Larry Brooks: Sather must decide: Is dealing Girardi best for Rangers?

[TheRightWay]

Neither will be moved at the deadline, let's be real here. They're tied for 2nd in the Metro division and playing much better with Hank finding his stride. Teams in the playoff hunt don't just decide to be sellers out of nowhere. I'm confident that both will be re-signed.

I honestly think that this team is a true #1 center away from being a serious contender. I don't believe Stepan is it, at least not yet. Someone that can carry the puck and dictate the play. The only person I see on this team that resembles anything like that is Zuccarello and unfortunately his size holds him back from being a star IMO.

All the elite teams are elite at home. If the Rangers didn't crap the bed at home during their home stretch in December, this team is looking as one of the best teams in the league. I think if we had a center that was in the ~40 point area, we'd be set.

Where do you plan on finding this number one center and how do you plan on paying for it when you just ate up majority of your remaining cap space with Callahan and Girardi raises?

 

[OverTheCap]

Difference: all of those teams have the money tied in players who are worth it. Nash isn't worth his pay. Callahan and Girardi won't be. Hank is great but overpaid a bit, worth it. McD is worth it. Richards will be bought out.

Also when they are 34 or 35 they aren't going to be worth ****. Of course you would trade them then. Unfortunately once the Rangers over pay them no one will want them for anything of significant value. That's why you trade them now. Maximize value and try something new. They are the old core. This obsession with overpaying them because they were the core of a team run completely different under Torts is absurd. You pay them because they fit going forward and will be worth their next contract.

Yup, and I had hoped that this organization learned its lesson from their past free agent signings that you don't overpay complimentary players more than they are worth. Drury, Rozsival, Redden, and Gomez - all were overpaid and none of them lasted here for the duration of their contract term, and Richards might as well be added to that list since he will in all likelihood be bought out.

The difference with Callahan and Girardi is that they are homegrown so there is a sentimentality about them and fans don't care if they get overpaid, but the end result may be the same as the players mentioned above - in a few years, our GM may be looking to dump Callahan and Girardi because they are injured/underperforming relative to their cap hit/etc.

 

[JaeTM]

Where do you plan on finding this number one center and how do you plan on paying for it when you just ate up majority of your remaining cap space with Callahan and Girardi raises?

Unfortunately that's the million dollar question. I don't know. All I'm saying is that this team isn't as far off as everyone makes them out to be. I know it's one of the toughest positions to fill in hockey, and I don't know how we could go about obtaining one, just saying I feel that's the only piece we're missing from having an opportunity.

I thought Richards was that player, but he's clearly not. He's not great at handling the puck, he's slow, and he just throws the puck at the net from stupid angles. If his playmaking really was elite a few years ago, it's definitely taken a huge step back.

Easier said then done, I know.

 

[Ail]

There's one thing I can agree on with the other side of this argument and that's the fact that neither will be traded come deadline.

**** you Glen Sather.

 

[Trxjw]

Good discussion, but we're over 1k posts. Let's move it back to the trade thread until something else comes to light about Girardi's situtation.

Trade thread here:
http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1582075