Here is what we know.
Our friend, Amazing Kreiderman, wrote this article
Rangers prospect, Patrik Virta coming over this summer? - FOREVER BLUESHIRTS, in which he quotes a Finnish article from March as saying that Virta would not be offered a contract extension with Örebro because he was coming to the US to join the Rangers organization. No other North American team could talk to Virta until June 1 so if he knew he was coming to North America in March it had to be to play for the Rangers organization.
In answer to nyr2k2 the Rangers as well as all other teams sign some prospects to minor league contracts. Nick Jones is a good recent example. The reason to sign players to minor league contracts is to preserve some contract spaces for the fifty man contract limit and to not tie up a contract long term such as the Rangers being stuck with Dawson Leedahl for three years when he can barely crack an AHL lineup. This is essentially a try out contract where the Rangers can cut ties if the player doesn't work out and sign the player to an NHL contract if he shows promise.
Finally, while it is true that Hartford will have lots of young players next year, isn't that a good problem to have? Three years ago we were complaining that there were few prospects in Hartford. The players will compete with those not making the grade starting in Maine and being eligible to being called up if they play well in Maine and as injuries mount. I'm not sure why having many good players is a problem.
I have no inside information that Virta will sign a Hartford contract but I don't think we can rule it out. Look for whether Virta is invited to the Rangers development camp in late June.
Well, couple things. I believe the article AK referenced said that Virta was unlikely to re-sign with Orebro because he wanted to go compete for a spot with the Rangers. Prior to that, his coach had made a similar statement, that Virta wouldn't be with Orebro long as he saw it as a stepping stone to playing in North America. Both of those statements would indicate a player wanting/hoping/expecting to be given a chance to play with/for the Rangers or an affiliate, but nothing reported anywhere else indicated the Rangers were planning on offering him a deal of any sort or even intimated that they would do so. To the best of my recollection, anyway. A guy can plan to come over all he wants, but if the team that controls his rights isn't interested, it doesn't really matter.
I know teams sign players to minor league contracts. Nick Jones, as you said, is a fine example. Jones, and many other guys graduating college or aging out of junior hockey, sign minor league deals because they're fringe prospects and teams generally aren't offering them ELCs. Guys like Elmer and Newell are offered ELCs because they're viewed as a tier or two above a Nick Jones, and there's generally competition among teams to sign them--meaning it takes an ELC to get them in your organization. There was even some mild competition for Dawson Leedahl, who had some good underlying numbers, which necessitated him receiving an ELC. So, yeah, it's cool if you
can sign guys to minors deals, but the good ones generally don't want to go that route (you have exceptions like JAM who turned down an ELC initially feeling he could play a year on an AHL deal and get a better contract later, but those are rare). I mean, who else have we had turn an AHL deal into an ELC? Parlett? There's probably someone I'm forgetting.
Every single season people bring up the 50-man limit as something that could be a problem, and it never is. And any time we've ever needed to move out contracts, we've been able to do that without problem. If you have a guy who deserves an SPC, you give him one; you don't potentially lose him for nothing because you
might be tight against the 50-man. If we thought Virta was a worthwhile signing, he'd be signed. As it is, he could go anywhere.
Can you think of any prospects that we have had that we didn't offer a contract to, letting our rights lapse, only to bring in on an AHL deal? We didn't sign Morrison, and that was it for him with us--no invites to a camp or anything. He played another year then signed elsewhere. Keegan Iverson disappeared. We let go of Mantha and, like Morrison, he was done in our organization. He later signed with Edmonton before his horrible injury. We were annoyed that Spelling stayed in Denmark and never tried to bring him back. McColgan and Ceresnak--rights lapsed, done. Maggio--done. Doyle and Gaulton--done. I could go on and on. My point is, when the team doesn't offer you a contract by the deadline to retain your rights, it's almost a complete certainty that they are not interested in your services and will not be bringing you to camp or anything like that. You may have a career elsewhere, but not with the Rangers. I'm not familiar enough with other teams but I am relatively certain this would be the case elsewhere.
And yes, finally, it is good to have an abundance of youth in Hartford. However, as we have seen, you also need to balance that youth with established, successful, veteran players. If you have 4-5 guys who are of the "4A" caliber up front, plus 4-5 legitimate prospects battling for substantial roles, then you've got the rest of the guys battling for scraps in terms of minutes. Now if the team thought Virta could step right in and be a contributor, I have no doubt he'd be in the core group. They brought in similar guys like Meskanen and Lindqvist last year. However, they elected not to sign him to his ELC, which again, coupled with everything I've said previously, leads me to believe they didn't think he was worth bringing over.
As I said--anything can happen. I thought Virta's odds were 50/50. However, I was in favor of signing him. You can give him his ELC, give him an EAC to boot, and then if it doesn't work either go the EAC route or move to mutually terminate the contract and let him go sign wherever. But, the Rangers didn't do that. And that's all the more reason why I'm not expecting to see him with the Rangers or an affiliate moving forward. But, we shall see, I suppose.
