Thursday, September 16, 2010

Camp Set in the Big Apple

Fresh with the inclusion of Marc Staal on their Summer roster, the remaining parts of their training camp roster has been announced and it is chalk-full of training camp invitees to help push and motivate players for spots on the regular season opener roster.

By my count today, the Rangers have their 23-man roster up as the Summer, but it is a little ways from being complete because of salary cap issues.  Again, a lot of the speculation that surrounds this team, like most others, depends on how players do in camp.  Wade Redden, the number one target for excessive cap hits, should get a chance to show why he is getting paid so much and he'll have to come up trumps, if he wants to stick around when the puck drops on the season.

Otherwise, if we were going to pick some bubble players, I would guess that Erik Christensen isn't safe, nor is Brian Boyle or Steve Eminger.  There is plenty of talent trying out for the Rangers and lots in their youth system that could easily jump in and take a job, so these guys will likely have to step up their game if they want to be around as well.

ForwardsDefenseGoalies
Marian GaborikMichael Del ZottoHenrik Lundqvist
Vaclav ProspalMarc StaalMartin Biron
Alexander FrolovDan Girardi
Brandon DubinskyMichal Rozsival
Ryan CallahanSteve Eminger
Chris DruryMatt Gilroy
Sean AveryWade Redden
Artem Anisimov
Tim Kennedy
Erik Christensen
Todd White
Brandon Prust
Brian Boyle
Derek Boogaard
Ryan BourqueLee BaldwinChad Johnson
Dane ByersGarnet ExelbyJordan Parise
Brodie DupontSam KlassenScott Stajcer
Ruslan FedotenkoTomas KundratekCam Talbot
Ryan GarlockDan Maggio
Evgeny GrachevBrandon Manning
Roman HorakDylan McIlrath
Chris McKelvieRyan McDonagh
Randy McNaughtJyri Niemi
Kris NewburyBlake Parlett
Justin SoryalMike Sauer
Derek StepanAlexei Semenov
Kelsey TesslerPavel Valentenko
Christian ThomasNigel Williams
Dale Weise
Ethan Werek
Jeremy Williams
Jason Wilson
Andrew Yogan
Mats Zuccarello

Salary CapAs I explored in the Staal signing yesterday, the Rangers are in a boatload of cap troubles with their current Summer roster.  I have them listed at a projected cap hit of $63.9 million, but their cap troubles could be wiped away with the swift demotion of Redden, who is counting $6.5 million against the cap for the entire season.  Sure, he will still get paid all that money in the minors, but at least the Rangers management wouldn't have to dismantle the core to get under the cap ceiling.

There are a few guys like that I like on this roster and will probably target when we get to the draft.  I've always been a fan of Gaborik and since he had a good year in New York, I wouldn't mind having him back on my team for 2011.  Ryan Callahan, Michael Del Zotto and Marc Staal are all on my list, possibly ranked a little higher than some projections, while Henrik Lundqvist would be an adequate 1st round pick and Tim Kennedy could be a decent late round forward.  I think I'll save the remaining bit of judgement for closer to the draft date.

No comments: