Lyle Richardson over at Fox Sports looks at potential roster problems for every Eastern Conference team and says this about the Rangers...
New York Rangers: Trading away Scott Gomez this summer leaves the Rangers without an experienced first-line center. It remains to be seen if oft-injured star winger Marian Gaborik, signed this summer via free agency, can play a full season. There's legitimate concern about the caliber of their defense corps. If overpaid veterans Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival fail to step up this season the Blueshirts could be in trouble.
...this roster observation has me a little nervous going into the season.
4 comments:
haha i think these thoughts have us all nervous, b/c its true. With our cap situation (cough drury/redden) the way it is, this was really the only way to go; risk it with gaborik, hope redden/rozi revive themselves a bit, expect the same or better out of the King, and hope for the best. It's really one of those situations where if it works its gonna be really really good, and if it doesnt, it could be awful. Not a lot of middle ground here i think..
I really hope the Rangers can make something happen and bring in a 1st line center. When the season starts and if I see Dubi out with Gaborik I will cringe. There is so much uncertainty its scary. Will Gaborik stay healthy and score 35+ goals? Will Rozi and especially Redden play at the level they are being paid? Will Calahan put up 20+ goals again? Is going Kotalik going to be a bust? How much will Avery contribute? Will1 or 2 of our prospects have a breakout? The Rangers right now are one big question mark. Lundqvist definately has to have a better season which is not fair to put so much pressure on him. I think within the first 10-20 games we will find out if this season will be great or a disaster.
Yes cap space is an issue, but dont forget brandon dubinsky had an under-achieving season. The guy has a great future ahead of him. For example his rookie season when he centered Jagr. He had an excelent year, now with gaborik i hope he gets a shot to do the same. Look for Gaborik, Dubinsky, Avery/Callahan to be a first line.
You are comparing Jagr to Gaborik and that is just silly. They have two completely different playing styles. I dont think Dubinksy is explosive enough to play with Gaborik. I have seen some great skills come out of Dubi but it seems he is trying to be a player he is not. He should work on being more finesse than a power foward and stop trying to fight. I think he has decent hands and if he can add a little speed then maybe he can have a good career. He has only reached 40 points the last two seasons. Those are not 1st line center stats, not even close. I would love to see a true playmaker play with Gaborik. A player that knows how to set up the goals. The thing thats ironic is the Rangers finally have a player that can score which is Gaborik but we gave up the Gomez who is the player that sets up the goal scorer. To bad we didnt have Zherdev he was a damn good playmaker. So many times last year he made perfect passes to guys in the slot but no one could finish.
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