Rick Carpiniello at The Rangers Report breaks down the Rangers trades from yesterday...
"In simple terms, they got better for this year, didn’t give up much of the future, and as long as they don’t re-sign either Nik Antropov or Derek Morris, they will have a little more salary cap space this summer for signing Dubinsky, Callahan, Mara and whomever else they really want to keep.
If they do decide to re-sign Antropov or Morris, we will assume that means they played very well over the last 18 games (and the playoffs) and that John Tortorella believes they can finally live up to their billings. Because so far in their careers, neither has. Antropov hasn’t lived up to his size, and Morris hasn’t lived up to anything."
...what Carp mentions is probably the best part of the trades. Not only are the Rangers better today, they're not locked into either one of these guys long term. So if one or both of them don't work out, they're free agents at the end of the year and the Rangers now have some cap space to re-sign other players and look elsewhere.
...as far as the two players go. I really do think they will help. While I've only seen Antropov in small sample's he's shown some real grit, toughness and an ability to get to the net in games against the Rangers. I know that's he's been criticized for not doing that enough but the fact that he is capable of playing that type of game gets me excited.
...less excited about Morris, especially since the Rangers had to give up Prucha to get him, but he has a nice shot from the point and gives us some much needed stability on the back-end. I've seen some analysis saying he will help the Blueshirts on the power play, but with only one power play point this season I won't hold my breath.
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