The Little Trade That Could

At 12:58am early this morning, the trade that's been talked about since Saturday was finally completed with the Rangers and the Calgary Flames.  This trade was moving along like that famous little engine, "I think I can, I think I can," for 2-plus days before being officially consummated by GMs Glen Sather and Darryl Sutter.  So, here's how the trade reads now that all is said and done...

Rangers receive:
          C      Olli Jokinen
          RW  Brandon Prust

Flames receive:
          RW  Ales Kotalik
          LW  Christopher Higgins

First, here's a little background on what the Rangers gained in the deal...

Jokinen is a 31-year-old centerman who will play for Finland in the Olympics and is known for his size (6'3" 215 lbs.) and scoring touch.  He was originally drafted by the LA Kings with the 3rd overall pick in the 1997 draft, and has spent time with the Kings, Islanders, Panthers, Coyotes, and Flames.  He's had 4 seasons of 30 goals or more--all while playing with the Florida Panthers--and scored 29 times in 76 games last year with the Flames and Phoenix Coyotes.  Jokinen immediately becomes the team's 3rd highest scorer on the year with his 11 goals and 24 assists so far, and will reportedly jump right in as the top line center between Prospal and Gaborik tonight.  He will wear number 12.

Prust is a 25-year-old forward who is known for using his hands in different ways than Jokinen.  He's 2nd in the NHL this season with 18 fights.  He was originally picked in the 3rd round of the 2004 draft by the Flames.  He's a bit small at 5'11" 195 lbs. but hockeyfights.com has his record this year at 7-5-6, most of it while fighting against much larger opponents.  Prust won't be expected to chip in much offensively, as his 1 goal this season ties his career high (set last season).  However, this is his first time playing full time in the NHL and he was able to score 10 goals and 27 assists while racking up 248 PIMs during his last AHL season in 2007-08.  He will wear number 8.

Breaking down the exchange...

The Rangers gave up 2 players who they acquired over the summer, with Kotalik arriving via a 3-year/$9 million free agent signing and Higgins coming as part of the trade that sent Scott Gomez to Montreal.  Higgins is earning $2.25 million this year and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.  Higgins clearly struggled to score in his short tenure here--as has been very well documented on this blog--and Kotalik has struggled to find the net pretty much since the Rangers ended their 7-game winning streak in October.  Though Higgins wasn't scoring, he often played well off the puck.  The same could not be said about Kotalik, who was worse away from the puck than he was with it.  I can't say that the Rangers really gave up much here.

In return, they got 2 players who will become free agents at the end of this season.  Prust earns $500,000 and Jokinen $5.25 million.  They also get someone who can be a legitimate #1 center and also provide some toughness, along with a player in Prust who puts it all on the line every night and will also stand up for his teammates.  Best case scenario, Jokinen returns to his previous Eastern Conference form and provides a much needed offensive spark to this team, and Prust brings energy, wins some fights, and chips in the odd point.  Worst case scenario, they both flop with the Blueshirts and walk away when their deals expire.

In summary... this deal is a win-win for the Rangers.  They pick up a pair of players who can potentially help in areas where help is needed, including team toughness.  More importantly, they now have $3 million coming off the books at the end of this season that was previously tied up in yet another under-performing free agent acquisition.  That space will be much-needed with Marc Staal, amongst others, due to hit free agency on July 1.  There's no scenario under which I can see this trade being bad for the Rangers.  Glen Sather has proven to be a trade wizard over the past 8 months, now if only he could not be so putrid in free agency.  Great job on this one, Glen!

Kotalik Sent Packing?

The Rangers sent summer acquisition Ales Kotalik packing today.  They reportedly had a trade in place, but experienced some complications and instead sent Kotalik home to prepare for his next move.  That's the official word out of the Rangers organization.

However, TSN's Darren Dreger (he who breaks news on all NHL personnel happenings) is reporting via Twitter that the Rangers and Flames are set to announce a trade.  According to Dreger, the proposed deal would send Kotalik and Christopher Higgins to the Flames in exchange for Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust.  More recently Dreger tweeted that the Flames appear to be holding up the trade at this point, but he isn't sure why.

