Rangers ready for 2009-2010 Season

It's been an off-season of change for the New York Rangers. After yet another disapointing season for the Blueshirts, management decided that a change to the philosophy of how the team would be constructed and once constructed how to move forward with this group.

"We knew that there were quite a few defecencies in how the team was put together and we wanted to make sure that we addressed that from a top down perspective. The way the off-season has gone, it wouldn't seem this way, but on a going forward basis, there's going to be alot more patience shown with this group of players."

The changes were many and significant and the first of the summer was a deal with Boston.

"The Bruins indicated that they were looking to move in a more of a rebuilding direction, but that they needed a rsoter player to replace Corey Perry in the line-up. We weren't sure we would have been able to make this deal, because we initially had Backlund included in another deal, that other deal fell apart which freed us up to make this deal with Boston. We traded Darcy Tucker, Mikael Backlund and the Buffalo 1st in 09 (8th overall) to Boston for Corey Perry. This deal addressed the need for a legit #1 RW."

 "The 2nd deal saw the us make a huge push for towering Victor Hedman (eventually traded but we will get to that). We had been trying to land the #1 pick for a while as we initially had a deal in place for a top line center had we been able to secure that No. 1 pick. As it turned out, we were able to get the #2 pick and the deal we thought we had kind of fell apart. No worries as we would have done the same thing over given the opportunity. We traded Cam Barker, the Minnesota 1st in 09 (6th overall) and the NYR 1st in 2010 to the Panthers for young energetic center Daniel Winnik and the 2nd overall selection (Victor Hedman)"

"Deal No. 3 was very telling for this franchise in that it stated that we were not going to wait and hope for players to develope. We think the world of Cody Hidgson, but we think that even at his best he will fall a distant 2nd to Jason Spezza who we feel is every bit the franchise center he was billed to be when drafted. Spezza is what this team has been looking for since dealing Malkin 2 years ago. We traded Hodgson, Ales Kotalik and Greg Nemisz. It was a deal we had to make. We felt we had a legit 1st line RW and we needed a legit 1st line Center to get him the puck. We feel that Spezza is that player."

"Deal 4 is a gamble no question, but we felt then and still feel now that Booth is a budding 40 goal 40 assist power forward that would slide very nicely into our top line and help lead the Rangers back to prominance. We traded the 3rd overall selection to the Panthers for Booth a 2nd rounder. When we made the initial offer, it totally took the Panthers GM by surprise and after initially suggesting that Booth was unavailable, we caught him at a moment of weakness and he agreed to the deal. Our thought on this was that there is no winner or loser to this trade. Just a move that helps both teams."

"Deal Five was a deal that we had been looking to make with Atlanta since last summer. We had been having dialogue with the Thrashers throughout the season regarding Grachev and when they asked for Antropov it was a deal we could not say no to. This trade provided the Rangers a solid young winger that has surprised many with his fast developement. We were happy to acquire him. Pisiani was solid addition to that deal as he was going to serve a solid purpose in a defensive role. As it turned out neither Pisiani or Grachev stayed with the team long."

"Deal Six was a minor deal in that we needed to address a depth issue at center. We traded the 2nd rounder acquired in the Booth deal for Kyle Chipchura. A decent youngster that we anticipated using in another deal, we just weren't sure which deal that was going to be."

"Deal Seven was a move to address the center issue as we could not have a team with Winnik and Chipchura as your #2 and #3 centers. We traded 2 salaries in McLaren and Halpern for a Mike Modano, another player with a hefty salary with some gas in the tank. Modano, as well as a few others did not last long in a Rangers uniform."

"Deal Eight saw the us acquire Andrew Brunnette for a 4th rounder. As we got into the summer we felt that we were not addressing the wing position and felt at that time that this helped us in that area. What we did not anticipate was exceeding the salary cap as much as we did. In doing so, we were forced into the next trade."

"Deal Nine. With the cap crunch upon us we felt that we needed to move some salary to be cap compliant, but to do so, we needed a team that would be willing to part with a solid prospect and be willing to absorb approx. 8 million in long-term commitments. We agreed to a deal with Columbus in which we traded Dustin Penner and Andrew Brunnette for prospect Derek Stepan (also traded later)"

"Deal Ten was a deal we were reluctant to make in that it tapped into our defensive depth. We had no intention of trading Brian Lee. We think he has a great future, but in line with the previous deal, we felt we needed to shed additional salary if were going to be able to be in on the bidding for any Free Agents. We traded Modano, Patrick Kaleta and Brian Lee to the Devils for Shawn Horcoff and a 2nd rounder in 2010. The move secured the 2nd line center position while also allowed us the ability to compete financially on the UFA market (which allowed us to sign Matt Schneider)"

"Deal Eleven was a minor one in importance, but major in terms of bodies. We acquired 7 players that we feel will do well down in Harftord. We want to create an environment of winning and feel that these players can do that for us at the minor league level. We traded the NJD 2010 2nd rounder and $500K in case for those 7 players."

"Deal Twelve is the shocker. Well not so shocking. As stated previously, we had intentions on moving the pick for a center two months back. We looked at the Chicago situation and saw that there may be an opportunity that would be mutually beneficial in that Chicago would get a defenceman that would allow them to make other moves as they deem necessary at a later date and we would get another true and legit #1 center in Kopitar. No knock on Spezza who we still value vey highly, but we think that we had the depth on Defence in Erik Johnson and Shea Weber to make this move. This is a huge risk for both teams, but one we both felt helped our respective teams now and long-term"

"Deal Thirteen was made to address 2 ares on defence we felt needed addressing. We wanted to add a solid defensive presense while also adding some toughness. We traded Pisiani and a 5th rounder in 2011 for Colin White. We feel Colin is a very solid 3rd pairing defenceman that will help clear the crease and allow Khabibulin clear sight to the puck on most shots."

"The final deal made for the summer we feel rounds out our team perfectly. We traded a package of youth for 2 players that are in the primes of their careers. Headed out the door was Winnik, Chipchura, prospects Derek Stepan and Evgeny Grachev as well as a 1st and 2nd round picks in 2011 for Brooks Laich and Valtteri Filppula. Both Books and Filppula are 26 and 25 years old respectively. We feel that both players are 2nd liners and are now just coming into their own. This trade gives the Ranngers 12 forwards that all have the ability to play a physical brand of hockey while at the same time they are talented enough to skate with any team in the league."

"All in all it's been a very busy summer for the Rangers and as we wait for camp to open, the Rangers front office has officially closed it's doors on the summer and are now in process to see how best to use this depth that the team now has."