Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. If you found the link to this blog on Twitter, then I guess that you have a healthy “rate limit!”
And while I’ll soon get into all of Twitter’s shenanigans from Saturday, as what Musk and his company did negatively impacted the hockey world (and as we certainly saw during the past 24-hours too); a reminder – hit the subscribe button at the end of this blog (located in the PLUGS segment), so you won’t miss one of these manifestos – and of course – only if you should so desire!
Furthermore, if you understand the “Six-Figure Dollar Man” reference from tonight’s headline, where maybe six of you are aware of the old Lee Majors’ show, “The Six Million Dollar Man” – then my Rangers’ hat is tipped to you!
However, before getting into the litany of subjects that we have to discuss tonight; up first, a plug for my dear old friend, a pal who has become one of my closest friends, Stan Fischler.
Fischler’s granddaughter, Avigail, is an inspiring female hockey player. She was also recently accepted into a high-end hockey program; but like any other skater, male or female, finances are an issue.
Currently, the Fischler family is looking to raise $20,000 in order to better both Avigail’s education and her hockey career – where she hopes to one day play in the Olympics.
There is a GoFundMe with the hopes of helping Avigail reach her dreams, one that you can find here: https://gofund.me/33d8db90
Her father, Stan’s son, Simon, said:
Dear All,
I hope you all are doing well.
As a parent no one wants to turn to others for help, we want to know that we can do all for our children.
It has been thirty years since my heart transplant and miraculously I am still here to write this for Avigail.
She has pulled off a miracle as great as me still being alive.
Being accepted to one of the best Prep schools for education and Ice Hockey.
Still, they have awarded Avigail $41,000 of financial aid out of a total needed of $61,000.
If you know anyone out there that wants to see Women’s Ice Hockey Gold returned to America.
Please consider passing the link below on to someone you think would want to make this miracle come true.
Sincerely,
Simon
When speaking about his devoted and cherished granddaughter, Stan said:
Hello hockey fans.
My name is Stan Fischler and I’ve created this GoFundMe page to help my grand-daughter, Avigail Fischler, to cover her education expenses at Culver Academies in Indiana.
She hopes to enter as a freshman later this summer.
After two years of playing on a boy’s hockey team in Thun, Switzerland — against boy’s teams — Avigail has honed her hockey skills to sharpness and is ready to star on the American prep school scene.
Avigail chose Culver over two other prestigious hockey prep schools — Shattuck-St.Mary’s and Bishop Kearney. Culver’s coach, his techniques and their conversations appealed to her.
A two-way defenseman, Avigail was an MVP on both her Swiss teams and is a hockey natural.
Therefore, it was perfectly natural for her to want to advance her skills up the hockey ladder where competition is keenest.
Having checked out Avigail the athlete and Avigail the student, Culver offered the highest scholarship available ($40,000) which left us 20 grand short. And that’s the unabashed reason for this GoFundMe.
Since his heart transplant in 1993, Avigail’s father, Simon Fischler, has suffered
several medical setbacks. As a result he has been unable to work and lives on a pittance of a pension. Avigail’s mother, Lilach, has a modest paying job — counselor at a home for the mentally impaired — which just barely meets the minimum needs for her three children, Ariel, Odel and Avigail.Everyone who has seen her play agrees that Avigail’s potential as a hockey player is enormous.
And anyone who has conversed with Avigail in person comes away secure in the knowledge that this 14-year-old is wise beyond her years.
The goal of this GoFundMe is clear; collect enough so Avigail can learn and bring home a Gold medal in women’s Ice Hockey .
Thanks for your consideration.
Stan Fischler
One more time, and should you have the finances to do so; the link to donate is here: https://gofund.me/33d8db90
Moving forward.
As predicted on this site, and most likely predicted everywhere else too – Saturday – and with the Twitter fiasco aside – was always going to be a busy day for not just the Rangers, but for the entire league as well.
What I don’t think that was predicted anywhere was the amount of times that Drury and his staff would put pen to paper.
With a pair of veterans leading the way, right-winger Blake Wheeler (turns 37-years-old on August 31st) and goaltender Jonathan Quick (turns 38-years-old on January 21st); these two names, the first unrestricted free agents that Drury signed, were soon joined by the likes of Tyler Pitlick (turns 32-years-old on November 1st), Riley Nash (just turned 34-years-old), Alex Belzile (turns 32-years-old on August 31st – and shares a birthday with Wheeler), Nick Bonino (35-years-old), Erik Gustafsson (31-years-old), Connor Mackey (turns 27-years-old on September 12th and will be assigned to the AHL) and Nikolas Brouillard (turns 28-years-old, has never played an NHL game and will join Mackey in Hartford).
This, my friends, is not exactly a nine-man “Murderers’ Row” akin to the 1927 New York Yankees.
However, what this nonet (group of nine – look you learned a new word today!) truly is, are a collection of no-risk signings – and where for the players competing for spots on the varsity roster – bring veteran experience, including a few Stanley Cup victories.
Of course, Quick, one of the all-time “Ranger Killers” around (he’s featured in my upcoming book – and more on that at the end of this blog), has three Stanley Cups (2012, 2014 and 2023) to his name – but that won’t matter in the postseason anyway – unless something drastically tragic happens to CZAR IGOR once the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs commence.
Center Nick Bonino is also a “Ranger Killer,” albeit on a much smaller scale when compared to Quick, as he previously won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh (2016 and 2017) as part of the old Penguins’ “HBK Line” (Carl Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel).
Blake Wheeler, who potentially can become both the biggest surprise and reward of these signings, peaked many years ago, as his prime years took place prior to the pandemic, following a pair of 91-point seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19).
And let’s face it, while he’s the only name that truly “pops out” at you; there’s also a reason why the Winnipeg Jets (formerly the Atlanta Thrashers) bought out one of their top stars from their past thirteen seasons – and as they did on Friday, 6/30, when they bought out the final year of Wheeler’s five-year contract ($8,250,000).
