King Kovy, Staal & The Jester Glen Sather

According to recent rumors by thefourthperiod, the New York Rangers may be interested in acquiring the services of scoring sensation Ilya Kovalchuk.

Adding a player of Kovy's caliber, with his ability to add 40-50 goals and the same number of assists,  would certainly be welcome for a team who ranked 21st in the league in goals scored with an unimpressive 2.61/gpg. And indeed a line with Gaborik and Kovalchuk would be sensational to watch, both have the ability to score and pass with brilliance. Unfortunately for the Rangers they have fallen victim to the mistakes of Glen Sather’s past.

The contracts of Wade Redden and Chris Drury are like a herpes outbreak every summer and February. Fans always seem to put them on the back burner until a pivotal signing period or trade deadline when the Rangers are forced to keep their pants on.

Not that the Rangers could afford to make a true pitch at Ilya anyway, with about $57 million spent already and Marc Staal and the Rangers in the mist of a contract "chasm".

Again though, though no fault of the fans the Rangers look cheap in their signing of Marc Staal, their best defenseman, just as they were with Dubinsky. Both players are farm grown (which is new to Ranger philosophy) and have earned contracts with hard work and much fan support. Paying $4million/ season to your best shutdown defenseman should be no problem to most teams, especially when you consider Redden at $6.5Mil against the cap.

Hopefully for Ranger fans, Sather buries Redden in the minors along with his inflated contract and can give Staal the deal he deserves. He may even have enough to sign a desperately needed first or second line Center maybe a Belanger or Morrison who would come at an affordable rate.

Unfortunately we all know Sather's pride is too big for any of that. And Ranger fans should just pray they get Staal back in time for camp.