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

Rangers looking to land Heatley cheap ?

By LARRY BROOKS
June 26, 2009

MONTREAL -- NHL general managers arriving here for this Entry Draft weekend have been met with gridlock created by a surfeit of big-money contracts on the trade market and an absence of teams willing to pay the price to take them.

That's why the Rangers remain in the hunt to acquire Dany Heatley from Ottawa, even though they have no intention of surrendering any of their prized young talent in order to obtain the sniper.

A well-placed source reports Ottawa GM Bryan Murray, under pressure to move Heatley before a $4 million up-front payment on his $8M salary for 2009-10 comes due on Wednesday, acknowledged yesterday he hasn't received an offer of close to equal value for Heatley, who has five years and $35M remaining on a contract that comes with a $7.5M annual cap hit.

Though GM Glen Sather has backed himself into a corner with the cap that will remain within a couple of hundred thousand dollars of last year's $56.7M following the NHLPA's vote to trigger a five-percent bump to counteract a decline in revenue, the Blueshirts could absorb Heatley's contract by moving Michal Rozsival ($5M cap hit) and not qualifying Nik Zherdev ($3.25M). Qualifying offers are due by 5 p.m. Monday.

The long-running reality mystery series "Who's No. 1?" -- produced by Charles Wang and directed by Garth Snow -- will come to a conclusion shortly after 7 tonight when the Islanders finally declare whether they're going to use the first-overall selection in the Entry Draft to select London center John Tavares, the most prolific goal-scorer in OHL history, or instead choose big (but not brawny) Swedish defenseman Victor Hedman, or defy common sense by taking Brampton center Matt Duchene.

The Islanders have enjoyed a fair amount of satisfaction in keeping their decision a state secret, even from the three contenders. As such, their selection in no way will be an anti-climax. If it is not Tavares, however, it likely would spark outrage on Long Island.

Meanwhile, there also is mystery surrounding the Devils, who come into the weekend without a head coach following the defection of Brent (See Ya!) Sutter to Calgary.

Three individuals, one with strong ties to the Devils, told The Post yesterday they believe GM Lou Lamoriello is leaning toward bringing back Jacques Lemaire to New Jersey. Lemaire, who resigned as head coach of the Wild following the season, led the Devils to their first Stanley Cup in 1995.

*

If all things are equal at the time of their first selection at 19th overall, Rangers will target a high-end talent at forward. Red Deer center Landon Ferraro, son of former Blueshirt and Islander pivot Ray Ferraro, is believed in the group being considered. Blueshirts likely would select Windsor defenseman Ryan Ellis, whose offensive ability is elite, if he's available, but chances of that are slim.

The Rangers, who will select 19th, 47th (the compensatory pick for Alexei Cherepanov) and 80th, could trade down in an attempt to add selections in the second and third rounds. They traded their own second-round pick to Toronto for Nik Antropov, who seems destined to leave Broadway via free agency.

The Islanders, meanwhile, own six of the first 62 picks in the draft (1, 26, 31, 37, 56, 62), and are in position to attempt to improve their second-pick position in the first round by offering multiple picks in exchange.

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Rygar wrote:

lol @ larry brooks

lol all you want

in the past , the guy has been 99.9 % correct on details like this beforehand.

HailHailVitalogy wrote:

Heatley and St. Louis are rumors

Gomez and/or Redden would be bait for either. There's rumors Toronto is interested in Redden, which would be outstanding!

funny,
i rermember redden getting his game together come playofs.
i could be totally wrong here but i thought he bounced back from a horrific season

BOYLE DEAL COST 'EM SHOT AT KESSEL
Posted: 3:12 am
June 29, 2009
By Larry Brooks
New York Post
IN SENDING a third-round selection in next year's Entry Draft to Los Angeles for fourth-line center candidate Brian Boyle, Rangers general manager Glen Sather traded his team out of the possibility of getting Boston's dynamic Phil Kessel on a Group II free agent offer sheet.

Maybe the cost of the contract plus the cost in compensation wouldn't have been worth it and maybe it would have. Maybe the cap-stressed Bruins would have matched, but maybe they wouldn't have or couldn't have.

But if the Rangers had kept their third-round pick, they'd at least have been in position to offer Kessel, the 21-year-old right wing who scored 36 goals in his third NHL season, an offer sheet for approximately the $5.5 million he's seeking but won't get from Boston.

A successful bid of that amount would have cost the Rangers their first, second and third-round picks in next year's draft. Is that too much for a kid who has every offensive tool imaginable? That's debatable, certainly if the first-round pick with Kessel in the lineup projects to somewhere between 15th and 20th overall.

But that's a debate that would have been worth having leading into Wednesday's noon opening of the free agent market, given the paucity of attractive, cost-effective options that will be available to this talent-thin team that doesn't own a credible goal-scoring threat.

That's a debate that would have been worth having because by matching, the Bruins: a) would have had to move other parts off the roster to accommodate the contract; and, b) would have been prohibited for a year from trading Kessel for the offense-minded defenseman they're seeking to add to the club that had the best record in the Eastern Conference last season.