But in a way, and with the Blueshirts still having depth issues at the right-wing position (Kaapo Kakko, in theory, is the Rangers’ first-line right-winger heading into next season – and that doesn’t exactly instill any sort of confidence either); Drury and company kind of need Wheeler not to be experiment – but to work out.
While I hate doing the “PROPOZED LINEZ” junk in the first place and especially in July (I’ll let an idiot like Wince Mercogliano do such nonsense for clicks); on paper, you’d have to think that Wheeler will begin the 2023-24 campaign on the Rangers’ second line.
I’ll get into all of the now former Rangers who moved on elsewhere on Saturday; but I don’t know – for the amount of money spent on these nine signings, all six-figures each (I’ll have the exact breakdowns for you below) – I would have rather pooled all of that money and then made a run at Vladimir Tarasenko.
In a way, “The Pizza Man,” and unlike his pies served at his “Colony Pizza” restaurants – went quantity over quality on Saturday.
We’ll see how this roster pie tastes and goes down once we get to the regular season – where again on this site – the 2023-24 campaign doesn’t mean a damn thing – outside of qualifying for the playoffs.
In short – Games 1-82 means nothing. The only thing that matters is what happens in the postseason.
In my opinion, the biggest date on the NHL calendar for the Rangers is the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. That’s when they’ll make their real playoff push.
And should the Rangers find themselves as one of the elite eight Eastern Conference teams come the playoffs?
If both “STONE COLD” Aturnover Panarin and DJ MIA continue their ghost acts; then everything done today, during the regular season, and at the trade deadline, will all be for naught.
And should that be the case, then you have to wonder what CZAR IGOR, set to become a free agent on July 1st, 2025, will be thinking – especially after seeing the contract that his chum, Ilya Sorokin, signed with the Islanders on 7/1/23.
What a dramatic intro!
Before getting into all of Saturday’s events; let’s first take a quick look at the top stories from Friday – the one day this week where I didn’t post an update on this site!
There’s a lot to cover tonight, so sit back, bust out your favorite drink and get ready to scroll. We’re hitting 10,000 words!
While the Rangers didn’t announce any sort of a schedule for their upcoming Development Camp (why would they – as they love withholding information, and also know that their “suckers,” aka fans, will always support them regardless); where at the end of it – you get a bunch of scrimmage games – including a pair of matches against the Flyers’ rookies and prospects. However, the Blueshirts did announce the roster above. Whoop-de-doo!
A quick look at that roster and everything seems to be in order – although I almost forgot about Olof Lindbom – the Swedish goalie that the Rangers took with their 39th-overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
Lindbom spent the majority of last season with the Jacksonville Icemen (ECHL), where I guess I should mention it here, as I don’t think that I have said it on this site already – the Rangers will be looking for a new ECHL affiliate this summer too.
Just last week, the Icemen announced that their partnership with the Rangers (and the Wolfpack) had ceased and that later this month, they’ll announce their new business relationship with another NHL franchise.
For those who don’t know; short-term alliances between NHL (and AHL) clubs and with their ECHL affiliates are the norm – especially in the salary cap era.
In other words, I wouldn’t look too deep into this, although admittedly – this two-year relationship was shorter than the previous dealings – and it’s only human nature that makes you wonder why this pact ended so quick.
For a frame of reference, following a 1996-2010 relationship with Neil Smith’s Charlotte Checkers; the Blueshirts had these ECHL affiliates during the past thirteen years:
— Greenville Road Warriors (2010-2015)
— Greenville Swamp Rabbits (2015-2018) (The Road Warriors became the Swamp Rabbits in 2015.)
— The Maine Mariners (2018-2021)
Aside from his 28 games played with the Icemen; Lindbom, who the Rangers definitely did not draft with the thinking of “taking the best player available” at the time; played one game for the Wolfpack last season, where he went 0-1, posted a 3.51 GAA and finished with a .818 save percentage – not exactly all-world numbers.
The netminder will turn 23-years-old on July 23rd, and with CZAR IGOR comfortably in-tow for at least the next two seasons – Lindbom will have time to figure it out.
As mentioned, while the Rangers haven’t said anything official as of yet; last year, the franchise, despite having you know, their own television network (with four different channels on cable) and live-streaming capabilities with their YouTube, Facebook and Twitter accounts – didn’t air one second of any of these games, practices or scrimmages – and unlike the Flyers.
Last season, during the home-and-home series, the Flyers (locally) broadcasted their home game for their fans – and where for Ranger fans – you had to deal with illegal streams and headaches in order to find it.
“The Rangers’ Way!”
In other prospect/development camp news from Friday, the Rangers lent us these insights to their 23rd-overall pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Gabriel Perreault:
It’s nice to know that Perreault, a first-round pick, “can pass” and “can shoot.” It’s all “Great!”
Talk about insider information.
Moving on from the prospects; on Friday, before Twitter crapped out (and that rant is coming, just give me a minute!), John Giannone, of the MSGN, had his account hacked:
Since I rarely pay attention to the ins-and-outs of Twitter; apparently, these hacks, where scammers ask people to send them money for discounted computers (I wonder if Drury took a whiff at this deal too?) are commonplace.
Without knowing that these hacks are a daily occurrence; I thought that John Giannone, like a late 1990s George Costanza, was competing with Lloyd Braun for the affection and attention of Frank Costanza.
Sadly, this was only a hack – so Mr. Giannone won’t be winning Estelle Costanza’s water-pick anytime soon.
(And yes – this is another one of the 3483783738438 “Seinfeld” references made on this site!)
The Rangers’ beat of today, who we all know are the worst crop of team beat reporters in all of franchise history (no one is confusing this crew with Hugh Delano, Trent Frayne and Walt McPeek), continued to run around in their proverbial hamster wheels on Friday – and then into Saturday too.
