2005 NEW YORK RANGERS PREVIEW

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2005-06 New York Rangers preview

(MySportsbook.com) - The New York Rangers' quest continues. Not for another Stanley Cup championship, but for a mere berth in the postseason.

The Blueshirts' last playoff appearance came back in 1997, when Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky and Co. lost to Eric Lindros and the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference finals.

Since then it has been an era of bad defense and patchwork teams who have failed, and failed miserably. Even Glen Sather, architect and coach of the Edmonton Oilers' dynasty of the '80s, hasn't been able to find a solution. This will be his fifth season as the club's GM, and you have to wonder how much longer he can live on his accomplishments of 15 years ago.

During the offseason, Sather let go a lot of the dead weight on the roster go free, but it remains to be seen if what he replaced those players with will do the job.

Gone are the likes of Lindros, Mike Dunham, Boris Mironov, Chris McAllister, and Jan Hlavac. In addition, Bobby Holik signed a free agent deal with Atlanta over the summer and Mark Messier opted for retirement.

That leaves Jaromir Jagr as the Rangers' only real star. Sather added veterans like Marek Malik, Ville Nieminen, Michael Nylander, Martin Straka and Steve Rucchin, none of which really get you excited. What continues to be a problem in the Big Apple is the lack of young players ready to step in and make an impact. This is a result of the last half-decade, when the team's philosophy was to build a roster by spending as much money as possible on players who weren't worth it.

With a salary cap in place now, the Rangers will be forced to build an organization without spending aimlessly. However, that won't happen overnight.

FORWARDS - This will be Jagr's first full season with New York, after being acquired from Washington in January 2004. The former Hart Trophy winner posted 31 goals and 43 assists in his combined time with the Caps and Rangers during the 03-04 campaign, finishing 15th in the league scoring race.

With his amazing one-on-one ability and overall skill, Jagr is one of those players who could benefit most from the NHL's relaxed rules geared toward creating offense. Last season Jagr spent the lockout playing in both the Czech Republic and Russia, thriving in both leagues.

Jagr's old Penguins teammate, Straka, was inked by New York with the hopes that he can provide some of the second-line spark he did back in the Steel City. However, he has suffered through injury woes in recent years, being limited to just 127 games since the beginning of the 2001-02 season. When healthy and on the right line Straka is a dangerous scoring option, but given his recent track record you just don't know how much he can be counted on.

Martin Rucinsky returns to the Rangers after a brief stint with Vancouver at the end of the 03-04 season. He was once a 25-goal guy, but what he posted in 03-04 -- 14 goals, 31 assists -- is about what you can expect at this point. However, the one x-factor for him his how he plays alongside Jagr, as the duo, along with Nylander, could comprise an all-Czech first line.

Nylander is one of the league's most underrated playmaking centers. He was injured for most of the 03-04 season, but when healthy the previous campaign he recorded 17 goals and 39 assists in 71 games. He could approach the 50- assist mark playing with Jagr.

Nieminen, who has built a nice reputation as a pest around the league, was key during Calgary's run to the Finals in '04, while Rucchin comes over from Anaheim, where he was the club's captain for a year. The latter player had battled through some injury problems a few years back, but put together consecutive 20-goal seasons in his final two showings with the Ducks. More importantly, perhaps, Rucchin played in all 82 games both years.

As far as youngsters go, the Rangers continue to wait on Jamie Lundmark, who was the ninth overall pick in the 1999 Entry Draft. So far in 111 NHL games he has tallied a mere 10 goals and 19 assists.

DEFENSE - During their time out of the playoffs, perhaps the Rangers' biggest issue has been a lack of sound defensive play. And now, they begin a season without Brian Leetch for the first time since the late 1980s.

The time has come for Tom Poti to become the defenseman he was projected to be. He has gifted offensive skills, but it's a matter of him putting everything together all-around. In 2002-03 he seemed headed in the right direction with a career-high 48 points (11g, 37a), but he fell back the following year with 10 tallies and 14 helpers in 67 games. This will be Poti's seventh NHL season, so you have to wonder if we've already seen his best.

Fedor Tyutin will be one to watch in 05-06, as he gave Ranger fans a taste of what he can do with a late-season call-up in 2004. Like Poti he has terrific offensive skills, and his all-around game is a bit more solid.

Darius Kaspairitis, almost 33, is entering his latter years but remains a dangerous force. And with the limits placed on clutching, grabbing and hooking, having a defenseman who can take a guy out of the play with the body will be key.

An underrated move by the club was the addition of Marek Malik, who will be able to log a ton of minutes and provide the pure, stay at home defense the team needs. In 03-04 for the Canucks, Malik has his best all-around season, totaling 19 points while registering a plus-35 rating. Malik will especially boost the team's penalty killing, which was next to last in the league in 03-04.

GOALTENDING - Kevin Weekes will be the man in net for the Blueshirts, hoping to build on the solid season he had for Carolina in 03-04. He appeared in a career-high 66 games for the Hurricanes, going 23-30-11 with a 2.33 goals- against average. Weekes, 30, has improved his GAA for six consecutive seasons.

Henrik Lundqvist will likely serve as the backup. He embarks on his first season of North American hockey, coming off an MVP season in the Swedish Elite League at the age of 23. Lundqvist allowed two goals or less in 30 of his 33 wins for Frolunda last season, and led his club to the SEL title. Expect him to push Weekes for playing time from the start.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - Another rebuilding year for the Rangers, but any success they have will be due to the play of the veterans they added during the abbreviated offseason. Don't expect much scoring from anywhere except the first line, and don't expect Poti and the defense to make you forget Brian Leetch. They let patchwork players go, but that's all they really brought in with the exception of Malik and maybe Nylander. It will be an eighth consecutive season watching the playoffs at home in the Big Apple.

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