The Rangers Tribune

Rangers Tribune Offseason Weekly Chat #2

Come join The Rangers Tribune for its second offseason weekly chat of the summer starting at 8 p.m.! Tonight we will be discussing free agency, Brad Richards, prospects camp and any other hockey related topics you guys would like to touch on.

Tortorella Talks Drury Buyout, Free Agency, Prospects and More

Head coach John Tortorella had a scheduled meeting with the media this afternoon at the Rangers training facility. Thanks to Jesse Spector of the Daily News, we have some of the coach's quotes to share with you...

On Chris Drury's buyout: “It’s a little bit of everything. Chris and I have been very honest with each other right along the way here. Everybody knows what direction we’re trying to go in. We went with our kids. Dru – Dru’s Dru. We love the guy. We still have to make decisions for what you think is best for your hockey club. So, obviously, when you get into a situation where now there’s a buyout, we’re trying to keep ourselves flexible for the cap, to look at other things along the way. I’ll speak for myself – I wish nothing but the best for him, and I hope someday – I’ll just leave it at that. I’ll leave it at that right now. That’s just the way this works here. When you’re looking to go in a direction, we’re trying to stay with the plan here, and as Dru is going along here, we felt this is a decision we needed to make for our club.”

On July 1 (Free Agency): “It’s an important day for us, because it’s a day where you have an opportunity to improve your team. I think we’re in a situation with our club right now where I think the past couple of years, we’ve kept our assets, and we’ve developed our assets, and stayed with it here. Then there’s a point of time where you’ve to got to say okay, they’re growing, we’ve got a good solid foundation. Now you start looking at areas where you add, maybe from outside the organization – free agency, trade, whatever it may be. I think we’re there. I really like the way Glen (Sather) has stayed with it, as far as allowing us, with our kids, to grow. I think we have a really strong foundation, and we’re at a different stage of the process. July 1 certainly comes into play.”

On the prospects currently in camp: “They’ve had a good camp. You’ve got to remember that these guys, it’s the middle of June, and we’re putting them through their paces, and they’ve done a lot here the past few days. I like the way the camp’s gone. It gives us a chance to see some kids that we had in last year’s camp, even in the big camp, to see how they’ve grown, and you get to look at the kids from this year, maybe even a couple of surprises that we weren’t even sure of – that’s what you’re looking for here. As far as the work ethic and what was accomplished in this camp, it’s terrific. For June, some of these guys haven’t even been on skates – for the time of year, they’ve done a really good job.”

On starting the season in Europe: “The last two teams have won the Stanley Cup after starting in Europe. There are a number of things going on around our club as we start. With the renovations (at the Garden), Europe – I know you guys are going to talk to me about that as the season gets going, and rightfully so. They’re there. I think the key thing is, there’s a comfort, or at least there’s a knowing – I think they understand our routine, we understand their routine. They understand our camp routine, they understand our regular-season routine – games, practice schedule, pregame stuff. That’s not going to change. We just need to stay with our routine through all of this. There may be some bumps in the road. You never know what’s going to happen with the building, and you never know what’s going to happen in Europe. You’ve just got to roll with it, and stay within ourselves, and keep our focus. That’s a key thing, because there are a number of things that are going to be around our team in one year, but I think we’re going to be okay.”

Reminder: Don't forget about that live chat tonight at 8!

Jussi Jokinen Re-Signs with Carolina

Well, this year's free agency is getting more and more disinteresting in the days leading up to it as many teams have been re-signing their free agents prior to July 1 (tomorrow). The latest major re-signing in the NHL has been the Carolina Hurricanes inking winger Jussi Jokinen to a 3-year deal earlier this afternoon. Jokinen was someone I had suggested the Rangers target if they could not get Brad Richards locked up, being that the 28-year-old would bring solid production to the team on the wing. Unfortunately that's no longer possible. 