Since we're not plugged into the situation, all we can do is break down the trade that has been discussed.  If  the deal does indeed go down as told by Dreger, the Rangers will receive the Olli Jokinen, the NHL's version of Stephon Marbury--a veteran scorer who had never been to the postseason until last year--and Brandon Prust, a smaller (5'11" 195 lbs.) tough guy who will chip in a point here (1g, 4a so far this season) or there and will stand up for his teammates.  Both are set to be unrestricted free agents after the season.  In an odd twist to this story, Prust was traded to Phoenix at the deadline last year in the deal that sent Jokinen to the Flames, only to later be traded back to the Flames in the summer for Jim Vandermeer.

Going to Calgary would be Higgins, who has struggled to score since arriving on Broadway and will be a free agent this summer.  Also, Kotalik would take his rocket slap shot, inconsistent even strength play, and 2 more years at $3m per year back to Alberta (he spent part of last season in Edmonton).  If this trade goes through as proposed it will be another win for Glen Sather in the trade department, even if it's only to fix another bad foray into free agency.

UPDATE: Larry Brooks is currently reporting that the complication from yesterday was that the trade originally included a Rangers D going to Calgary, but they made a late request for Higgins to be included instead.

UPDATE 8:12am: According to Sportsnet, the hold up is on Kotalik's end.  Apparently he has a limited no trade clause that identifies 3 teams he can not be traded to without first agreeing to the deal...and Calgary is one of the 3 teams.

2 things: First, why wouldn't Sather ask Kotalik about this before he put a deal together?  Also, why did Kotalik get ANY form of no trade clause to begin with??  Wasn't the $3m per year for 3 years enough to get him to sign?...a huge win for Sather may just have turned into a huge disaster.

More on this as it develops...

UPDATE 7:05pm Monday: Darren Dreger is now reporting that the deal is very much in play and could be finalized tonight after the Flames-Flyers game.

There were varied reports throughout the day, with everything from the Flames wanting Jokinen for tonight's game to Kotalik not waiving his NTC to the Flames demanding that Ryan Callahan be in the deal instead of Higgins.  To be clear, the Rangers will definitely not trade Ryan Callahan for a rental (and possibly not at all).  The more I hear about this, the more it seems like the Flames just wanted Jokinen for tonight's game...weird things coming out of Team Sutter in Calgary.

UPDATE 12:42am Tuesday: Bob McKenzie of TSN just reported via Twitter that the trade call is going on right now with the Rangers, Flames, and the league office.  Should be finalized shortly and is as talked about yesterday: Kotalik/Higgins for Jokinen/Prust.

UPDATE 12:59am Tuesday: Courteousy of Bob McKenzie once again: "From @DarrenDreger: Trade call is over. Done deal."

I'll have more on this tomorrow, including a deeper breakdown of the deal and its implications.  Goodnight.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Hurricanes 1/27

Hurricanes 5, Rangers 1

• I don't know where else to start than this: This may have been Henrik Lundqvist's worst game of the season.  Eric Staal's eventual game-winner that came just 3:36 into the game was a terrible, terrible goal.  There's no other way of putting it.  The 4th goal wasn't much better.  The 1st and 3rd were nice deflections, and Hank had no chance at Staal's 2nd goal of the night (a one-timer blast to the top corner).
• After going 10 straight games allowing 2 goals or less, Lundqvist has now allowed 3 or more in 3 straight games.  My guess is that either Chad Johnson or Matt Zaba will get the start in Colorado on Sunday night to give him a couple of days off.
• Cam Ward was great in net tonight for the Hurricanes, and was very much deserving of the first star honors he received.
• The second period was a solid period of hockey, save for the shift after the Rangers pulled the game back to within a goal.  It looked to me like Matt Gilroy blew the coverage on the 3rd Carolina goal.
• Wade Redden was benched from that goal on, and I can't say I'm sure why.  His play didn't seem all that bad and it certainly wasn't his man who deflected the puck past Lundqvist.
• Watching Marc Staal play against either of his brothers is always entertaining for me.  There are always extra shoves between brothers and they seem to all love playing against one another.
• The past two games have revealed a not so good trend from last year of giving up goals on the shift immediately after a big goal.  Tuesday night, taking a quick penalty and giving up a quicker power play goal to let the Pens back into the game after taking a 2-1 lead.  Tonight, after closing to within a goal.
• Artem Anisimov had his 2nd straight strong game after I wrote that he needed a night off.  I was wrong (and am quite happy about that).  He should never have a shift without Enver Lisin on his wing.
• One rush in the third period pretty much summed up how things have going offensively for the Rangers of late: the puck jumped over Marian Gaborik's stick as he was attempting a wrist shot, then Vinny Prospal's stick broke as he attempted a slap shot following up.
• Gaborik also had the puck jump over his stick as he was trying to fire home a rebound in front of Ward.
• In person, Ryan Callahan's goal seemed to be one of the laziest deflections I had ever seen.  Now that I've had a chance to see a replay, Cally did a great job to fight off the defender and get his stick on the puck.
• Ales Kotalik was absolutely brutal.  I can remember 1 decent shift for him in the game, but his passing was FAR off, his shooting was off, and his play was poor.  Can we have Erik Christensen back in the lineup? PLEASE?!?
• Sean Avery was pretty much invisible tonight.  He threw his body around a bit while playing with Boyle and Voros, but he certainly wasn't anything close to an agitator.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Penguins 1/25