Now, there can be no debate because the Rangers don't have their third draft pick available to use as compensation.

There can be no debate because Sather sent the third pick to L.A. for Boyle, the 6-foot-7 Boston College product who has played 36 games in the NHL (28 last year) since going 26th overall in the 2003 Entry Draft, and who carries an inflated $832,000 price tag. At the same time, the Rangers didn't qualify Fred Sjostrom, whom head coach John Tortorella came to regard as an essential asset, at $882,000.

Could the Rangers have accommodated Kessel at $5.5M given their cap predicament? They could have by dealing or waiving Michal Rozsival or by waiving Wade Redden, that's for sure. Rozsival has had two bad years in a row, Redden has been in steep decline since the lockout. Yet they eat cap space and, more critically, minutes.

At this moment, the Rangers have committed $49.381M of a $56.8M cap to two goaltenders, five defensemen, five centers and four wingers. That sum will increase when Ryan Callahan signs a multi-year deal far in excess of his $660,000 qualifier.

At this moment, players on the Ranger roster (including everyone under contract or qualified) scored a combined 138 NHL goals last season. The Islanders were last in the East with 198 goals.

The Rangers will face Philadelphia's Chris Pronger six times this year, but they won't have unwanted free agent Colton Orr to keep him honest. The Rangers won't have either Sjostrom or unwanted free agent Blair Betts, the tandem that led the team to the league's best penalty-killing record.

Now they can't have Kessel, either. Even worse, they can't even consider it.

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June 30, 2009
Breaking News: Gomez to Montreal for Higgins (UPDATED: 5:35)
In shocking news, TSN and RDS is reporting that Scott Gomez has been traded to the Montreal Canadiens for winger Chris Higgins.

Thanks to John Ragus of NYRNation for the tip.

Gomez was making $7.4 million per year with 4 years remaining while Higgins was earning $1.9 million and was a restricted free agent.


More to come...

UPDATE - 5:22

TSN is reporting the trade as the following:

"The Montreal Canadiens have acquired centre Scott Gomez winger Tom Pyatt and defenceman Mike Busto from the New York Rangers in exchange for winger Chris Higgins and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko from the Montreal Canadiens."

UPDATE - 5:35

Here is the official release:

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the club has acquired forward Chris Higgins and defensemen Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for forwards Scott Gomez and Tom Pyatt, and defenseman Mike Busto.



Higgins, 26, has skated in 282 regular season contests with Montreal, recording 84 goals and 67 assists for 151 points, along with 96 penalty minutes. The 6-0, 205-pounder has eclipsed the 20-goal mark three times. In 2007-08, he established career-highs in games played (82), goals (27), assists (25), points (52), power play goals (12), game-winning goals (five), and shots (241).

He led Montreal in shots, tied for second on the team in power play goals and game-winning goals, and ranked third in goals. He was also one of only three Canadiens to skate in all 82 games during the season. Higgins registered 11 points (six goals and five assists) in the first 13 games of the season, and went on to surpass the 20-goal plateau for the third straight year.

Higgins appeared in 57 games with the Montreal Canadiens this past season, registering 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points, along with 22 penalty minutes. He tied for second on the team with two shorthanded goals, and placed sixth on the club with 151 shots despite missing 25 games due to injury.

In addition, he led the Canadiens in goals (five) and shots (40) during the month of November. He tallied his first career hat trick on November 11 vs. Ottawa to cap off a season-high, four-game scoring streak that began on November 1 at the New York Islanders, registering six points (four goals and two assists) over the span.

As a rookie in 2005-06, he led Montreal with three shorthanded goals. In addition, Higgins has registered six goals and five assists for 11 points in 22 career postseason contests with Montreal.

The Smithtown, New York native was originally Montreal’s first round choice, 14th overall, in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

McDonagh, 20, skated in 36 contests with the University of Wisconsin Badgers of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) this past season, registering five goals and 11 assists for 16 points, along with 59 penalty minutes. The 6-1, 212-pounder established career-highs in assists (11), points (16) and penalty minutes (59) in his second season with the Badgers.

The St. Paul, Minnesota native was originally Montreal’s first round choice, 12th overall, in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Valentenko, 21, split the 2008-09 season between Dynamo Moscow of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League (AHL). The 6-2, 220-pounder collected one assist in eight games with Dynamo Moscow after beginning the season in Hamilton, where he tallied two assists in four games.

The Nizhnekamsk, Russia native was originally Montreal’s fifth round choice, 139th overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

Gomez, 29, appeared in 77 games with the Rangers this past season, collecting 16 goals and 42 assists for 58 points, along with 60 penalty minutes. He was acquired by the Rangers as a free agent on July 1, 2007.

Pyatt, 22, appeared in 73 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL) this past season, registering 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points, along with 22 penalty minutes.

Busto, 23, skated in 54 games with the Charlotte Checkers of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) this past season, recording three goals and eight assists for 11 points, along with 41 penalty minutes.