Rangers Should Rebound from Shootout Letdown

It all came down to one final breakaway: Failed superstar Olli Jokinen facing failed starting goalie Brian Boucher in the final round of the final shootout of the final game of the 2009-2010 regular season for both the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers. The victor of this one showdown would clinch the last available playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The loser would be destined for an off-season of second guesses, most notably: “Why wasn’t Marian Gaborik on the ice instead of Jokinen?”

At this point, we all know what happened: Jokinen fell short in his attempt to deke out Boucher and backhand the puck into the net.

With that the Rangers, having just gone 7-1-1 in order to put themselves back in playoff contention, suffered a devastating blow. As added insult to injury, they were forced to watch those same Flyers make it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, and think about all the debauched spoils of victory they could have been enjoying given the same chance. Sorry, boys, but the hangovers you sustained were of the self-loathing variety, and justifiably so. Remember, when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ninth place just isn’t good enough.

With next season fast approaching, a much needed wave of change has transformed the Rangers from a team that just missed the playoffs into one that will most likely just barely make them. Baby steps, right? But it is nonetheless hard to deny the team’s depth this go-around. Henrik Lundqvist remains the team’s core strength and with Martin Biron signed, it has a solid one-two punch in goal.

Conversely, Jokinen is gone, but he likely only would have served as an unwanted reminder of last season and head coach John Tortorella’s boneheaded decision to not use his premier offensive weapon in Gaborik in the shootout, anyway. The Rangers instead signed former Los Angeles King Alexander Frolov, replacing one overpaid problem child (Jokinen had been making $21 million over four years) with another, but saving several million dollars in the process. You can consider this signing more or less a lateral move.

The Rangers also added enforcer Derek “The Bogeyman” Boogaard, who may end up doing a good job protecting the team’s number-one asset in Gaborik, but at what cost? Oh, yeah, $1.65 million in each of the next four years for a player whose only two goals over his five-year NHL career came in his rookie campaign with the Minnesota Wild. Some may point to this statistic as evidence that his skills have degraded over the past half-decade, but, to successfully make that argument, Boogaard would need actual skills as a hockey player to begin with and not just those of an oversized bouncer on skates.

General manager Glen Sather does get bonus marks for the Rangers’ major coup of the off-season, acquiring center Todd White for wastes of roster spaces Donald Brashear and Patrick Rissmiller. White is only one season removed from a 73-point season with the Atlanta Thrashers, and, while he should be slotted into the team’s third line, he does most definitely give it more offensive flair. Ditto for the recently acquired Tim Kennedy, who can play all three forward positions and proved to have some scoring talent with the Buffalo Sabres last year. All things being equal, New York boasts no less than 11 forwards that can be pushed into a top-six role in a pinch.

And should the incredibly overpaid Wade Redden stay with the big club, it will also have a decent (but expensive) defensive corps. That would of course be contrary to rumours that he’ll be sent down in order to save money and allow him to teach the team’s prospects how they too can make over $6.5 million each year in exchange for just showing up.

As overpaid as Redden and Michal Rozsival ($5 million) are, they’re still unfortunate upgrades over the recently acquired Steve Eminger. The 27-year-old Eminger, of course, can only lay claim to one real accomplishment over his seven-year career: prompting the need for the creation of the term “journeyboy”, with his having already played for six teams. Marc Staal, Michael Del Zotto, Matt Gilroy, and Dan Girardi round out what should amount to an underrated top six.

Really, the team’s one weakness over the past decade has been Sather himself. The Boogaard, Rozsival, and Redden contracts are irrefutable proof of this. But with the game ultimately played on the ice, the Rangers have a great shot at making the playoffs. That is, of course, only if Tortorella remembers to play Gaborik in the shootout this time around.