The Rangers were fairly quick to snap up free agent forward, Vaclav Prospal, after he was bought out of the final three seasons of his deal that he had with the Lightning. The deal that Prospal signed with the Rangers is for one year, worth approximately $1.1 million. This deal now adds a bit more scoring to the Rangers' line-up, as Prospal, 34, will bring his 19 goals and 26 assists from 2009 to the team, where his old coach, John Tortorella, now resides.
The Hockey News pool guide believes that Prospal still has a lot of juice left and should be a very productive player in the 2010 season. They are calling for a 63-point season, including 25 goals. I'm not sure if they have factored being another team in that, but he could very well be good for it.
The Rangers aren't in big salary cap trouble, by any means, at the moment, but they soon should be. The team, with Prospal in tow, now has 16 players under contract for $49.8 million, leaving $7 million for 7 active players on a 23-man roster. It doesn't leave a lot of room for Brandon Dubinsky, who is their biggest remaining RFA. Dubinsky is slowly waiting his way out of the Rangers' system, as the team is filling the roster without him.
The Rangers are now more of a wild card team with some of the new faces that have joined them in the off-season. It's hard to get a read on whether or not the players that they have signed or dealt for will have much in the way of chemistry, which could either increase a player's production or make it suffer. The Rangers are known for their decision to sign any player, despite looking at team chemistry or anything like that. Team chemistry is very important for winning and the Rangers have had a hard time doing that since they won the Cup in 1994.
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