Trade Confirmed: Olli Jokinen Is a New York Ranger

It is finally official. TSN has confirmed that following last night’s game between the Flames and the Flyers, which the Flyers took 3-0, the long-awaited trade between Glen Sather and Darryl Sutter was finally sent through, shipping forwards Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik to Calgary and receiving veteran center Olli Jokinen and tough-guy Brandon Prust.

What many are calling one of the more lopsided trades of the season, Glen Sather has made a move to benefit the franchise for several reasons, and not only because he has brought in a proven goal scorer in Jokinen.

First off, Ales Kotalik needed to go. His three-year, $9 million contract was not sitting well with the Rangers, especially John Tortorella. His production on this team had obviously gone down drastically since the beginning of the season when he was scoring goals from the point on the powerplay.

Since then, he has found himself as a consistent healthy scratch for the past month. He was unhappy here, he was not one of Tortorella’s favorites, and the fans didn’t have much love for him. The contract needed to be dumped, and Sather executed that efficiently.

Then there is Chris Higgins. I will admit I had high hopes for Higgins heading into the season, thinking he would rebound from his injuries and have a career year.

Well, I was wrong. The fact is Higgins simply just could not score goals. You can put up with the hard forecheck and defensive effort to a certain extent, but at some point, when the guy has less than 10 goals after the midpoint of the season when he was expected to score 20, something is wrong. Higgins was never made to be in New York, and I do not think anyone will be sad to see him depart.

This is a low-risk, high-reward trade for the New York Rangers. They dump the two players listed above, and now acquire two individuals that will hopefully make an impact as rentals, and if they don’t, both are free agents come July, so the Blueshirts would no longer have to deal with them.

However, I feel Olli Jokinen will work out in New York, especially if he is given the chance to play with Marian Gaborik.

Jokinen, 31, may only have 11 goals in this point of the season, but realize that he has been playing on a Flames team that was struggling.

No, the Rangers may not be in a much better position in the Eastern Conference, but Jokinen will be given a chance, I’m sure, to play alongside the top players on this team.

Aside from last year’s playoffs, Jokinen did not really get a chance to play with Flames’ Captain Jarome Iginla, who accounts for a large chunk of Calgary’s scoring.

That may have affected Olli’s game negatively, but he realizes he needs to better, and is looking for a fresh start with the Rangers.

Jokinen’s contract is worth $5.25 million, and like I said, he will become a restricted free agent in the summer.

As far as Brandon Prust goes, he is a young kid (turns 26 next month), plays with his heart on his sleeve, and can drop the gloves when need be.

This kid has a shot at stealing the job of Donald Brashear or Aaron Voros. Both of these players have not been exactly what the Rangers have wanted, but I think Prust will make up for what they lack.

Prust has a solid body and can work well maybe playing with Sean Avery and Brian Boyle. I am looking forward to giving him a shot, but if it does not work out, he is a restricted free agent come July.

I really like this trade from a Rangers standpoint. They got rid of spare parts that were not producing, and have brought in a pure goal scorer and a young enforcer, both of which can walk after this season if things do not go as planned.

As much as we like to tag Glen Sather for his mistakes, you have to give him credit for this trade. Trades are one thing Slats is a mastermind at (Gomez, Korpikoski, and now Kotalik) just look at the returns he has gotten for those underachieving players. You have to be satisfied with that. Anyway, both players are expected to be in the lineup tonight against the Los Angeles Kings in L.A., where we will get our first glimpse of them in Ranger blue.

I will have more on this and the game later today…
(Photo courtesy of Reuters)