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

Slats Undecisive

Agent: Sather Undecided on Peca
Time for your nightly Michael Peca update:

In short, the puck remains on Glen Sather's stick and the Rangers' GM has yet to decide whether to shoot or pass.

"He is thinking about it," was agent Don Meehan's response tonight when I asked him if any progress had been made in his discussions with Sather.

Meehan insisted that, though he anticipates no problem working out a contract, no conditional agreement has been reached that would be consummated if and when Sather decides he wants Peca to join the Rangers.

Asked if he would continue to talk just with the Rangers or resume discussions with other teams, Meehan replied: "We will give this a bit more time."

• The other news of the day was the announcement that former Rangers winger and hockey pioneer Anders Hedberg had rejoined the organization in the role of head European scout.

No doubt, many of you plugged-in visitors to this spot might be wondering what that means for Christer Rockstrom, the long-time Rangers Euro-whiz who has unearthed so many late-round gems -- including Henrik Lundqvist. The answer is that it won't change Rockstrom's role at all.

Rockstrom will remain focused upon the draft-eligible Europeans while Hedberg monitors the pro-level players the Rangers might sign as free agents. Undoubtedly, Hedberg and Rockstrom will cross paths and even double up from time to time on certain players. But Hedberg's arrival doesn't mean Rockstrom is leaving.

Bulletin

August 19, 2007
Jagr Golden, Straka Hobbled, Zaba Inked
Jaromir Jagr won his third straight Golden Stick award as Czech hockey player of the year, his eighth overall, all within the past thirteen years. He beat out Dominik Hasek, who has won the award five times in the past. Martin Straka came in third -- he was in attendance despite reports that arthroscopic knee surgery would force him to miss last night's award ceremony. Hockey Rodent has an excellent description of Straka's surgery, demonstrating that it was a minor procedure to repair torn meniscus (cartilage). He also has photographs from the Golden Stick ceremony. We hope to have a full report on all this tomorrow.

In other news, the Rangers have added to their goaltending depth by signing Colorado College graduate Matt Zaba [pictured left]. The Colorado Springs Gazette reports that Zaba "will be competing for a spot for either the Hartford Wolf Pack or the Charlotte Checkers." (Thanks to reader emscam for alerting us to this development.) Having just let three of their own college draftees become free agents by not signing them by the August 15th deadline, the Rangers picked up Zaba after the L.A. Kings allowed him to become a free agent in the same way. Zaba was originally drafted in the eighth round (231st overall) in 2003 by the Kings. To learn more about Zaba, look here, here, and here.

NY PJ1 wrote:

from todays nypost



peca's agent said the nyr MUST DECIDE TODAY about signing him
he cant wait any longer

several teams have interest including the blue jackets



so it looks like we'll know by tonight

slats dragging his feet on this one,...

kenshunt wrote:

It's only 1.25 mil, what's the risk really

dont think its the money so much as Pecas penchant for finding injuries

August 21, 2007
Peca Saga Heads Toward Climax
The Michael Peca saga will hopefully end today, one way or the other. I suppose we should thank Peca and his agent for giving us something to talk about in an otherwise newsless month. On the other hand, the protracted affair is getting a bit annoying, especially if we're spinning our wheels over what will ultimately turn out to be a non-story, at least from the Rangers' point of view. The latest news is that Peca's agent has set today as the latest deadline for the Rangers to inform him of their intentions with Peca -- which doesn't mean the Rangers, if they are still interested, will sign him today, they may just let Peca know they're still interested.

Or not. It has been reported that Ranger GM Glen Sather is still deciding between signing Peca to fill the hole at third line center or letting his promising young prospects fight it out for that spot. By delaying, Sather may be letting Peca tip the scales himself by exposing his character, in which case Peca may have just ultimatumed himself out of New York. Then again, if Sather decides he needs Peca, this may be the jump-start he needs to finally make up his mind. We may find out today, or we may not -- that has been the way this Peca thing has been going, and that's why it's been so annoying. See reports today in the Daily News, Newsday, and Post.

UPDATE: Michael Peca's agent was just on AM640 radio in Toronto and suggested that Peca has two offers in hand and will decide by the end of the day today which one he will take. No word on which two teams they may be, except that Toronto is not one of them. Is the end finally nigh? [See Pucks on Broadway for a partial transcription of the radio comments.]

true enougH about the youth movement.


this is the spin at the bulletin :

The Rangers have decided not to make Michael Peca a free agent contract offer. There appears to be three reasons for the Rangers' decision. The stated one is that want to let their young prospects fight it out for the opening at center at the NHL level rather than go with a 33-year-old who has been plagued by a variety of injuries the past few seasons. Steve Zipay at Blue Notes quotes "a Rangers spokesman" as saying that GM Glen Sather and coach Tom Renney felt it was best "to give our young guys a chance." An unstated but obvious reason for the decision was the salary cap. The Rangers had already traded away their perfectly serviceable third line center, Matt Cullen, to create some wiggle room for in-season moves. Peca would have come with the ability to defer part of those cap savings into the subsequent season's calculation, but it still would have used up roughly half of what they had left under the salary cap.

But the biggest reason for the move, which is purely speculative on our part, was Peca's reaction to the delay in concluding a Ranger contract, which he believed he had already negotiated. "We had a deal in place with the Rangers for almost three weeks now," Peca told the Columbus Dispatch after he agreed to a contract with the Blue Jackets. "They said they needed a few more days to sort through some things, but we said that just wasn't possible. They had enough time. The deal was pretty close to being done. It was done, really. The coaching staff was on board with it. But, to be honest, it just didn't seem like the commitment has been there from the general manager to get it done. So we moved on."

Some might believe that Sather was asleep at the wheel, going on vacation rather than locking up Peca. But we believe that Sather purposely let the matter simmer to see how truly committed Peca was to the Rangers' cause vs. just making sure he had a contract. After complaining to the press, publicly trying to leverage interest from the lowly Blue Jackets, and finally setting an ultimatum, Sather had his answer -- the Rangers would be better served in what they hope will be a Stanley Cup run by letting hungry young players duke it out and inject energy into the team than in bringing aboard another veteran coasting into retirement. Those days, it is now clear, are indeed over.

There is of course still time before the start of training camp for the Rangers to address their needs at center and on defense, and any hole that stands between post-season qualification and a run for the Cup can be filled cheaply at the trade deadline. But the Rangers, by all appearances, will address those needs with care, with an eye toward both this season's aspirations and the long-term well being of the club. For more, see Blueshirts Blog and Blue Notes for more, as well as brief notes in today's Daily News and Post.




now the looming question will be which of the crop of young forwards gets the call up to the big club - we will see most likely a rotation of a few different guys game in and game out .