Shelley Unsigned, Who Will Be Hanks New Back-Up? Volchenkov To New York?

Late last night it looked like the Rangers were going to resign Jody Shelley to a 2yr deal worth $850,000 dollars. It’s been 12 hours since the rumors sparked, and the Rangers have not resigned Jody Shelley. The veteran enforcer has said that he’d like to stay in New York. So what is holding up the deal? Well there are three possibilities...

1.     When Sather traded for Shelley, he gave up a 5^th round pick in 2011 entry draft. But, the trade also stated that if the Rangers failed to resign Shelley before July 1^st, and instead signed him on July 1^st, that the 5^th round pick would turn into a 6^th round pick. So maybe Slats is trying to change the pick he sends out to San Jose.

2.     Jody Shelley didn’t like the offer, and is going to test his luck in the Free Agents Market.

3.     Jody Shelley and his agent have made a counter offer, and plan to talk to Sather before  noon (the start of free agency).

So we will just have to wait to get the final word on Jody Shelley.

                Glen Sather has made it known that the Rangers are going after a back-up goalie on July 1^st. Names that continuously pop-up are Johan Hedberg, and Marty Biron. Other names that have recently surfaced are Anterro Niittymaki, and Patrick Lalime. Of this four I would rather have Marty Biron. Biron played a starting role for Buffalo and Philly; and last year a back-up role for the Islanders. He did struggle in his role with the isles last season, but just in case Hank gets hurt or sick, we know we’ll have someone to trust. Johan Hedberg and Anterro Niittymaki are also great choices. Both are strong goalies, who have played a back-up role before, and could definitely be key in big game situations. Patrick Lalime is the only one up there that I do not want, at all. Lalime won somewhere around 2 games all last season. That is not who I want backing-up Henrik Lundqvist.

           Reports have recently surfaced that the Rangers are, again, after Anton Volchekov. Volchenkov won’t bring you any offense, but he will bring you a big body, a shot blocking machine, and a hard clear creasing hitter. Volchenkov turned down a 5yr $4Million offer to stay in Ottawa. Expect him to want something around the $4.5million range. Another “up” about signing Volchenkov would be that the Rangers would have to get rid of Redden, or Rosival. The only problem the Rangers will run into, when trying to sign the A-train, is that there are 9 other teams interested in Volchenkov. Yes, 10 teams are interested in Volchenkov. This signing may not happen today for the Rangers, or at all, but it just shows that Sather is still looking to improve the team, not fully rebuild it.

Thanks for the read, leave any responses below, and enjoy Free Agency!