Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants was able to sit down with John Tortorella to discuss numerous issues...
On Wade Redden...
“I told Wade at the end of the year, during the exit interviews, I felt we gave him, along with a couple of other players, we gave him a great opportunity to play,” Tortorella said. “Really, at times, we probably kept him in too long where we should have put somebody else in because of his play. We had a frank discussion. It’s not going to be, ‘Wade Redden is a veteran guy and has a big contract, he’s going to stay in the lineup.’ We need to move by that. He’s going to dictate that.”
...not sure what to think about this quote on one hand I feel that the Rangers have finally had it with Wade on the other it seems like they're going to give him one last chance to turn it around.
...i'm thinking if he struggles in camp and preseason he's gone.
On Sather's offseason moves...
“I think one of the biggest positives of the summer and during free agency is that we have kept the core of our team,” Tortorella said. “We haven’t gone out and signed big contracts. We’ve tried to sit tight with our youth and keep the building blocks there. We are going through a bit of a process. I think Dan Girardi and Brandon Prust (both who were re-signed this summer) jumped right into being in that core. They were big signings. Everybody rants and raves that it’s time for the Rangers to really stay pat and build with youth. I think the deal Frolov signed, it’s not a long-term deal. He can show us what he can do and maybe it will turn into the same.”
Torts also talks Rozsival, McDonagh, Biron and whole lot more.
...great job by Gross.
...and great job by the Rangers again giving the fans some insight on what the organization is thinking.
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9 comments:
Everyone ready for Rangers 2.0?
In all honesty Redden is such a bad hockey player I don't know how he made it this far. Captain of the Sens, All Star appearance, Rookie of the Month...he skates like he doesn't give a crap and has ZERO emotion.
It seems like there's finally a personality coming out of the Ranger's organization, but its not being shown by the players only, but the organization as well. It's an awesome feeling seeing them so open to the media and giving the fans a heads up as to why they made certain moves and what the future is looking like.
Great interview.
I could copy and paste your comment Jack lol. Fully agree. I hope it looks more like..
Prospal Christensen Gaborik
Frolov Dubinsky Callahan
Avery Drury MZA
Boogard AA Prust
Staal Girardi
Del Zotto Rozsival
...up for grabs cant say yet
Having never seen Redden play in his 'prime' years with Ottawa, I have no idea either, and can only judge him based on his play with the Rangers.
Has he just experienced an unprecedented drop-off in his game, or is it all due to lack of effort, or what? I'd love to know what it was that the Rangers management saw in him to justify the type of deal he was given.
lets read between the lines guys, do yall really think theyre gonna give redden one last chance to turn it all around? wasnt that what last year was for?
i remember this time last year after redden had his first awful year, the rangers brass was saying the same thing, why would the rangers possibly want to see how redden would do in training camp and preseason? oh yeah like the competition in the preseason is anything to go on with all the teams playing minor leaguers and youngens
reddens a goner
just look at his career stats, totally downward trending, he had one effin power play assist last year!! one point on the PP!!! wow thats some PP QB we signed!!! the fact this is even an issue with MSG to play this guys contract while hes playing in the minors is ridiculous when you consider how much money they have, eat the rest of his contract, addition by subtraction!!!
F U Redden for being the pit in all ranger fans stomachs, you wont be missed or remembered, a cautionary tale to be told every june 30th for years and years to come
Adam, my sentiments exactly.
Don't forget last year felt as if it was a "one last chance" scenario for Redden and....he was scratched at one point! I think a hungry young gun on D would love to prove himself over a multi-million dollar veteran D-man.
@seels:
Read the article:
"Tortorella is firm in his belief that he’ll keep Dubinsky on the wing."
In any case there will be a lot of moving around and we shouldn't be surprised to see Dubi play some games at center. I think Torts wants to give him more time on the wing on the top two lines and that Dubi stands to raise his scoring played that way.
As far as lines . . .
The 3rd line will likely be a checking line, taking a lot of faceoffs in our defensive end. While MZA knows that role, I don't think that's where his strength lies; if he makes the team, look for him to crack the second line.
Callahan may be relegated to that 3rd line because he is such a strong defensive player. He managed to put up some numbers last season because of his time on the power play. With the Frolov signing, Callahan will get less PP time and we shouldn't be surprised if his numbers go down.
Anisimov is someone they want to develop. They see him as the first of their new crop of young guys. They want him to mature and take a spot on the top 2 lines if possible. It's not likely he'll spend much time on the 4th line.
Loving the real feelings on Redden becoming public. Also, I just wanna say as fars as seels lines up there go, I dont see AA a 4th liner. End of last year was a fluke. Ani will be a second liner one day if he cleans his game up a little and maybe turn the speed up.
the rangers would have looked bad in free agents eyes if they cut bait on redden after 1 yr of a 6 yr deal. at least by giving him the 2nd yr the perception of not giving the guy a chance lessens by quite a bit.
i can't see redden making the team. even if somehow he showed that he was 6th or 7th best defenseman, they simply have to send him down due to the cap. only other possibilty is rozy and rozy is a better player by quite a bit. redden hasn't been good for about 4 years. the warning signs were there way before he signed here and 6 yrs 39 mm was disgraceful signing by sather.
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