Even someone who I have said has done a good job as of late, “The Athletic’s” Arthur Staple, found himself involved in another “controversy” – although I do believe that he was ultimately the “victim” of GM-speak – stuff which I’ll soon get into.
And when it comes to the Rangers’ beat “Race for the Scoops;” Staple still has a comfortable lead.
For whatever reason, since these 5-6 “reporters,” where for all intents-and-purposes, they are just “transcribers,” where when they aren’t transcribing whatever the Rangers’ head coach or GM said, then they are transcribing whatever the Canadian reporters, like Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek, had said – whenever one of them gets an idea – then the rest of them, and as if they were all sharing the same one ratty brain – all run with it.
Case in point: The future of Barclay Goodrow.
Following Wince Mercogliano taking a picture of what he ate for dinner and then posting it on Twitter; the LoHud (what the hell is LoHud anyway) writer decided to play Jimmy Olsen (rather than waiting for a Canadian to provide the accurate information) – and then inaccurately reported that the last day for buyouts for the purpose of waiving a player was on Thursday.
Larry Brooks, of the New York Post, took a timeout from writing another one of his odes to Mike Sullivan and then quickly debunked Wince’s erroneous junk – as the last day for buying out a player for the purpose of a conditional release was on Friday, June 30th, at 5PM.
However, what both Brooks and Wince were getting at, and of course, Mollie “I Don’t Give a Shit” Walker, the walking human birdbrain, got involved too; was that the Rangers “HAD TO BUY OUT GOODROW!”
“HE MAKES TOO MUCH MONEY,” they shouted, while ignoring that Goodrow isn’t the problem on this team.
Not mentioned once by any of these dolts was that Goodrow is the exact player that both Drury, and his new head coach, Peter Laviolette, desire.
Not only does Goodrow provide Cup winning experience (a quality that Drury has always looked for ever since stabbing John Davidson in the back); but as a “jack-of-all-trades” player, he’s the only skater on the club that can play all three positions – and on all four lines too.
But since these scribes had no clue what Drury was going to do during free agency; by using their expert wisdom, they all deducted that Goodrow, also a glue guy and locker room leader, had to go.
Even sillier and also omitted from these bullshit reports full of nonsensical speculation?
Drury hasn’t bought out one player during his tenure as Rangers’ GM.
Even if Drury had even considered moving on from Goodrow – then he would’ve traded him.
And who knows, that may still be the case – although I wouldn’t bet on that.
Don’t forget, this is also the same GM that found trading partners for players like Patrik Nemeth, Nils Lundkvist, Vitali Kravtsov, etc; so in other words – Drury wasn’t going to give Goodrow away for free.
And yep, as 5PM Friday came-and-went – Goodrow was still a Ranger.
These reporters, who were obsessed with pushing the “GOODROW MUST GO” narrative, never mentioned this.
We have the worst beat reporters in the league.
And just to think, being a reporter in NYC actually used to mean something.
What a sad state of affairs.
Finally, in our last piece of news from Friday; the Rangers announced the statuses of their restricted free agents.
Receiving qualifying offers were: Ty Emberson, Alexis Lafreniere, K’Andre Miller, Lauri Pajuniemi and Brandon Scanlin.
The players who Drury and company moved on from, thus players who didn’t receive qualifying offers, were: Libor Hajek, Patrick Khodorenko and Cooper Zech.
While it was always expected that both Lafreniere and Miller would be qualified; there was a part of me that wondered about Hajek, who wasn’t qualified.
Finally, for the Czech defenseman, this cruel-and-unusual punishment, where he received a qualifying offer every year – and was then punted to Hartford or to the press box – is now over.
Hopefully, he can get a fresh start elsewhere – and the hockey gods sure know that he deserves it.
In addition, the Rangers, when speaking about their unrestricted free agents, said that they wouldn’t be making offers to Ryan Carpenter, Jaroslav Halak, Patrick Kane, Nikko Mikkola, C.J. Smith and Vladimir Tarasenko.
While I’ll have all the latest signing information for you below; the most interesting name here is Patrick Kane.
It was reported by Friedman that Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, had not spoken to the Rangers about a possible return.
However, Staple, and the panel on the NHL Network on Saturday too, made a lot of sense when they shared what I’ve previously written:
There’s no rush for Kane to sign anywhere.
While the whole idea of stashing Kane on the LTIR still exists (and depending on what money he’s looking for – the Blueshirts do have some extra bucks to play around with even if Kane returns in-season as expected); for “SHOWTIME” – it’s in his best interest to sit back and see how the season unfolds.
For example, if he’s not ready until the calendar flips until 2024 – then he can hang out and pick what team he thinks has the best shot at the Stanley Cup.
He’s already made his money (huge money at that), so if Cup #4 is more important to him than a few extra dollars; then he can sign on the cheap with whatever team emerges as a leading contender.
For what it’s worth, both Kane and his agent have said that #88 enjoyed his short stint in New York.
For the Rangers, who are still weak at right-wing; it’s up to them to get out the gate hot, in order to entice Kane to sign a cheap contract with them – should that be the desire.
Let’s now get into the Twitter nonsense, and then everything from Saturday – day one, of the NHL’s free agency period.
You can use the Google machine, ironically a company that Elon Musk is in debt to, in order to get every piece of minutiae from this story; but in the event that you aren’t aware, here’s one link that covers all of the Twitter drama from Saturday: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-outage-prompts-response-from-elon-musk/
In what feels like a ploy to drive up Twitter Blue paid subscriptions; Musk, who purchased the company last year for $44B, is not allowing endless scrolling anymore. As a result, many Twitter users are like Randy Marsh from that “South Park” episode (the one where he makes a mess of himself at the end of) when the internet went down – and where everyone was fighting for “scraps of internet.”
