The Dark Ranger: It's Going To Be A Fun Filled Free-Agent Frenzy

Bio of TDR

TDR is a working professional in entertainment and is obsessed with the game of hockey. More four years ago, this site emerged as a means (or an outlet) to tell some truth'isms about the game post-lockout, rather than the crud fed to us through knuckleheads like Jimmy Dolan and his lemmings universe. Today, there are a hundred Rangers sites and is thankful and grateful to all those that have come after him, but honorable thanks go to his fellow Dark-writers, Graying Mantis and J_Undisputed. And "Let's Go Rangers!"

Bio of Graying Mantis

Graying Mantis is in fact a graying legal practitioner by day (and sometimes, alas, by night). In the cobwebs of his memory, he recalls starting to follow the Blueshirts in 1970 and remembers watching pivotal playoff games against the Blackhawks on a snow-covered Hartford t.v. channel in their 1972 march to the Finals. Giacomin, Gilbert, Ratelle, and Hadfield seen skating on a small B&W TV screens always will be among his first Ranger memories. He is grateful beyond words for the opportunity to work with his colleagues here in their never ending battle to inform and entertain. Most of all, he appreciates the chance to engage with fellow hockey fans.

Bio of J_Undisputed

"J_Undisputed is an Information Tech Professional; a student, and on and off in his dreams, Mike Richter. He caught his first glimpse of Rangers Hockey when an overtime preempted his favorite pro wrestling broadcast on WWOR-9 one late saturday night when he was 5 and he's been hooked ever since. He's been watching the Rangers for 30 years despite family attempts to make him an Islander Fan (Rest easy...they're out of the will). What started as a minor annoyance has become a life long passion (and at times, a frustration...But he wouldn't trade it for anything). Lets Go Rangers!"

Bio of General Ganz

General Ganz is a cynical yet well-informed student of the human spirit. He's a professional of sorts, with a post-graduate education, some experience working in real companies, and some limited athletic ability. The total small package. He got picked on a fair bit as a kid, and he experienced his first human-non-relation kiss in his teens. He also grew up on the other side of the tracks, thereby helping to cultivate a healthy contempt for dreamers and optimists whose rosy upbringing gave them something to smile about, even when "life produced lemons." Like it or not, his only mission is to point out the potholes you're lucky enough to miss on your drive to work. To find the blemish on your daughter's carefully-stitched (and not-yet-paid-for) wedding dress. To take that little smidgen of hope that your favorite hockey teams fill you with, and pour orange paint on it. Oh, and he is a Blueshirts fan, and takes most of his fashion direction from Ron Duguay (whose name he dropped as a way to close the deal on that first kiss).

Thursday, June 18, 2009

It's Going To Be A Fun Filled Free-Agent Frenzy

Here's my list of the notable free-agents that will become available less than two-weeks away --- we all know what the Rangers are currently lacking and free agency is the perfect destination to find those missing pieces (albeit our missing salary cap space). The full list of free agents is much greater than my list, so I excluded a number of players that are virtually guaranteed a spot on their current roster (i.e. Callahan, Dubinsky). One thing is for sure --- I think we are all done talking about where and who Forsberg is going to play for! Ouch...my heel!

Whoever said the off-season was boring in hockey? I think these are exciting times with the draft happening this week, free agency a blink away, and, next thing you know it, our boys are in a military camp swimming laps across the Hudson. I suppose Torts will send our boys somewhere else than West Point!!? Either way, enjoy the list below -- hope is upon us. (I also hope they leave Wade Redden and his contract in Hartford at the beginning of the season).

Here goes nothing...I have bolded players that will probably be on Slats radar:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
ATLANTA THRASHERS
F Eric Perrin
F Marty Reasoner

BOSTON BRUINS
F PJ Axelsson
F Mark Recchi
F Stephane Yelle
D Shane Hnidy
D Steve Montador
G Manny Fernandez

BUFFALO SABRES
F Maxim Afinogenov
F Dominic Moore
F Andrew Peters
D Teppo Numminen
D Jaroslav Spacek
G Mikael Tellqvist

CAROLINA HURRICANES
F Ryan Bayda
F Erik Cole
F Chad LaRose
D Dennis Seidenberg
D David Tanabe

FLORIDA PANTHERS
F Radek Dvorak
F Ville Peltonen
F Richard Zednik
D Karlis Skrastins
D Jay Bouwmeester
D Nick Boynton
D Jason Cullimore
G Craig Anderson

MONTREAL CANADIENS
F Saku Koivu
F Tom Kostopoulos
F Alex Kovalev
F Robert Lang
F Alex Tanguay
F/D Mathieu Dandenault
D Francis Bouillon
D Patrice Brisebois
D Mike Komisarek
D Mathieu Schneider

NEW JERSEY DEVILS
F Brian Gionta
F Bobby Holik
F John Madden
F Michael Rupp
F Brendan Shanahan
D Johnny Oduya
D Niclas Havelid
G Scott Clemmensen
G Kevin Weekes

NEW YORK ISLANDERS
F Dean McAmmond
F Mike Sillinger
F Andy Hilbert
G Yann Danis
G Joey MacDonald

NEW YORK RANGERS
F Nik Antropov
F Blair Betts
F Colton Orr
D Paul Mara
D Derek Morris

