New York Rangers Preview

Departures
Paul Mara, Derek Morris, Scott Gomez, Markus Naslund, Nik Antropov, Blair Betts, Fredrik Sjostrom, Colton Orr, Lauri Korpokoski

Arrivals
Marian Gaborik, Chris Higgins, Ales Kotalik, Tyler Arnason, Enver Lisin, Donald Brashear, Brian Boyle, Matt Gilroy, Ryan McDonagh

Forwards
After big changes in the summer of ’08 there were even more this summer. The trade of over paid Scott Gomez to the Habs for Chris Higgins and defenseman Ryan McDonagh opened up enougb cap space to sign the lethal Marian Gaborik. Gaborik is one of the purest goal scorers in the league. When he is healthy. Injuries have plagued the Slovak throughout his eight years in the league. If healthy he could push Ovechkin for the Rocket Richard under a more offensive coach like Tortorella. After Gaborik there are a lot of question marks on forward. Can Avery behave enough to be an impact, will Higgins rebound from a poor season in Montreal, will Zherdev be back to play? With all of these questions the Rangers will once again be in tough up front.

Defenseman
The top-four remain the same as last season. Much to the chagrin of Rangers’ fans Wade Redden still has another five years left on his $39-million contract. Redden had his worst goal output ever scoring a mere three goals in 81 games. Marc Staal is the new number one guy in New York and as such will have to step up his offensive game as well. Hobey Baker winner and free-agent signee Matt Gilroy will be looking to crack the top-six as well as former first-round picks Bobby Sanguinetti and Michael Del Zotto.

Goalies
Much like Brodeur in New Jersey, King Henrik is the man in New York. He has been a Vezina finalist in each of his four seasons in the NHL. It’s only a matter of time until the 27-year-old gets his name on the trophy.

Strengths
- Gaborik will give fans something to cheer about for at least half the season. If he stays healthy the sky is the limit for Gaborik who will be playing his first season under an offensive minded coach, who likes to ride his top guys.

- Lundqvist is a model of consistency in net. Without him the Rangers would surely be bottom feeders in the East. With him they are a playoff team.

Weaknesses
- Forward depth is going to be an issue this season. They have talent on their top two lines if they come out to play. Which is something that none of the six have done at the same time before. After their top-six there will be a lot of fingers being crossed.

- With so much money tied up in Redden, Drury and Gaborik ($20+ million) the Rangers’ aren’t able to shore up their forwards or defense. They will have to count on a number of rookies to step in and be impact players.

Analysis
Last season the Rangers made the playoffs on the back of Lundqvist and failed to help him in the first-round after he got them up three games to one against the Caps. This season the Rangers will have to lean on Lundqvist even more to stay in the race for the playoffs. Especailly if Gaborik goes down.

Prediction: 7th in the East