At around 8AM EST, nearly every Twitter user that logged in found out that their account had their “Rate Limits Exceeded” – where at the time – not many, including yours truly, knew what that meant.
When this first happened (and this has continued into Sunday, July 2nd), Twitter users just thought that the app had a bug or was hacked. Instead, Musk, for the people who could actually see it, tweeted that this “bug” was of his own doing, when he said, “To address extreme levels of data scraping & system manipulation, we’ve applied the following temporary limits: – Verified accounts are limited to reading 6000 posts/day – Unverified accounts to 600 posts/day – New unverified accounts to 300/day.”
Of course, and unless you’re a tech-geek, then you had no clue what “data scraping” meant. Apparently, it has something to do with artificial intelligence, as once again, THE MACHINES HAVE TAKEN OVER.
(But don’t worry – this blog was written by yours truly – and not ChatGPT – or so I say!)
While this story is a big one, and kind of messy too, nor one that I want to explore every avenue of either; basically, Musk owes money to a bunch of different companies for bandwidth and server space, and by limiting how much content that users can see, Twitter won’t need as much bandwidth and server space. The company is also allowing people who pay for the app ($11-a-month for smart phone users) to see more content.
If anything, I think my first-and-biggest takeaway is the fact how big Twitter has truly become.
Even as a 41-year-old, I felt helpless without it – especially today – during one of the most important sports days of the year.
While others say, and defiantly state for that matter, that Twitter must return to normal; at the same time, it’s a private company. Twitter isn’t a god-given right or anything as serious as that. It’s an app.
However, should Musk bury his company with this decision, then people will find the next platform to go to.
At the same time, has Twitter grown so big, so much so, that they have a responsibility to provide their service for free? That’s a tricky question – because again – they are a private company; but they are also the number one news source for many people.
Put it this way: If there’s a major catastrophe in your area (school shooting, fires, storms, the New York Mets, etc), and if your Twitter account is your news outlet; then under today’s rules – you may not hear about it.
In other words, due to this new policy; both prevention of harm and quality of life can be affected.
Twitter’s new policy impacts everything – where for this blog – it certainly changed my life today.
My account, where I can’t see any tweets (but I can see my notifications – although I can’t see what people are responding to), prevented me from following the NHL Free Agency period on the app.
Instead, I just watched the NHL Network’s presentation, which featured the recently fired Brian Burke and E.J. “If you don’t support pedophilia and grooming, then you can go to war in Russia” Hradek.
While I can’t pretend to have a clue about “data scraping;” what I do have a clue about is advertising.
After all, I’ve sold many of my books off of Twitter and have purchased ads in the past to promote them.
Why would anyone today purchase advertising from Twitter, now knowing that the audience/customers has never been less than ever before as it is right now?
Furthermore, if you subscribe to Twitter Blue, then you’ll see 50% less ads (you’d think that you would have an option not to see any ads for $11-a-month, akin to streaming services where once purchasing them – you don’t see commercials), which again brings us to – why would any company/person spend their advertising dollars on Twitter under these parameters?
As an experiment, I signed up for Twitter Blue today (I will cancel it on July 31st, before the subscription auto-renews) – and nothing had changed.
My account is still frozen and I couldn’t follow the feeds of the Rangers, Friedman, Pierre Lebrun or Darren Dreger during the free agency period; nor could I see what my friends and followers were saying either.
In addition, and I know I’ve mentioned this about 78967896789678967896 times before; when I do my GAME REVIEWS on this site during the season, I use Twitter as my “live notebook,” where following the games, I open up a window with my Twitter feed, and then look back at my tweets. That’s why I’m always able to provide to you the time-marks, accurate descriptions, the unintentional comedy provided from Sam Rosen & Joe Micheletti, etc.
Had this Twitter decision happened today? Then, I’d have to write my GAME REVIEW off of memory – and no one wants that!
But a beer-bellied bullshit blogger like myself is just a small speck to this story.
All fields of news use Twitter to report their stories and to share their links. There are much bigger stories out there than whatever is happening in the hockey world – although our little puck world relies on Twitter – and for better or for worse.
But of course, for Twitter to pull this stunt during free agency? Then as my Italian friend, Nunzio, would say, “BA FUNGUL!”
Just think about it. Your average sporting event/game/match/contest/whatever usually runs 2-3 hours. Day one of free agency starts at 12PM and goes on all day.
While I can check SportsNet for the news; it’s just not the same as getting instant information from Twitter.
As someone who never had MySpace, doesn’t have an Instagram and just uses Facebook to talk hockey, talk about my nieces and share fart jokes; Twitter has always been my go-to app – and quite frankly, and as I write these words – I’m ashamed to admit that!
In a way, and like many of you, I’ve become a “Twitter-aholic,” as I use the app to get 99.9% of my news – hockey, sports, world, entertainment or otherwise. I also use it to connect with friends that I don’t get to see as much of anymore, due to my wise pals getting the hell out of New York!
(I guess it’s also why I was “suckered-in” to make an $11 donation for Twitter Blue too – and that my friends, is what I’m ashamed about the most – especially since it doesn’t work as promised!)
In closing, while Twitter doesn’t owe its users anything; should they continue to employ this policy, one that ruined the NHL Free Agency period for everyone due to the “Rate Limit Exceeded” restrictions – then a new app will emerge and as a result – Musk will be out $44B.
And while he can afford such a loss, you can also bet your own paltry bank account when compared to his, that the eccentric multi-billionaire does not want that loss on his ledger either.
Until Twitter amends their policies, and I’m assuming that they will, as I do think the loss of advertising dollars will outweigh whatever their issues are with “data scraping;” presently, I can’t see what you send me on Twitter.
In other words, use the comments section of this blog or just email me directly, rather than DMing and tweeting at me.
