B R O A D W A Y***B L U E S H I R T S

July 01, 2007
Home Run! Drury and Gomez Both Sign
The Rangers went into the free agent season that opened at noon today with Chris Drury and Scott Gomez at the top of their wish list. But they never tried to rank them -- they had both at the top of the list, hoping they could land one. This evening, an ecstatic Ranger brain trust came home with both players in the fold as they embark on a serious run for the Stanley Cup -- Drury agreeing to a contract worth $7.05 million per year for five years ($35.25 million total) shortly after Gomez accepted an offer worth around $7.35 million per year for seven years ($51.5 million total).

"We ranked them both as number one," GM Glen Sather said. "We didn't think we could get both. Initially, we thought we'd have Nylander here. But when the decision came to not sign Michael, we decided to get both of these guys." The decision to turn their attention away from Nylander and toward the acquisition of both of these top-tier free agent centers came today, Sather said, as the events of the day unfolded. They had not previously anticipated getting a shot at both Drury and Gomez. "They both wanted to play in New York," he said. "I never got the feeling that I was bidding against other teams. We had a number we'd wanted to get to. The opportunity was there and we felt we had to move on it. You don't [often] get the opportunity to sign players like this who both want to play in New York."

Sather insisted that he still has the wherewithal to sign all of his own free agents without blowing through his salary cap, although he may have to get creative with how to structure contracts for Henrik Lundqvist, Sean Avery, Petr Prucha, and especially Brendan Shanahan. "We think we can keep what we have right now," he said. "We still have other guys to sign, but we've calculated it out." Sather is fortunate to have Cam Hope as his resident capologist -- the Rangers have managed the salary cap well so far under the new CBA. Shanahan remains in the Rangers' plans, even after these signings. "We're determined to sign him," Sather said. "He as well as our other guys we have to get signed. We hope to get that done in the next few days. We'll see how things fall out with other free agents, but we're more concerned with our own guys."

How will Ranger captain Jaromir Jagr react to losing his favorite center? The Rangers will have to wait until tomorrow to find out. "We haven't had a chance to call him," Sather said, citing how busy he and coach Tom Renney were negotiating contracts all day long. "But he's spoken to some people in the office. We'll call him tomorrow," he added, noting that it was too late in the Czech Republic to try calling him back this evening.

Renney is thrilled to have added two weapons to his arsenal who bring character with them in addition to skill. "We're going to turn the page forward and go for the Stanley Cup," he said. "And these guys will help us do that. The expectations can't be greater than they are internally." But he refuses to go for broke and mortgage the future in the process. "We still want to participate in the growth of our young people. This is a work in progress in terms of a team that stands the test of time."

Sather admitted that his policy of not giving out no-trade clauses was "not as intact as it was yesterday. When you make a deal this crucial, then you make compromises." But, reiterating another team policy not to divulge the terms of contracts, he wouldn't let on which player (if not both) got such consideration, and to what extent.

Kudos to New York area reporters for their reporting on these deals today. John Dellapina was first, in his Blueshirts Blog, to report that the Rangers were close to completing a deal with Gomez, along with E.J. Hradek of ESPN. Sam Weinman was first to officially confirm both signings with the Rangers, which he reported at Rangers Report. Larry Brooks had it 100% right in his reporting in the Post last week -- Drury and Gomez in, Nylander out.

On the flip side, I had it 100% wrong yesterday -- I thought the Rangers wouldn't break the bank once salaries spiraled, instead they seem to have capitalized on the spiral, at least in Drury's case. Before the lockout, when I wrote stuff like that, I always said that I wished the Rangers would prove me wrong, but it rarely happened. Tonight, I'm pleased to say that I'm happy as can be to have been proven wrong this time.

now the big question



who will wear the # 23 .

Both Gomez and Drury sported that # with their respective teams.

:eek: