Justin Schultz?

Justin Schultz is an offensive defenseman who used to run the power play for McDonagh and Stepan at Wisconsin. At 22 he has withdrawn from Wisconsin and is still unsigned by Anaheim who drafted him with the 43rd pick back in 2008. It's believed he withdrew last Tuesday, so that would have started Anaheim's exclusive negotiating clock. If they can't sign him within 30 days, he becomes a free agent. They can also trade him now. This situation is similar to the one Tim Erixon was in last year when the Rangers traded their 2 2's for him. The Rangers don't really have any extra picks this so if they want to trade for Schultz, it would have to be players or future picks. Or, they could just wait till he's a free agent and sign him. Between McDonagh and Stepan they should have pretty good information about what Justin wants to do. Go Rangers!

UPDATE: Mats Zuccarello Aasen has apparently left the Rangers to sign a two year deal with the KHL. So, he won't be alleviating our scoring woes next season.

FURTHER UPDATE: Mats is denying this.

Rangers Offseason

That was tough. As much as I believed we were ahead of schedule and this was all gravy, losing like that was brutal. But the future is really bright, and it's been turned around really quickly. It will be interesting to see what moves the Rangers will make as they continue to fine tune the roster for a long run among the league's elite.

First off, as currently composed and coached, they are a little challenged on offense. The continued development of Kreider, Stepan and kids like Yogan and Thomas should help address that over the coming years, but will they want to do something sooner? Hard to know how they view their window and where they are.

Second, though their biggest problem is offense, will they trade Gaborik? He came up small in the playoffs, and has a big contract. Gaborik is still a much better player now than Gomez was when we got a boatload for him. It will be interesting to see if they move him then try to fill his salary slot with Parise or someone.

Third, will they bundle some talent and prospects to fill the offensive need? And if so, who are they willing to trade and who do they see elevating them on O?

Fourth, will Sauer ever be back? This is a big question, because McIlrath is probably still a year away, and Erixon doesn't offer the toughness that Sauer does when healthy. Will they look outside the organization for a rock ribbed replacement?

These seem to be the big questions, right off the bat. Thus far the Rangers only have 4 draft picks, but they usually end up adding more when needed during the draft, so expect another good one.

Anyway, we should all be very excited about what's coming. Go Rangers!

Full Time Coach

Today, Mike Woodson and the Knicks agreed to get hitched. Gone is his interim designation, here is his full time, multi year gig. I'd like to see what he can do. People have challenged his effectiveness over his career and well as his reputation for defense. Yet, we all saw the Knicks win and play defense for him. That deserved the encore. What's more, he spent his formative playing years under Bobby Knight and Red Holzman. So he must have insanely sound fundamentals and some insight on how to teach them. I'm not against this move at all, and didn't feel like we had a Phil Jackson team. Now it will all depend on the roster and if it can stay healthy. The Knicks should at least be dangerous going forward.

ARod Hits 2 Bombs

Andy Pettitte pitched well again and ARod hit two homers as the Yanks pounded the Royals 8-2. No, it's not 2009, it's 2012 and the Yankees are gonna need guys like Andy and ARod doing what they used to if they want to push off the reboot for another year or more. Grandy also homered. Hughes looked good again last night, and while many have panicked, the Yanks have used to play around .500 till June formula then take off pretty often since they started making the playoffs regularly again back in 1995. Don't give up just yet.

Backs to the Wall

Wow. The Rangers just lost game five at home. To play there again this year, they have to win game 6 in Jersey. Once again tonight, Henrik didn't look like Henrik and the Rangers - unbelievably - fell behind 3-0 in the first 10 minutes. Then they came back. Prust scored late in the first. Cally scored early in the second and Gaborik scored 17 seconds into the third to tie it. Then the Rangers seemed to relax. I don't know why, but they got outplayed and outworked for the rest of the third and ended up losing 5-3. If they want to win even 1 more game this year, Hank has to be better. They can still win two, but they're going to have to really pick it up. We're about to find out what their leadership is really capable of. Go Rangers.

Hank!!!

We really do have the best goalie in the world. He was flat out AWESOME today as he shutout the Devils for second time in 3 games. The Rangers were a little flat to start, but a well called timeout by Torts seemed to right the ship before anything was given up. It was scoreless till the third, when Dan Girardi scored a power play goal. A few minutes later, Kreider redirected a McDonagh blast to make it 2-0. Btw, Kreider and McDonagh may already be the two best players on the team. They are amazing and what Kreider is doing is magical. Wow. Boyle assisted Callahan on an empty netter to make it 3-0 once again. You have got to love these Rangers and it's only gonna get better.

Big Third!

Wow. After looking slow and tired for the first two periods of Game 1 the Rangers were a house of fire in the third. And Chris Kreider was the main fire man. First he and Del Zotto assisted on Girardi's goal that made it 1-0, and then he scored a goal of his own that made it 2-0. Eventually, Artem Anisimov potted an empty netter to cap off Henrik Lundqvist's brilliant shutout. What a game by Hank! Rangers go up in the series 1-0 on a night when they started out looking a little gassed from Saturday then exploded to take it. Let's do it again, Wednesday! Let's Go, Rangers!

Giants Add Talent With Low Risk Gambles

Since raising a few eyebrows by drafting Jayron Hosley, who flunked the pot test at the combine, with their round pick this year, the Giants have started a veritable botox party by adding trouble but talented DB's ex-Tennessee S Janzen Jackson and today, ex-Florida S/CB Will Hill. Jackson was undrafted this year and Hill was undrafted last. Both fell on off field issues, because on the field, like Hosley, they are big time talents. Usually, when the Giants hit gold in UDFA it's with an unsung guy like Victor Cruz or Rich Seubert, years ago. All three of Hosley, Jackson and Hill could have been first rounders if things went a little differently. Hosley and Jackson have already come across as contrite in interviews. The interesting guy is Will Hill, who may be the funniest and least appropriate tweeter who has ever laced them up. It will be interesting to see if he can fit in. But, on paper right now, the Giants have seriously upgraded their DB talent. Now let's see if they can all stick.

Ahead of Schedule

As the Rangers move onto the Eastern Conference Final for the first time in 15 years, it's important to remember they are about a season ahead of schedule. It was by next season that we expected, and still expect to make a serious run at the cup -- after bringing up a few more prospects and perhaps making a trade or two from roster/farm strength. Several of the prospects, like Erixon, McIlrath, Thomas, Miller and Yogan finished up with the Whale, who's season ended the other night. I hope those kids are invited to travel with the team and watch the rest of the ride.

Kreider is up a playoff season before people thought he would be, and he's made a difference, both great and not so great. Hopefully, he finds a little more consistency going forward and the Stepan/Cally/Kreider line starts making hay again. Hagelin has been the key to the Richards line, and if we can finally get Gaborik going, it could be a very special year.

As well as the Rangers have played so far in these playoffs, they have yet to get hot. Now, that may be harder to do with the constant line changing that goes on, but they're all playing the same system and I wouldn't be surprised if they do get hot at some point. They have the right kind of goalie and D. Let's go, Rangers!

Onto The Eastern Conference Finals!

For the first time since 1997 the Rangers are moving onto the Eastern Conference Finals where they will face the Devils. This would not have been possible without the incredible play tonight of Hank and Brad Richards and Michael Del Zotto, who not only assisted on the Richards goal, but scored the winning goal and was terrific and physical on D. He's really coming of age. Torts has now coached 5 game 7's and all of them have ended with a 2-1 score. He's 4-1 in those games. Now let's win the next round faster, please. These games have been too intense. Oh, and the NHL tried to screw the Rangers once again by disallowing a third goal that would have iced it earlier on a phantom "ref blew the whistle" call. What does the NHL have against their biggest market? I don't know, but screw em, Let's Go Rangers!!!

A Mechanical Adjustment

Phil Hughes said he found and has fixed a mechanical adjustment. All of a sudden his velo is coming back and the bite on his curve has returned. In other words, the Phil Hughes we saw tear through the minors may finally be showing up, and if he is, it's just another reason why the Yankees shouldn't have panicked and traded Montero in January. Yanks won again today, and it looks like they may be starting a little earlier than usual this year. Good. The draft is 3 weeks away. Hopefully that will rekindle my enthusiasm.