	$475,000
Craig Weller	26	PHX	$475,000