With all of that purged from my system; at this time, let’s get into what happened during the first day of the NHL’s free agency period, by beginning with what the Rangers did, followed by everything else.
Prior to getting into all of the Rangers’ free agents; it should be said here that all of Drury’s signings from Saturday are of no risk. Nothing is more important than that.
Should any of these players fail or not make the cut, then all of them can be sent to Hartford or outright waived; as we’re not dealing with a Wade Redden contract here.
In addition, should it be Kane or somebody else at around the trade deadline; then the Rangers can jettison off any of these players to the Wolfpack – and without having to worry about the salary cap.
Just keep this in mind, because really, this is the biggest benefit to all of these deals.
While officially, Blake Wheeler was the first free agent that the Rangers signed on Saturday; unofficially, the Blueshirts already had their deal done with Quick on Friday – as the once youngest team of the league during the David Quinn era has now become the oldest team – real “quick.” (Har-har-har!)
Perhaps when I start going into the hard-sell mode of my upcoming book, “The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History,” then I’ll share the Quick profile/chapter on this site for free.
But even as a “Ranger Killer,” one that ruined my 32nd birthday on June 13th, 2014, and one who continued to play well against the Blueshirts in regular season competition too – I just don’t get this signing – and for one reason – Cam Talbot was available.
Yes, yes, and yes – we all know that no one (of a non-blood relation) is a bigger fan of “THE GOALBUSTER” more than yours truly – but hear me out.
Quick signed a one-year deal with Drury worth $825K – the same Quick that was unceremoniously traded away by the only team he’s ever known last season, the Kings, to the Blue Jackets – and where immediately after trading for him – Columbus then “quickly” dealt the then two-time Cup champ to Vegas.
As a back-up goalie on the Golden Knights roster, one that didn’t play one postseason game; Quick won his third Stanley Cup this past June.
The reason why he didn’t play? He’s long past his prime.
Quick, the 2012 Conn Smythe winner, is no longer what he once was, as he’s routinely had seasons of sub .900 save percentages and over 3.00 GAA’s.
Conversely, Talbot, who ironically signed a one-year deal in L.A. for $1M on 7/1/23, has been significantly better than Quick in recent years – although he did battle injury issues in Ottawa during the 2022-23 season.
For an extra $175K (according to CapFriendly.com, following the moves from Saturday, the Rangers now have $6,175,417 to play around with – money that will most likely be used to retain both Miller and Lafreniere – but more on them in a bit); the Blueshirts could’ve had their former one-time back-up, now with nine more years of experience under his belt, and primarily spent as a starter, back in the mix.
Again, this is my blog and I’ll blog if I want to (and everything said here is my own opinion); but when watching Quick during these past two seasons – he looked shot. He looked done. While Talbot’s prime years are behind him too; he’s still much more serviceable than Quick.
In addition, Talbot has a previous relationship with Allaire, one that could’ve continued had “The Pizza Man” added some Talbot-pepperoni to his pie.
Quick, now a dinosaur, has no relationship with Allaire – and really – is the “goalie whisperer” going to teach this old dog some new tricks – or is Quick, who could wind up retiring by 2024 – just going to be set in his ways?
My prediction? This is Ondrej Pavelec 2.0 – and Quick doesn’t work out – and as Alexandar Georgiev once emerged from Hartford to replace “Ondrej The Giant” – one of the Wolfpack goalies will eventually get a call-up and become CZAR IGOR’s back-up.
Another prediction? Both Sam Rosen and Joe Micheletti will mention no less than 89678967687967966 times during Quick’s first game as a Ranger that he grew up as a fan of Mike Richter.
I’ve also been told from Rosen & Micheletti that Adam Fox is from Jericho, NY too.
Of note: “The Halakness Monster,” five wins away from career win #300, is still an unrestricted free agent as of this writing.
I guess he wanted more than $825K next season – as it’s my opinion, that Halak, another major “Ranger Killer” from the past, played well last season.
I should make mention, that normally, I’d just share with you what the Rangers said about all of these players, via their official press releases – but with nine players signed – it’s just too much. I know these 10,000-word blogs are long enough already – and no one wants a 20,000-word blog!
In other words, you can find the Wheeler press release here: https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-agree-to-terms-with-blake-wheeler/c-345157182?icmp=int_web_nyr_news_rightrail
You can also find the other eight press releases over on NYRangers.com too.
Wheeler, following his Winnipeg buyout, was the first free agent that Drury signed on Saturday. It’s been alleged that Jacob Trouba, and as he has done in the past (2021-22 season, Frank Vatrano and Andrew Copp), campaigned his former teammate to sign with his club.
At a cap-hit of only $800K (and $300K worth of bonuses on the table); this was a perfect signing.
While I do wonder how good Wheeler will actually be (it’s really tough for players who’ve been with one team for so long to adjust to a new location); the fact that he’s joining the club from day one, rather than at the deadline, is a benefit – especially with a new coach in tow.
Mainly a first-liner during his excellent career; Wheeler, who was stripped of his Jets’ captaincy prior to being bought out; could provide some scoring punch.
While it’s assumed that he’ll start on the second line – who knows – maybe he’ll start on the first line.
And yep – having Trouba, now as the Rangers’ captain, as someone to lean on, is a major benefit too.
While yes, Wheelers’ prime years are long behind him; as Bob Parker used to say, “The Price is Right.”
In one tweet that I actually saw on Saturday; Mollie Walker, who once said that she didn’t know who Mark Messier was, nor knew that other players wore #4 after Ron Greschner wore it following Braden Schneider wearing it; said she was able to confirm Darren Dreger’s initial report that the Rangers were interested in Wheeler.
PRAISE THE HOCKEY GODS – AND WHAT A SIGH OF RELIEF FOR DREGER TOO!
The incompetent Ms. Walker was able to confirm a report out of Canada!
We’re so lucky as fans to have her on the beat!
In a span of only one hour, and by 1PM Saturday – Drury had signed five free-agents. Pitlick was the third.
Pitlick, who signed a one-year deal worth $787,500, is now with his eighth team since the 2016-17 season, as he continues his “Derick Brassard” inspired journey throughout the NHL.
Having previously played for the Oilers, Stars, Flyers, Coyotes, Flames, Canadiens and Blues; Pitlick is a fourth-line center at best (he’s also dabbled at right-wing) – which makes you wonder if Goodrow will be the Rangers’ third line center – or play on the fourth line as a winger.
As opposed to Quick and Wheeler; I don’t think that Pitlick is a lock for the varsity roster – or at the very least – not as big of a lock.
Signings #4 and #5 were Riley Nash and Alex Belzile, as Chris Drury must be looking for Werther’s Original, Depends, Ensure and the Banff Senior Center home (Glen Sather’s current residence) to sponsor the team next season. “OH BABY” – Sam Rosen.
Both Belzile and Nash received two-year deals each, both at $775K per-season.
Furthermore, both of these players, and similar to Pitlick, can play at either the right-wing or center position; but unlike Pitlick – both will probably spend the 2023-24 campaign howlin’ with the Pack.
In a way, both players are this year’s version of Ryan Carpenter; while Pitlick is more akin to Kevin Rooney from two seasons ago.
Signings #6 and #7 were a pair of d-men, Connor Mackey and the French-Canadian Nikolas Brouillard.
Both rearguards received one-year deals worth $775K each – and where both are also expected to start the 2023-24 season in Hartford.
Seemingly out of nowhere; Nick Bonino was the eighth player that Drury signed on Saturday.
As another player long past his prime; at one-year with a salary of $800K – this was another no-brain signing for Chris “ZOOM ZOOM” Drury.
Prior to this signing, I remarked on Twitter (and to myself), “I’m surprised that Drury hasn’t signed any player that Laviolette is familiar with;” as previously, when Gallant first got the gig – the GM signed a few players that “The Turk” knew and had coached in the past, including Ryan Reaves, Ryan Carpenter and Dryden Hunt.
As a decent faceoff center; Bonino previously played in Nashville for three seasons – under “LATERALETTE!”
Bonino, another AARP member that Drury signed, will most likely compete for a fourth-line gig with the Blueshirts.
In the Rangers’ ninth-and-final signing from Saturday; “The Pizza Man” put Erik Gustafsson into the oven, as he signed the rearguard to a one-year deal worth $825K.
I’m to assume that Gustafsson will compete with the likes of Zac Jones and Ben Harpur for the third left-defenseman spot on the club.
While Gustafsson isn’t as familiar with Laviolette as Bonino is; he did play under the coach that Washington didn’t want anymore last season.
Following his busy Saturday; and for the first time in seemingly forever – the Little League World Champ finally spoke to the media.
Of course, both fans and season-ticket subscribers be damned – this was another closed “ZOOM” call conducted by the pride of Trumbull, CT.
And with a media that’s scared of Drury, as they won’t ask him any tough questions; the short chat was a meaningless farce.
Seriously – if one media member wanted to make their bones (and their name too) – then they would’ve asked the King of Colony Pizza about his decision to fire Jim Ramsay. Of course, that subject was never brought up.
Based on how the Kim Jung Un State of the Blueshirts’ beat covered this talk, which like “Seinfeld,” was “a show about nothing;” nothing was gained during this rare as Haley’s Comet speaking appearance from the Rangers’ GM.
Officially, the Rangers transcribed only two quotes from this fruitless endeavor:
“Lots to like with Blake Wheeler – his experience, his leadership, his size. He does a lot of everything for a big veteran winger that we think can move up and down our lineup. He’s excited to be here and believes in what we’re doing.
“Veteran leadership is a big thing on any team. Any time you can add a player like Blake or Quickie or Bonino – those guys all have tons of experience, and lucky that we were able to get deals done and looking forward to seeing them all at MSG.”
Wow, that will get your dick (or your lady-parts for you female readers) hard as a rock!
However, there was one thing that Drury said that ruffled feathers – a thing that the Rangers didn’t cover on their own website, nor on their social media accounts either – his response to Arthur Staple’s reporting.
Going into free agency; Staple, behind his paywall on “The Athletic” – and one that’s easily broken and knocked down if you click the “reader view” button on your browser; reported that Drury had “quietly” been shopping around Alexis Lafreniere.
During his ZOOM call where not one hard question was asked; Drury made reference of Staple’s report, when he said, “There could be nothing further from the truth than that. I have not talked to one GM about Alexis. A completely false report.”
I guess Drury will go after reporters, while his predecessor, John Davidson, called out bullshit lying bloggers, like Adam Hermaphrodite, following Adam’s bout with fiction in regards to one-time Ranger, Tony DeAngelo.
Following the news getting out of what Drury had said – I saw a lot of fans jump down Staple’s throat – during the five-minutes where Twitter worked for me.
While I do wish that Staple was more aggressive in his reporting, and dared to challenge the GM in the same fashion as his peer, Larry Brooks, once challenged John Tortorella (and just to think – what happened to Brooks over the years – as he’s more passive and happy to be a conduit more than ever – and his non-stop Sullivan stories made me want to vomit too); for the life of me, I can’t think of one reason why Staple would make this story up.
“I’m going to lie from you time-to-time. It’s part of the business.” – Gerard Gallant, October of 2021.
Unless you just want to rip Staple a new asshole without looking at every angle; here’s a fact for you – general mangers, hockey or otherwise, LIE.
Think about it.
What does Drury have to gain by saying that he thought, or listened to pitches, about trading Lafreniere?
(And if a reporter really wanted to make their mark – then they’d publicly state what Lafreniere is doing right now – his non-hockey endeavors this summer…)
There’s nothing positive to be attained had Drury said, “Well, you know, I was thinking about trading Lafreniere, especially after three years of practically nothing out of him, including during the playoffs; but then I decided not to.”
