What Else Can Glen Sather Do To Improve the New York Rangers?

At the start of this offseason, the Rangers had a lot of holes on their roster that needed to be filled. So far, Glen Sather has fixed most of those holes. There are still a few spots that Sather hasn’t fixed, though.

In my slide-show (now it is an article because the slide-show was not working out. If you read the slide-show, I’m sorry about all the blanks, nothing would copy) I will review some of the moves made so far by Glen Sather, and add what Sather can do to make the team better before the start of the 2010-11 season.

At the end, feel free to leave a response below. Hope you enjoy!

What did the Rangers need fixed before free agency began?

The Rangers failed to reach the playoffs for the first time since the lockout, which set off an alarm in Glen Sather head that his “overspending” wasn’t enough to make the Rangers champions.

One thing that I believe (well hope) he learned, was that overspending only works if the player(s) signed affect the way the Rangers play; in a good way that is.

Signing guys like Gomez, Drury, Rozsival, Redden, etc. is fun and all, but if it doesn’t affect the Rangers in a good way, it wasn’t worth the overspending.

The Rangers needed key spots filled heading into Free Agency, and those spots were to be the only spots spent on. Those spots included:

Top-line center

Another scoring winger

A backup goalie

A physical defenseman to aid Lundqvist

An enforcer to aid all the Rangers' star players

A utility type defenseman

And a veteran presence

Which spots have been filled so far?

At the very beginning of free agency, Glen Sather went out and signed goaltender Marty Biron to a contract.

Possibly the best signing made by Sather, considering the Rangers got him at a bargain price, the Rangers now have a “safe” backup goaltender.

Biron will be a reliable backup, who can start in 15 to 20 games this coming season; and (God forbid) Hank is injured, Biron will be a reliable starter.

Not too long after that signing, Glen Sather resigned veteran winger/center Vaclav Prospal to a one-year contract. Another good signing by Slats.

Hours after those two signings, the Rangers acquired the top enforcer in the NHL, Derek Boogaard. Though the contract looks terrible right now, I trust Boogey will be a “win” signing.

He will definitely teach Dan Carcillo a lesson, and anyone else who decides to take a run at our best forward (Marian Gaborik, for anyone who doesn’t already know).

Sather has also added forwards Alexander Frolov, Todd White, and Mats Zuccarello-Aasen to the fold.

Frolov will be a huge asset on the wing for the Rangers, and should be the extra scoring the Rangers needed last season. He and Gaborik could work well on the first line, and on the power-play.

Todd White, if on the Rangers at the start of the season, should be an asset to the Rangers as a veteran presence, and as a solid two-way player. White can contribute offensively and defensively.

Mats Zuccarello-Aasen was an excellent pick-up by the Rangers, and as long as he plays well during training camp, he should be on the opening night line-up as secondary scoring.

Another addition to the team is utility defenseman Steve Eminger. Eminger could be used as a seventh defenseman, a veteran defenseman to play with guys like Ryan McDonagh, a penalty-killing defenseman, and he can play on the power-play (if he is needed there).

Which spots does Sather still have to fill this offseason?

Though the offseason is nearly over, there is still time for the Rangers to improve; especially after training camp when spots and cap space should be opened. So what is left for Sather to do?

1. Find a top-line center

2. Find a hardcore rough-housing defenseman

3. More secondary scoring wouldn’t hurt                                                 

Who else can Sather sign to fix those holes?                                                 

First off, before Sather does anything else this offseason, as far as signing free agents, he must free up cap space.

Whether it’s by waiving Wade Redden, Todd White, Steve Eminger, etc. or if it’s by trading away unneeded contracts like Michael Rozsivals.

The bottom line is that Glen Sather must open cap space, and roster space before signing any other needed players.

Here are a few players whom Sather may sign to feel those holes:

Top-line center

Trade For: Brad Richards, Mike Ribero, Marc Savard, Patrik Elias, long shot Jason Spezza

Sign: Mike Comrie

Tough crease-clearing defenseman

Trade For: No one, really

Sign: Willie Mitchell, Aaron Ward, maybe a Paul Mara return?

More secondary scoring:

Trade For: Anybody

Sign: Kyle Wellwood, Raffi Torres, Miro Satan, or Brendan Morrison.

Any of those players would be good additions to fill the empty holes on the roster.

Small FYI, when I say roster holes I don’t mean roster “spots.” I understand that there aren’t many spots open, so that’s why I said that Sather would have to open spots before doing anything else this summer.