And what makes this even more depressing is that the Hurricanes were able to re-sign Jokinen for only $3 million per year. That is remarkable considering he is a proven 30-goal scorer. 

With the options dwindling down, the Rangers sights seem to be more set on Brad Richards. At this point, you can expect 91 to be Ranger property for next season. 

We'll discuss this and more in tonight's live chat at 8 p.m. here on the blog!

Rangers Re-Sign John Mitchell

The New York Rangers have announced the re-signing of forward John Mitchell, who they acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs in February at the trade deadline. Mitchell, age 26, recorded 17 points in 24 games with the Connecticut Whale of the American Hockey League last season. The deal is believed to be a one-year contract. 

I guess that puts the Blueshirts out of the Brad Richards sweepstakes......

kidding, of course. 

Reminder: Live chat right here at 8 p.m. tonight!

Thursday Ranger Reads

Here is your daily collection of morning Ranger links:

• Former Ranger buyout Bobby Holik made some comments following the news that the Blueshirts had bought out the remaining year of captain Chris Drury's contract yesterday... [Ranger Rants (Gross)]

• Buying out Drury certainly opened up some cap space for the Rangers, but they will still be working on a limited budget this summer. [Daily News (Spector)]

• The Rangers cannot afford to negotiate against themselves during free agency... [Blue Seat Blogs]

• 2010 first-round pick Dylan McIlrath has been a standout player during this week's prospect development camp. His new found confidence may be the underlying cause of that. [Newsday (Zipay)]

• The Rangers and to-be captain Ryan Callahan are apparently far apart in negotiations at the moment. I think that may change once Richards is locked in on Friday. [Sporting News]

• Speaking of Richards, he is very anxious to get the anxiety and stress that goes along with free agency behind him as soon as possible. [TSN]

• Barbara Underhill has been at the training facility helping Rangers players work on their skating stride. In this picture, she is talking with Brian Boyle and Mats Zuccarello... [Rangers Official Twitter]

• Marty Biron made a classy move when publicly wishing Drury the best yesterday... [Biron's Twitter]

• NHL legend Paul Kariya announced his retirement at the age of 36 on Wednesday... [Globe and Mail]

REMINDER: We will be holding our second live chat of the offseason tonight at 8 p.m. eastern right here on the blog! I hope to see you all then.

Not Over Yet... Drury to be Bought Out TODAY (UPDATE: It's Official)

According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, the New York Rangers will be announcing the buyout of captain Chris Drury's contract today. Due to his no movement clause, he is allowed to skip past the waiver process that we all thought he had to go through yesterday in order to be bought out.

Here's the statement Drury sent to the Post:

"It was a great honor and privilege to be a New York Ranger for the past four years, and I will always be grateful for the opportunity to fulfill that childhood dream," Drury said in a statement that was sent to The Post by e-mail. "The Rangers are a first-class organization with great people in the hockey, public relations, team services and community relations departments.

"I would also like to thank Ranger fans. They always inspired me to do the best I could in whatever role I was asked to play. Playing before them in the Garden was a thrill of a lifetime. I wish all the fans and the entire Ranger organization the best of luck in the future."

I'd like to wish Chris the best of luck wherever he goes from here. Things didn't work out for him in New York, but he is a world class athlete nonetheless. Here's an article I wrote on Drury's exit when the rumor first came out.

UPDATE (4:30pm): Andrew Gross reports that the Rangers have made the buyout official and will save $3.3 million worth of cap space. Here's GM Glen Sather's statement:

“Chris is a consummate professional, a tremendous competitor and an even better person,” GM Glen Sather said in a statement. “He gave his heart and soul to the Rangers organization in his time here and we wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

Wednesday Ranger Reads

Here is your daily collection of morning Ranger links:

• Among other topics, the Chris Drury situation is the most perplexing right now. Thankfully, someone took the time to contact the experts and clear this up for us... [Daily News (Spector)]

