Sorry Nigel

Not sure what is going on in Glen's head with this move but it's his decision not mine. Greg Moore is now back with the team as Nigel heads for Hartford, and Hossa apparently still has a spot on the roster. I am happy for Moore who at season's start was pretty much being written off as a bust. Not sure what the plan is or if Nigel just wasn't contributing enough to stay in the lineup in the long run and is being sent down. One thing is for sure something is up. I haven't heard much trade rumors involving the Rangers (as I type this I am checking spectorshockey to see if there are any new ones, nothing) other than the Jovo rumor from earlier in the year which is just stupid and pointless to talk about at this point. So here is my thinking, Sather is getting Moore into the NHL to see what he can do. He has played great this year in Hartford with the injuries he deserves a chance, but with the abundance of good young forwards and the inability for this team to score it makes you wonder if he is trade bait. At the very least I know Hossa is on the market, the only thing he brings is defense and he can't even do that right anymore. I had some thoughts earlier in the year about why Hossa was still around... most of them involved his brother and the off chance that sather would try and convince Marian to come to ny to play with his brother but I can't deal with Marcel anymore.

Now chances are something is brewing but where is someone available? And who is going to fit under the Rangers' cap? Looking up and down the roster Hossa and Mara would be a part of the deal, even though Mara has been playing good so far this year. The only way this team can make a move is dump some salary and 3mil is something that will need to move if an impact player comes in. Chances are a young forward will be involved as well, most likely Moore at this point I wouldn't count out something stupid though like Callahan or Dawes. I say those guys would be stupid because I think they are both good hockey players and I like the way they play, in 1-2 years they will be over 20-25 goals each. So we know who is going or may be going, most likely some combination of that, which brings us back to who to trade for. The Rangers put themselves in a bind by sending Pock to the minors mostly because if they need him back he has to go through re-entry and so does hutchinson, so trading Mara and not getting a d-man in return puts Strudwick as the 6th defenseman. Side note on the defense moving, Malik only makes 2.5 mil less than Mara and could also be dealt and according to nhlnumbers.com a trade involving Mara, Moore and Hossa would free up 4,520,000 in cap space to find a player. This leaves a lot of room to go out looking for players. If Moore puts some pucks in the net then his value could increase and they could get a little more. Side note here Marian Hossa makes 7mil this season so count him out of coming to the Rangers to help out.

Of course this is just speculation, first and foremost Hossa needs to find a spot in the press box, even with Jagr on his side he can't put the puck in the net. Anyway that was a fun rant, but chances are nothing is going to happen trade wise this week or next. Sather will wait to see if this pulls together before he plays with shit, it just seemed fishy to me that the player tied for third on the team in goals (tied second for forwards) is being sent back to the minors. And while sather is sending him back to the minors the team continues to struggle to score goals.

Nigel is was great to see you back with the team, I hope you are back soon. Now on to the more pressing matter at hand from last night. The lack of the ability to pass the goddamn puck. The Rangers were back to their old habits last night of shitty passing and turning the puck over on a regular basis. I love to read about how they can't sustain pressure and they are out of their system from the players. When in reality they are passing to the other team, or to no one. Whether thats because the player who the pass was intended was in the wrong place or the passer just has bad aim I do not know but this has got to change. You can not control the play in the offensive, defensive or neutral zone if you do not pass the puck with accuracy. No player on that team can do it themselves and since that is a truth passing is critical. I wish I would be able to watch tomorrow night's game but I think we are getting the Knicks game here instead. So there is a good possiblities NHL radio will have to help me out tomorrow.

Well good luck to Moore in his first NHL game he deserves it and thats it for tonight.