Face the facts: Every general manager and head coach lies to both the media and the fans. It’s part of the job.
After all, they can’t make public every machination that’s running through their minds – especially in a case like this one – and with a fragile player on the other end of it.
While I do believe that Staple should’ve pressed Drury more (and as mentioned on this site many times this off-season – he’s been the best beat reporter since the firing of Gallant – even if he does host a podcast with the useless seven-foot idiot, Sieve Vagistat – the worst goalie of Rangers’ history this century – and where I’m to assume that the guy with the bad CVS hair dye leaks many things to Staple too); I just can’t see Staple putting his reputation at stake for clicks here.
Put yourself in Staple’s shoes: Do you really think that he wants to embarrass himself by reporting fake news?
Following Drury’s bullshit dog-and-pony show press conference, Staple replied on “The Athletic”, “First, let me say thanks for subscribing to the Rangers GM. Drury denied our report about the Rangers having gauged the trade market on Lafrenière saying on Saturday afternoon that ‘there’s nothing further from the truth. I haven’t talked to one GM about Alexis. We hope he’s a Ranger for a long, long time.’
“We’ll stand by our sources and agree to disagree.
“It was never going to be an easy decision to move the 2020 No. 1 pick and the Rangers were reportedly telling teams that inquired Saturday that they were not moving Lafrenière, so this may never have been more than sticking a finger in the wind. In any event, Lafrenière is here, he’ll likely sign for a year or two around $2.5-million per and he has a real chance in September to show he’s hungry for more with this team. The opportunity awaits.
Also, it won’t be the last time the GM and I are at odds, trust me.”
One odds that I’d like to see?
Staple asking Drury about Ramsay.
But I will say – I heard the same exact thing that Staple heard about Lafreniere; but unlike Staple, and as someone who does believe in Journalism 101 (even if many don’t – especially on social media) – I only had a single source – not two sources as he did – thus I can’t confirm anything independently myself.
Prior to getting into the rest of the NHL’s FA period; there are two more players left for Drury to sign – K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere.
While various numbers and years are being floated and bantered about; it’s thought that both players, both restricted free agents at that, will be offered bridge-deals.
One more time – I hate, hate and did I say hate, the “PROPOZED LINEZ” nonsense – especially in July. That’s the work for amateurs.
However, what can be gathered is that the Rangers now have a plethora of bottom-six players – and I’m sure that the rest of the division is shaking in their skates about it!
The preseason will tell the story; but for a geriatric team that perhaps might have better success playing Bocce ball and Bingo rather than hockey; only Will Cuylle and Brennan Othmann stand out as two “youts” who could infuse some new blood into “The Grayshirts.”
But after watching these struggling years from both Kakko and Lafreniere, a pair of lottery draft players selected much higher than both Cuylle and Othmann – wouldn’t it make sense to keep Cuylle and Othmann in Hartford until they are ready?
As friend of the site, George Grimm, said, “Maybe the Rangers felt that Sam Rosen was slowing down on the play-by-play, so they brought in older and slower players so he could keep up.”
For me personally?
As said since the firing of Gallant – I have no expectations for this Rangers’ squad during the 2023-24 season, so in turn – I can’t be let down. I can only be surprised.
And I will be surprised out of my mind should this team win a Stanley Cup in 2024. (But I am rooting for it!)
While Drury treated free agency like a 1990s teenager signing up for Columbia Music House or BMG records, when you could buy 11 cassettes for one cent; until both DJ MIA and Aturnover Panarin can prove that they can be consistent playoff players, where this “1-2 punch” (not even a soft jab in reality) will eat up nearly 25% of the team’s salary cap next season – then I shall continue to hold onto my “Rangers’ Reservations.”
It should be interesting to see who has more “senile moments” next season – Sam Rosen or this Centrum-Silver sponsored Rangers’ club.
As we soon head home here, let’s take a look at the rest of the UFA signings around the league.
Let’s rapid-fire through all of this, as I know this blog is already getting long in the tooth!
Furthermore, I’m only going to look at Rangers’ alumni, and the teams in the Metro Division here – and in the order in which these players were signed.
Also, you can get all of contract information, and news about every signing here: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/signings
— The Carolina Hurricanes brought back both of their goaltenders, Antti Raanta and Frederik Anderson, while also retaining the services of Jesper Fast. I was surprised that the Canes brought back both goaltenders, as I thought that Pyotr Kochetkov would be part of their tandem next season. When it comes to Fast, I saw many Ranger fans whine about him staying in Raleigh – as if Fast was the missing piece to the “Rangers’ Puzzle.” Until Panarin shows up in the playoffs – he’s the problem – nobody else.
And don’t put your head in the sand either.
As the highest-paid winger in the league, it’s Panarin’s job to better the players around him – and not vice-versa.
— The Hurricanes also signed Dmitri Orlov and Michael Bunting, two players that will improve the 2023 Metro Division Champs. It’s also believed that the previously discussed on this site trade for Tony DeAngelo will go down on July 8th, while it’s also being rumored that both the Canes and the Penguins, are fighting for the services of Erik Karlsson. I really hope that one of these teams land EK65 – and then are put into salary cap hell for the next four seasons.
— The Capitals signed the perennially injured Max Pacioretty to a one-year deal worth $2M. This is a waste of money and roster-spot in my eyes.
— Former Ranger, Kevin Shattenkirk, who following his buyout, won a Stanley Cup in Tampa (2021), signed a one-year deal with Boston.
— The Penguins, now under Kyle Dubas, made a few questionable signings, when they re-signed Tristan Jarry (five-years/$26.9M), Alex Nedeljkovic (one-year/$1.5M), Ryan Graves (six-years/$27M) and Noel Acciari (three-years/$6M). Outside of Acciari, a role-player, who else was in the market and offering these long-term deals to these players that the Penguins felt the need to “one-up?” Jarry’s deal is extremely peculiar.
