From Sam Weinman at the Rangers Report...
- The word out of Phoenix on Fred Sjostrom is he has been used by Wayne Gretzky mostly in a defensive role. He has good speed and some offensive ability, and was a popular guy in the Coyotes dressing room (including with reporters). I suspect he’ll be used on the fourth line to start, but we’ll see where that goes.
- Josh Gratton was the Coyotes’ enforcer for most of last season, but broke his finger during training camp and was eventually buried in San Antonio.
- In hindsight, Marcel Hossa’s sudden return rom Hartford in time for Sunday’s game was a classic example of a player being showcased.
- The Rangers indeed also got a conditional pick out of the Phoenix deal.
Steve Zipay at Blue Notes says...
- Sjostrom, 24, is a right wing, former 11th overall pick, and should fit in well for Marcel Hossa. Not a scorer, 6-17-29 in 05-06; 9-9-18 in 06-07; Gratton is an enforcer, with 188 penalty minutes in 52 games in Phoenix in 06-07. I expect Leneveau to be in Hartford.
- Montoya's days were numbered when Henrik Lundqvist was signed to a long-term deal.He's been inconsistent and injury-prone in Hartford, and the rise of Miika Wiikman had bumped him to No. 2.
- Marcel Hossa's effectiveness has been restricted by a bad back. He was 1-7-8 in 36 games.
- Backman had been placed on injured reserve in early February with a cracked bone in his left foot, which he sustained while blocking a shot in a win over. Anaheim. He was 1-9-10 in 45 games.
...so let me get this straight we just traded for an over-priced defenseman, 3 million this year and next year (thanks for the info bpette), who was on injured reserve earlier this month with a cracked bone in his foot. Nice.
...and in our other trade, we traded our one-time goalie of the future and Hossa (who looked good the other night) for a goalie of lesser talent, a goon and 2001 first rounder who Phoenix was trying to turn into a defensive forward. Double nice.
...to me neither of these trades make much sense. With Backman, we now have an average at best defenseman on our payroll at 3 million next year giving us less room to bring in top talent in the off-season. And unless Sjostrom regains the skills that made him an 11th overall pick, we just traded a valuable penalty killer and someone I thought would be effective on the fourth line in Hossa along with Montoya for nothing. Awesome job Sather.
5 comments:
BACKMAN is under contract next year for 2.5 million and then is an UFA....He is 28 yrs old and looks like will replace MAra or Malik next year.
Sjosortm, Gratton, and Leneveu are all Restriced Free Agents at the end of the year.
I think you should do some more research on Sjostrom. Everything I have read about the guy is positive. While he was a former 1st rounder, he has developed into a nice 3rd line guy, who apparently hustles his you-know-what off. While I think the Rangers might have panicked with Montoya and traded him him at his lowest value instead of hoping he regains his form, the truth is that he had regressed in each of his last two seasons. This seems like a trade of former 1st rounders who could blossom in a new environment.
As for Backman, I feel like he might be an insurance policy for the time being while Mara is out and also if it takes Mara a while to get back into a groove. He seems like an above average, stay at home Defenceman, who should effectively end Marek Malik's tenure at season's end.
I am not going to rush to judgement, but Sjorotrom sounds like another Peter Prucha, all hustle no goals...However he is bigger than Prucha....lets see if he can shine under the bright lights of NYC and MSG.
I've done enough research on him to know that he's not living up to his potential. And a nice third line guy on Phoenix isn't impressing me. Like Fleisch14 says sounds like another Prucha. Which we don't need. Having said that, he's a Ranger and I'm going to root like heck for the guy.
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