Penguins 4, Rangers 2

• Artem Anisimov...I was wrong.  I said he needed a day off, and it's a good thing he didn't get one since he provided all of the Rangers' scoring.  The best part for me was that he scored one goal using his stick handling skills and the 2nd goal by crashing the net.  He was also robbed by Fleury at least twice on very nice deflections in front.
• John Tortorella did a lot of line juggling during the game, and I can't say I blame him.  When your team hasn't put a single puck in a net for 7 straight periods, you have to try something.  That said, I still don't understand the thought process between sending Erik Christensen to the press box.  For a team that's hurting on the scoreboard, sitting a guy who can cash in for the 5:36 that Brashear played makes no sense to me.  If Torts was set on benching Christensen, Ales Kotalik should have gotten the chance.
• While I'm on personnel decisions, I still don't like the Girardi/Del Zotto pairing.  Girardi/Staal and Del Zotto/Rozsival seems much more effective.
• Henrik Lundqvist had his worst night in a LONG time.  Both goals by Chris Conner (7g in 77 career games before tonight, called up from the AHL today) looked rather soft to me; and according to Stan Fischler, Hank admitted he blew it on the game-winner.
• Without the benefit of replay, I didn't see the apparent slash that Marian Gaborik was called for (and led to the tying goal).  It seemed like a terrible call and I just had a feeling that the PEns would cash in on it.  The usually outstanding Rangers PK seems to have issues killing off penalties that appear to be bad calls.  That's something that needs to be fixed, and it's a 100% mental issue.
• On the officiating...where to start?  I already mentioned the call on Gaborik that seemed to be a soft call to me, but to have Wade Redden essentially bear hugged away from the puck minutes later right in front of the referee and have no interference called is just mind boggling to me.  If there is a video being made to teach new officials what interference is, a clip of that play should be on it.  Also, there was one play in the third period when the puck so clearly hit the netting that all 10 players stopped playing, but it took 4 players staring at the referee for anyone to blow a whistle.
• Marc Staal and Christopher Higgins both rebounded with strong showings.
• What is there not to like about Ryan Callahan?  6 hits, 4 shots on goal, and the best backcheck I've seen all year in catching Orpik from behind on a shorthanded breakaway and taking the puck away before Orpik could get a shot off.  Now if only he could have netted one of those...

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Canadiens 1/23

Canadiens 6, Rangers 0

• After the first 8 minutes or so, watching this game was just as bad as watching the last 6-0 loss (to Philly).  This is now the 2nd time in as many weeks that the Rangers have been shut out in back to back games, and this one time it's far less excusable (not that it ever was to begin with).
• Jaroslav Halak was excellent in net for the Habs tonight.  The Rangers had 3 point blank chances in the first 5 minutes, and Halak stood tall.  He also robbed Chris Drury on a one-timer from the left circle.  The most disappointing part of tonight for me: Halak is on the bench for my fantasy team today.
• Pulling Henrik Lundqvist was the right move.  Not because of anything he did, but because the team was playing putrid defense in front of him.
• Before everyone jumps on Michal Rozsival for letting Gomez get to the net on the opening tally, it was Drury who lost the draw clean to Gomez and then blew the coverage by following the puck instead of his man (as noted by Joe Micheletti on the broadcast).  Rozsival did the best job he could to go to the open man, but got there a split second too late.
• Marian Gaborik failed to score a goal for the 3rd straight game and 8th time in 9 games.  He looked better and recorded 7 shots on goal, but couldn't find the twine.  He also missed a wide open net a few minutes into the game.
• Michael Del Zotto had a horrid game.  Maybe it's time to call up someone from Hartford to give him a rest for a game.  I'm ok with rookie mistakes, but he's looked tired both mentally and physically in the past couple of games.
• I thought Marc Staal rebounded from a terrible showing against the Flyers and was the best Ranger on the ice tonight.
• Ales Kotalik should play on Monday night against the Penguins.  Artem Anisimov or Christopher Higgins should sit.  Anisimov has looked tired like Del Zotto in the past few games and could use a rest.
• Aaron Voros and Enver Lisin should absolutely stay in the lineup.  Voros took a bad penalty night, but I like the passion he's been playing with.  
• Plus, Voros got Marian Gaborik on Twitter.
• Matt Zaba looked ok in his NHL debut.  There's no way to really judge it though, very similar to Chad Johnson's debut in the last 6-0 defeat.
• The Rangers need to regroup and regroup fast.  Familiar foes Pittsburgh make and appearance at MSG on Monday night, and the fans are itching for something to cheer about (see also: goals, a win, and Sidney Crosby getting knocked on his butt).