• Ryan Bourque talks about watching the Stanley Cup with his father, Bruins legend Ray Bourque, and also discusses himself and this year's development camp... [Ranger Rants (Andrew Gross)]

• Here's a recap of yesterday's prospect scrimmage, in which 2010 draft pick Jesper Fasth scored twice... [Blueshirts United]

• After the scrimmages concluded, apparently all of the prospects were brought to Manhattan for a tour of New York. [Rangers Official Twitter]

• The Rangers will play three preseason games before traveling to Europe. [Steve Zipay]

• This year's Hall of Fame induction class... [Rangers Report]

Rangers Don't Place Drury on Waivers, Cannot Buy Him Out

If the New York Rangers wanted to buy out the final year on captain Chris Drury's $7.05 million contract, they would have had to place the 34-year-old veteran on waivers by this afternoon. As reported by Jesse Spector on twitter, the Blueshirts have not done so and will be carrying Drury's cap hit for the remainder of the summer.

The Rangers are now expected to place Drury on long-term injured reserve come September so that his salary will not count against the cap during the regular season. Their only other option would be to place him on waivers in August and buy him out then, but that would require them to take one of their RFAs to salary arbitration.

Capitals Re-Sign Brooks Laich

According to Mike Vogel, the Washington Capitals have re-signed free agent forward Brooks Laich to a six-year, $27 million contract. Laich, age 28, was someone many Ranger fans had on their radar as a depth forward heading into free agency on Friday, but now that he has been taken off the market all eyes are on Brad Richards.

Laich had 16 goals and 32 assists in 82 regular season games played with the Caps last season. Seeing that it took a $4.5 million/year contract to keep Laich in Washington, it was probably a good thing he never hit the open market where the Rangers could have had a chance at sending an offer his way. But now you have to wonder, with Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky both better players than Laich, and younger, will they be looking for a similar paycheck?

I think it's a likely possibility so this Laich signing is going to hurt GM Glen Sather even though it does not directly affect the Blueshirts. Technically players aren't supposed to use signings from around the league as leverage in a negotiation, but I think we all know that they do anyway, and both Dubinsky and Callahan have to be licking their chops after hearing the news about Laich.

As Sather said, the Rangers are going to put off re-signing their restricted free agents for as long as they can, so we won't know the final outcome of this for quite some time. But you can guarantee that Geroge McPhee's overpayment for Laich is going to hurt the Rangers in negotiations with their own free agents, specifically Duballahan.

Tuesday Ranger Reads

Here is your daily collection of morning Ranger links:

• Brad Richards has apparently been telling those close to him that he has all intent to play in New York because this is where he wants to be. Is that because he really wants to be a Ranger or because he knows GM Glen Sather has a generous reputation when it comes to free agency? [NY Post (Brooks)]

• ...But are the Rangers and Richards really a match made in Heaven like everyone seems to be making them out to be? [FOX News]

• The Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be the only competition the Rangers will have on Friday when the Brad Richards sweepstakes truly begin. [The Hockey News]

• One last thing regarding Richards: Will his contract be worth the risk for the Blueshirts? [Blueshirt Banter]

• This may be considered stating the obvious, but the Rangers likely won't find a trading partner for defenseman Wade Redden. [Daily News (Spector)]

• Prospect forward Carl Hageling talks about the transition from college hockey to professional level hockey... [Daily News (Spector)]

• Some things/people to watch out for in this year's prospect development camp... [Blue Seat Blogs]

• The Pittsburgh Penguins took the league by surprise yesterday when they did not qualify restricted free agent Tyler Kennedy. Is Kennedy someone the Rangers may want to target as a depth forward? [Bleeding All Blue]

• Speaking of the Pens, they are expected to ink winger Jaromir Jagr to a contract before Friday... [Pittsburgh Tribune]

• Here's an interview with Rangers third-round draft pick Steven Fogarty... [SNY Rangers Blog]