Dawes Demoted

According to Sam Weinman at the Rangers Report the Rangers have sent Nigel Dawes down to Hartford and have called up Greg Moore, who will skate on a line with Chris Drury and Peter Prucha…

“Nigel Dawes was indeed sent down to Hartford despite having the second highest goal total (four) on the team. As was the case last year, when Dawes started in the NHL before being returned to the minors, he still hasn’t made enough progress with his play away from the puck. While Dawes clearly has NHL-caliber offensive skills, the Rangers may be sending him a message that there needs to be more than that for him to stick around…”

The Rangers commented on the move by saying…

“…‘It was more geared toward Nigel understanding the consistency and standard that we have to play at here, especially for a young fella like that who has terrific offensive attributes. He has to be involved at that part of the game. Having said that, there’s a level of consistency and standard he has to meet off the puck and it happens to a lot of young players. Some guys are up four or five times before they nail it. But I think Nigel Dawes is an NHL player.’…”

…not sure I understand this move. The Rangers can’t score and they send down the third leading scorer.

…this isn’t much of a message. I bigger message would be sitting Drury, who has been struggling and critical of himself (quote also from Weinman)…

“…‘When you’re on the ice as much as I play, I think all signs point toward that. You better chip in,’ he said. ‘I think it’s a little bit of everything.’…”