Briefly, I'll point out that Mark Messier announced he is interested in becoming General Manager of the Rangers in today's Toronto Sun. I'm not sure how his eye for quality talent is, but one has to figure he can't do worse job than Glen Sather. And he might actually be active in the press, which is something the mysteriously hidden Sather has not been doing lately. Still, as far as former stars performing in NYC as GMs, one only has to look at Isiah Thomas and wonder if Messier will be Bobby Brown to Isiah's Whitney Houston.As for the Sean Avery deal. We've already hit some blog comments in Cyberspace with this one, so here's a bit of a recap:
This move would've helped about 3-4 weeks ago when the team needed an energy injection. Now it's too late, especially after tonight's game. Cliche was a prospect, but he wasn't an overwhelming one. They still have plenty of talent in the wings, the problem is will they ever play them. And Avery can protect Jagr. Has anyone seen Jagr recently??? He's got one more goal than Marc Savard this season!!
I didn't see any of the games from the Junior Tournament, but Cliche's numbers were less than impressive. 6 games, 0 points, and 4 PIM? That's not exactly top 5 Canadian stuff for an offensive minded forward. Tom Pyatt would be a better argument for a top 5 Canadian under 20. He got more publicity in the press than Cliche from the tournament and he put up 4 points in the 6 games. Plenty of players have torn up the QMJHL and then not been productive NHL players. They've got plenty of other promising young forwards in the system like Pyatt, Brodie Dupont, Ryan Russell, Dawes, Immonen, Callahan, Dubinsky, and Korpikoski. Cliche isn't a can't miss guy.
Besides, if people always rip Sather for being a bad evaluator of talent, to which I agree, how do we know if Cliche is any good??
At least we know what Avery can do: 40-50 points a season and a bad ass to provide much needed intensity and protection for this team. Of course this move has some major short term sights, but Avery is only 26. They need an enforcer because Colton Orr is a wuss. It's always better to have enforcers with puck skills (like Tucker, Barnaby, Simon, Neil) so that it doesn't limit your offensive production, while still giving you the edge your team needs.
I don't think we can include Marek in the analysis of the trade. He said he was never going to play in New York after Sather messed with him during contract talks (remember this happened with Zidlicky too, who was a throw-in for Mike Dunham, and now he's solid in Nashville. It doesn't matter how good of a prospect he was because the Rangers had no bargaining power if trying to trade him. It's a little added incentive to the Kings, but it's not anything fans can be disappointed with as far as the trade is concerned.
I just don't think it's the end of the world, but I do think this was needed four weeks ago because the tailspin might be too much at this point. And Elisha Cuthbert is a welcome addition to the Garden faithful.
3 comments:
As the person who covers Ranger prospects boy are you wrong about Cliche.
Had you taken the time to watch any of the World Juniors you would realize just how wrong you are.
When Canada got to the medal round Cliche was moved into the checking center's role so Pyatt could move up to the second line.
All Cliche did in his role as checking line center was shut down everyone he was matchup against.
In the gold medal game his line totally locked out the Russian's top line which had been running roughshod over everyone they had faced until Cliche.
What Cliche's best value is that he plays whatever role is asked of him.
Need a big game goal, Cliche had two against the Russian Selects which made up the core of the Russian junior team and was named player of the game.
Need a leader he is Lewiston's captain and a major reason why Lewiston is one of the top teams not only in the QMJHL but also all of the CHL. Cliche got hurt and his MAINEaics have lost 3 of the 4 games he has missed.
First off, Avery looked like one of the best three Rangers on the ice tonight. He provided exactly what the team needed. Now if they could only change this miserable power play, the team would be in business.
As for my scouting of the Rangers prospects, you make it seem like Cliche is the next Crosby, Malkin, and Ovechkin all wrapped into one. Given the Rangers track record under Sather with prospects, you sure seem to be way attached to Cliche. I'm sure we can go down the list naming all the great Junior players of all time and we can list off the ones that have failed and succeeded. It'll be a grand time. You can't become too attached to your prospects. The reason to develop strong prospects is to be ablel to trade them off when the time is right. They have a group of younger players to choose from and they decided to make a smart hockey decision by upgrading their NHL talent by trading a player who has yet to prove he can play at the NHL level.
The Rangers didn't acquire a 35 year old aging veteran winger. They acquired a 26 year old, who tonight displayed speed, skill, and grit on the ice. Avery has his own upside and he provides a key ingredient this team was lacking. Although I'll reenforce that I think this trade was 3-4 weeks late in the making, you can't fault the team for trading from strength and addressing a weakness. Amassing prospects doesn't win you Stanley Cup titles. Making smart managerial decisions to improve the quality of your NHL roster wins Cups. This is the first sign of life the organization has shown in months and it's a step in the right direction.
This was a good trade on every level. We didn't forfiet blue chip prospects, we traded a marginal-average-boring-4th liner, a middling prospect, and Jiri Dopita--I mean--Jan Marek. This team was so boring I almost couldn't watch. Now, even if they don't make the playoffs, I am gonna watch because we added excitement. GREAT TRADE. Good bye M A Cliche' we hardly knew ye.
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