OTTAWA SENATORS
F Mike Comrie
F Chris Neil

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
F Mike Knuble
D Andrew Alberts
G Martin Biron
G Antero Niittymaki

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
F Craig Adams
F Ruslan Fedotenko
F Bill Guerin
F Miroslav Satan
F Petr Sykora
D Philippe Boucher
D Hal Gill
D Rob Scuderi
G Mathieu Garon

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
D Marek Malik

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
F Boyd Devereaux
F Brad May
G Martin Gerber
G Curtis Joseph
G Olaf Kolzig

WASHINGTON CAPITALS
F Donald Brashear
F Sergei Fedorov
F Viktor Kozlov
G Brent Johnson

WESTERN CONFERENCE

ANAHEIM DUCKS
F Todd Marchant
F Rob Niedermayer
D Francois Beauchemin
D Bret Hedican
D Scott Niedermayer

CALGARY FLAMES
F Todd Bertuzzi
F Mike Cammalleri
F Jamie Lundmark
F Andre Roy
D Adrian Aucoin
D Jordan Leopold
D Andrew Pardy
D Rhett Warrener

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS
F Martin Havlat
F Samuel Pahlsson
D Matt Walker
G Nikolai Khabibulin

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS
F Chris Gratton
F Manny Malholtra
F Michael Peca
F Jason Williams
D Christian Backman
G Wade Dubielewicz
G Fredrik Norrena

COLORADO AVALANCHE
F Tyler Arnason
F Ben Guite
F Ian Laperriere
F Joe Sakic
D Daniel Tjarnqvist
G Andrew Raycroft

DALLAS STARS
F Steve Begin
F Jere Lehtinen
F Brendan Morrison
F Mark Parrish
D Darryl Sydor
D Sergei Zubov

DETROIT RED WINGS
F Marian Hossa
F Darren McCarty
F Mikael Samuelsson
D Chris Chelios
G Ty Conklin

EDMONTON OILERS
F Ales Kotalik
G Dwayne Roloson

LOS ANGELES KINGS
F Derek Armstrong
F Kyle Calder
D Denis Gauthier

MINNESOTA WILD
F Marian Gaborik
F Stephane Veilleux
D Marc-Andre Bergeron
D Kurtis Foster
D Martin Skoula

NASHVILLE PREDATORS
F Radek Bonk
F Vernon Fiddler
F Scott Nichol
F Steve Sullivan
F Joel Ward
D Greg de Vries
D Ville Koistinen
D Greg Zanon

PHOENIX COYOTES
F Brian McGrattan
F Steve Reinprecht
D Dmitri Kalinin
D Ken Klee

SAN JOSE SHARKS
F Mike Grier
F Travis Moen
F Jeremy Roenick
D Rob Blake
D Kent Huskins
G Brian Boucher

ST. LOUIS BLUES
F Dan Hinote
F Keith Tkachuk
F Brad Winchester
G Manny Legace

VANCOUVER CANUCKS
F Taylor Pyatt
F Daniel Sedin
F Henrik Sedin
F Mats Sundin
D Mattias Ohlund
D Ossi Vaananen
G Jason Labarbera
G Curtis Sanford

Who do you like?

tdr

4 comments:

RudyJun 19, 2009 06:28 AM
No idea how this teams cap will be finagled in order to sign any one of these guys. Its pretty apparent that in this NHL, that one or two bad contracts can hinder your teams ability to compete for a half a decade. Unfortunately we have 4 really bad contracts. (Drury,Gomez, Redden, and Rosival). Dont know where they could come up with any sort of relief.

We already know we need a lights out scorer. Hossa and Gaborik fit the bill, but at what cost? I see the Rangers more in the market for a mid level guy ala Havlat or Tanguay. On defense, they could use a big, gritty stay at home type, i like Komisarek. But again, the cap will be the issue.
ReplyDelete
The Dark RangerJun 19, 2009 10:45 AM
Isn't life a bitch, Rudy?

It's hard not to get frustrated with the decisions made, but relief is on the way. Maybe since there is very little cap room, this franchise will finally be forced to realize the future lies in it's youth. If they are smart enough to dump Redden's contract in Hartford, essentially eating the bad deal, there will probably be one to two significant free agents signings - as Naslund was kind enough to free up a good portion of salary cap space, that might have otherwise been automatically going to him in his second year as a Ranger. I just wish Slats and Co. would just sign Callahan and Dubie and get those guys in the system, rather than making them wait. It's like a poker game....don't you keep the kings and aces and draw-out the 2's and 3's?

Torts will be involved. He'll get us that big D-man we've been waiting for (for 10 years), but I think he'll concentrate on quick 3-period playing forwards that will move the puck like he likes it.

We might be surprised come July 1. Cross fingers...

tdr
ReplyDelete
BrianJun 21, 2009 10:58 AM
I would be very happy with a Mike Cammalleri signing...He has quietly become a top offensive player and hasn't been recognized nationally because he plays in Calgary and there is that Iginla guy there.

Redden should be buried in Hartford. Cablevision can afford to do that, and maybe he won't show up and we can suspend or even terminate his contract.
ReplyDelete
The Dark RangerJun 22, 2009 10:30 AM
I'd like Camm in NY...this rumor stuff is fabulous. You want to believe everything you hear...the latest with ESPN calling for a straight trade with Chicago -- campbell for rozsival. THAT....would never happen.

tdr
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