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Blues 1/16

Blues 4, Rangers 1

• Enver Lisin MUST stay in the lineup.  He was the best Ranger on the ice all night, skating hard and creating chances.  I thought he should have drawn a tripping call on his partial breakaway, and he drew one on his next shift after hitting the crossbar.
• Marian Gaborik has definitely hit a rough patch, and not just offensively.  After blowing coverage on the game-winner Thursday night against Ottawa, his turnover led to the game-winner tonight.  He also had a glorious chance and was stoned by Mason.
• The Blues have the best forecheck I've seen all year.  I hope Torts uses it as an example of how to effectively--and consistently--forecheck.
• Chad Johnson was ok.  I still don't see him as an NHL caliber goalie yet, but he seems to be the best in-house option the Rangers have.
• The D pair of Dan Girardi and Michael Del Zotto has to end.  They were minus-2 together tonight, and the defensive pairs seem to be so much more in sync when Staal is with Girardi and Del Zotto is with Rozsival.
• The power play was brutal, and there's no other way to put it.  I think the Blues had more shots on Rangers power plays than the Rangers did.  Unaccepatable.
• Hockey 101:  Clear the zone...seriously, do it!
• BREAKING NEWS: The Rangers scored a goal!  Now they need to work on increasing that number again.
• Brian Boyle was the one who found the back of the net--ok maybe not the back, but the puck found its way completely across the goal line--and Aaron Voros got the lone assist.
• If I was coaching this team:  Aaron Voros and Enver Lisin both play again tomorrow night.  Kotalik rejoins the lineup in place of Higgins.
• In all fairness, the Blues played a solid defensive game and Chris Mason was strong in net.
• It was good to see JD on MSG (or whatever you want to call it) again, and great to hear he's doing well.  It makes me miss hearing and seeing him next to Sam that much more though.
• The box score says the Rangers had 27 hits to the Blues' 23.  I don't know what game the statistician was watching, because the Blues were hitting everything in sight.  They might have had 23 hits in the third period.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Stars 1/6

Rangers 5, Stars 2

• Welcome back, Sean Avery!  What a night for Avery...he started by tying the game early on a slapper over Turco's shoulder, then went on to record the primary assist on the next 3 Rangers goals, all while annoying the heck out of the Stars (at points it seemed like they were collectively more focused on killing #16 than beating the Rangers).
• Avery also had what I'm calling the quote of the year in his postgame interview when asked what was different about this game, he simply stated, "I was getting paid by 2 teams."  Classic!  Here's the video from his interview. (Thanks @cathybytes)
• Henrik Lundqvist is looking like The King again...how about that silly stick save he made on Jamie Benn in the second period?!? WOW!  The only 2 pucks that got by him tonight were deflected.
• Can we all agree that Erik Christensen has earned a regular spot on this team?  4-game point streak since taking Vinny Prospal's spot and another strong game tonight.
• Michal Rozsival had 2 more assists tonight (8 in the last 10 games), and was the only Ranger not named Avery to record more than 1 point...just sayin'.
• Dan Girardi is an absolute warrior and I hope Glen Sather locks him up for another 2-4 years at about $1.5-2m per.  He blocked a team-high 4 shots tonight in a team-high 23:09, was plus-3, had 2 hits and 2 takeaways. I'm not sure about this, but I don't think he's missed a game since he was called up from Hartford 3 seasons ago...that's 240 consecutive games and he's only 25.
• Donald Brashear was flat out robbed of his first goal as a Ranger by Marty Turco tonight.
• With his empty netter, Ryan Callahan is officially the 2nd 10-goal scorer on the Rangers this season.  Callahan also had a strong game on the PK, along with Chris Drury.  The PK went 6 for 6 tonight.
• Ales Kotalik has improved his play at even strength of late, and done so with consistency.
• Brandon Dubinsky had another strong game playing left wing.  Torts should keep him there for the long haul.
• Tomorrow (Thursday) night's game at Atlanta will be on MSG+

