TSN reports that Corey Locke signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Ottawa Senators.In 76 games with Hartford last season, he scored 31 goals and 54 assists, but was held pointless in three appearances with the Rangers.
...spoke about this briefly during the chat last night. This kid was a scorer in the AHL. Not sure if it will translate into the NHL, but I hope the Rangers don't regret letting him go.
...unfortunately Locke is another in what's becoming a scary trend of lost prospects for the Rangers this offseason. Locke, Sanguinetti, Parenteau and Heikkinen.
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Just curious but you said in your chat last night that you were down on MZA, do you have any reasons for this other than his size? because it looked like to me in the olympics that he was a bundle of energy who made plays and had a nose for the net, no reason that cant translate to the NHL game especially since the olympics were on the NHL sized surface and was playing against better than NHL talent, since all the teams were pretty much all star teams
Not just size but that he is a European which I've alway perceived as being soft.
Rangers need some big bodies in the lineup and bringing in MZA didn't address that.
Sure smaller players such as St. Louis, Fleury and Gianta have succeed in the NHL but they had played the North American game their whole lives.
May be a tough adjustment for MZA.
Having said that I hope he makes me eat my words.
Well i think thats a really silly perception to make in 2010, maybe back in the day to say all europeans are soft but the game has progressed to the point where you cant make generalizations like that
the rangers have plenty of size, anisimov, grachev, staal, girardi, doobie, cally and avery play big, mcdonaghs a beast
dont knock the hobbit with heart!
there will surely be an adjustment but i think if torts puts him in a position to succeed IE: PP TIME! and competent and complementary linemates then he should have no problem at all
I hope you're right.
I hear you regarding the potentially "scary trend" of lost prospects, but this doesn't worry me at this point. I believe the organization is true to its word that they are getting younger and developing their prospects. I think part of that process includes figuring out who they want to focus on and who they can let go to have a chance elsewhere.
In Sanguinetti I think they had another offensive defenseman that they didn't really need; they've got other guys that will fill that role for a while. It was beginning to look like we might not have a spot for him (and he kind of had a bad camp last year) but I think they thought the kid deserves a chance to play so give him a chance by letting him sign elsewhere.
Could be the same with Locke. They certainly had a good long look at him. I think they just have other guys they want to go with. Although with Locke I'm scratching my head a bit more than with Sangs because Locke is a center with a scoring touch - this is what we need, right?
Still, I'm not worried. They're just trying to piece it together and for whatever their reasons they didn't see these guys as filling roster spots.
We will be holding on to McDonagh, Stepan, Kreider, McIlrath, Grachev, and the like. Don't you worry.
I'm with Adam om this one. I think you should leave the "soft europeans" comments to the likes of hockey dinosaur Don Cherry. One would think that players like Ovechkin, Nik Lidström and Chara, plus the fact that european teams won 2/3 of the last olympic tournaments with NHL-players had changed that perception. Not to mention Detroits dominance the last decade with a team thats 50% european.
I think MZA will do a fine job. And this team really needs him to.
Ag_blue,
I agree with you about Sanguinetti. He didnt look ready and the NYR have a glut at that position. Plus, he's a lifelong Rangers fan who had a legit shot at a roster spot last season and he arrived out of shape. Gotta wonder about his comittment if he can't even get in shape for a chance at his childhood dream. But the Rangers didn't "let him sign" somewhere else. They traded him and got picks back in return. That's youth for youth and I'm OK with that.
I'm not really alarmed by the loss of any of the young guys. The one guy I wonder about a little is Heikkenen. He had the size and skating to hack it in the NHL. But I really don't think any of these guys will be all-stars at the pro level. I think they've clearly identified Stepan, Kreider, Grachev, MDZ, and Staal as their core for the future and are focusing efforts to make sure those kids get plenty of ice time in the AHL or NHL. McIlrath, Werek, Bourque, Johnson, Weise, Byers, and Sauer could also sneak into that valued core. I'm excited. Some good young players, finally. Not sure if there's a future superstar in the group, but solid NHL'rs for sure.
non of the guys we lost were going to factor into the future of this team they were all career ahl Ken Gernander types. the future of this organization is MDZ Kreider Stepan McIllrath Grachev Kundratek Pashmin etc we're stocked with excellent prospects. Parenteau & Locke are not going to even be felt.
LTP is right, with the possible exception of Sangs these guys would have cracked the lineup by now. Plus with the emergence of MDZ and now this Pashmin kid maybe coming out next year Sangs really didn't have a spot. Would another year in the AHL increase his trade value or just make him look like an underachiever?
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