— Ryan Carpenter, the one-time Blueshirt, is now with David Quinn and his SWAGGER Sharks, after signing a one-year deal in San Jose.
— In a contract that most likely will impact CZAR IGOR’s future negotiations; his best friend, Ilya Sorokin, of the Islanders, signed an eight-year deal with Fossil Lamoriello for $66M overall, and with an annual cap-hit of $8.25M.
Sorokin’s back-up, the accomplished veteran Seymon Varlamov, also re-signed with the team from Belmont. He signed a four-year deal worth $11M overall and with an annual cap-hit of $2,750,000.
— The Islanders, and in a deal akin to the Rangers’ Barclay Goodrow, also re-signed Pierre Engvall to a seven-year deal worth $21M overall.
— In a deal that most likely will influence K’Andre Miller’s decision; the Avalanche re-signed defenseman Bowen Byram to a two-year deal worth $7.7M ($3.85M annually).
— Niko Mikkola agreed to a three-year deal worth $7.5M overall ($2.5M annually) with this year’s Eastern Conference champs, the Florida Panthers – following Radko Gudas signing with the Ducks (three-years/$12M overall).
(Of note, a pair of former Blueshirts, and part of the Cats’ run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final too, the Staal brothers, Eric and Marc, are still unrestricted free agents.)
— Both Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian remained with the Devils. The team from across the Hudson River didn’t do much during free agency – but they didn’t have to either – as their team from last season remains largely in-tact.
However, and in what I thought was a crazy move, the Avalanche signed former Devil, Miles Wood, to a six-year deal worth $15M overall.
— The Flyers, who perhaps might win the 2024 Draft Lottery, signed the rugged Garnet Hathaway to a two-year deal worth $4.75M overall.
— In a trade, Anthony Duclair, “THE DUKE,” is now with his seventh team at the age of 27-years-old, as the Panthers shipped him as far away as possible, to San Jose, in exchange for Steven Lorentz and a fifth-round pick of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft.
— One of my favorite players and yours, Vinni Lettieri, is now with his fourth NHL club, having signed a two-year deal with his hometown team, the Minnesota Wild.
— Ryan Reaves, who was traded from the Rangers to the Wild, signed a three-year deal worth $4.05M overall with the Leafs – and most likely – the final NHL contract of his career too.
As of this writing, Halak, Hajek and Tarasenko, who played for the Rangers last season, are still on the market. It’s been reported that the Senators have expressed interest in VT91.
Outside of re-signing both Lafreniere and Miller, and assuming no offer-sheet is made to either one of them; up next for the Rangers is their development camp – where fans won’t be able to see one lick of it.
For me, I have about a few more hours left before completing the rough draft of “The Top 100 Villains of New York Rangers History.”
Once done, I’ll do my two proofreads (and final edits) and then send it off to my editor!
And as I usually do with all of my books – I’m not going to release sample chapters, nor ask for your money (pre-orders) either, until I’m 2-3 weeks out from its release.
I just don’t want anyone to pay me and then have to wait for an elongated amount of time.
This was a long blog tonight, so hopefully, we can all go to cottage and take a break – while Twitter fixes the errors of their ways too!
As mentioned earlier this week; while this weekend blog was always intended to go long; the next few updates on this site, and assuming it’s just light news, will be short. I got a book to finish, damn it!
Thanks for sticking with me.
PLUGS TIME! (Buy a book and support my Rangers’ induced therapy bills. After all, I don’t run ads on this site!)
My first plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden.”
As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:
https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD
For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:
Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today
My four-volume set of books, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is a game-by-game recount of the Rangers 2021-22 campaign.
My second title as an author, “One Game at a Time – A Season to Remember,” is now available in eBook, paperback and hardcover formats.
To obtain signed copies, visit: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/onegamebook/
To purchase all four volumes on Amazon, visit: Amazon.com – “One Game at a Time.”
The greatest volume-set of books on Rangers’ history today!
“Tricks of the Trade – A Century-Long Journey Through Every Trade Made In New York Rangers’ History,” a four-volume set of books that meticulously covers every trade made in franchise history, is now on sale.
All four volumes of the title can be purchased on Amazon.com and are presented in three different formats – eBook, paperback and hardcover.
To purchase Volume I: Conn Smythe (1926) – Craig Patrick (1986), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume II: Phil Esposito (1986) – Neil Smith (2000), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume III: Glen Sather (2000-2015), visit Amazon.com
To purchase Volume IV: Jeff Gorton (2015) – Chris Drury (2022), visit Amazon.com
To purchase signed copies of all four volumes, visit https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:
Gabriel Perreault’s First Interview as a Ranger; Roving Ricky O. Gets the Scoop, The Blueshirts’ Draft Class of 2023 & More
Complete 2023 NHL Draft Coverage & Thoughts; Rangers Select Gabriel Perreault in First-Round; What’s Next For Him, “Pizza Man” Chris Drury Won’t Serve ESPN’s Emily Kaplan a Slice; The Trades and No Trades Made, NYR Future & More
Jim Ramsay Joins Jeff Gorton in Montreal; Roving Ricky O’s Scoop on Rammer’s Firing, Rangers Release 2023-24 Schedule; Lots of Saturday Games for Road-Trippers & More
If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:
Don’t forget to order my recently released four-volume set of books, “Tricks of the Trade!”
If you don’t order through me, all four volumes are now available on Amazon.com
For more details, check out: https://bluecollarblueshirts.com/tricksofthetrade/
Thanks for reading.
LET’S GO RANGERS!
Sean McCaffrey
BULLSMC@aol.com
@NYCTHEMIC on the Tweeter machine