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Bruins 1/4

Rangers 3, Bruins 2

• So apparently Christopher Higgins CAN (and did) hit the side of a barn...but only if practically he's touching it already.
• If you caught the postgame interview with Higgins on Versus, you may have noticed that he didn't even know who he scored on.  He thinks he beat an Olympic goalie (Time Thomas)...maybe we shouldn't tell him it was actually a 22-year-old Finnish rookie with a cool name (Tuuka Rask).
• Erik Christensen again showed why he should continue to see ice time as a top 6 forward, even after Vinny Prospal comes back from his knee surgery.  I was sitting with a Bruins fan tonight who was quite impressed with the move he put on Rask to score...I agree.
• Marian Gaborik seemed to have an off night, although he did put 6 pucks on net.
• I thought Ales Kotalik had another effective game at even strength, and put his rocket of a slapper to work in picking up his 7th goal of the season.
• Donald Brashear was for the most part effective in his 5+ minutes of ice time.  He got a pair of good shots on Rask and tried to engage Byron bitz, who declined.
• Brandon Dubinsky had another strong game on the left wing, picking up a pair of assists and having Rask keep him from scoring a goal or 2.
• Michal Rozsival had a strong defensive game and did a great job to deny Marc Savard of a shot on his partial breakaway without taking a penalty.  He was whistled in the 3rd period for tripping, but it looked a lot like a dive to me (and the Bruins fans sitting to my left). 
• Henrik Lundqvist was sharp, and likely would have pitched a shut out save for a couple of late defensive breakdowns.
• Ryan Callahan had a very strong game tonight, especially on the PK.  At one point he spent 10-15 shorthanded seconds with the puck in the Bruins zone, while 4 Bruins tried to take it away from him.  He probably could have even drawn a holding the stick or hooking penalty on the play, but nothing was called.
• Tuuka Rask leads all NHL goalies this season with a 0.935 save percentage...and the Rangers beat him.  This was a very solid win for this team.

Postgame Reactions - Rangers vs. Hurricanes 1/2

Hurricanes 2, Rangers 1 (OT)

• Christopher Higgins could not hit a parked car with a puck if he was inside of it.
• Christopher Higgins could'nt hit the side of a barn with a grenade launcher if he was standing next to it.
• You get the point...I just don't understand how Higgins continues to see the amount of ice time he's been getting recently (20:21 tonight, including 2:51 on the PP) while Avery (11:22), Lisin (4:03), and Anisimov (12:02) continue to play well in limited time.  I especially don't understand it after Higgins took 2 bad penalties in the first period today.
• Speaking of Enver Lisin...did you see that move he made to create a shooting lane for himself before getting flat out robbed by Cam Ward?!?  That's why Glen Sather gave up Lauri Korpikoski for him.
• Cam Ward played an excellent game and was deserving as the game's #1 star, but the Rangers hit the post 5 times that I counted from my seat and should have put at least 1 of those in the back of the net.  As Torts said in his post-game press conference, this game should not have gone to OT.
• Erik Christensen really looks like he fits in well with Dubinsky and Gaborik.  He played almost 20 minutes, picked up an assist on Gaborik's goal, and got 1 shot of his own on goal.
• I thought Ales Kotalik had as solid a game as he's had in a loooong time (all season?), especially at even strength.  I still think he needs to get himself open more and go back to letting a few slappers rip from the point on every PP.
• I'm happy I can say this...Brian Boyle had a solid game and earned every bit of his 9+ minutes of ice time.  He even got 4 shots on net.
• Dan Girardi has looked good over the past few games, and I like the pairings much better when he plays with Staal and Del Zotto skates with Rozsival.