NHL: NY Rangers Edge Ducks; Avery to Replace Injured Forward in Lineup?

The strange sensation, the agile agitator, and the enigma that is Sean Avery, is here to stay for the foreseeable future. When Avery was deployed to the Connecticut Whale of the AHL, it was a mere “hockey personnel” decision.

Rangers bench boss John Tortorella made it simply clear when he stated,

"

We have better players than Sean Avery, plain and simple

"

How things have changed significantly since the end of the preseason and training camp.  The Broadway Blueshirts left for Europe with a roster full of talent. Some were destined to ride the bus city to city as a member of the Whale, and others were destined to travel from city to city each and every night.

Avery loves to be in the limelight. It is easy to see why he could have a tough time assimilating to the lifestyle of a minor leaguer. However, he took it in stride, nursed an injury, and he is finally back on the roster.

He remained a healthy scratch for tonight’s 2-1 against the Anaheim Ducks. It was mutually agreed upon by both Tortorella and Avery that, “ there was not much sense in tweaking a lineup that had performed against the San Jose Sharks.

The lineup played well on Monday. They skated, outworked their opponents, and played solid two-way hockey. This is the sort of thing that the fans expect. How the Rangers brass of Sather, Schoenfield,and Tortorella work Sean back into the lineup makes for an interesting story.

Wojtek Wolski left the game in the first with a groin injury. This could potentially open the door for Avery, or the Rangers could make another move as suggested by analyst Dave Maloney during the post game.

Maloney suggested that the Rangers could potentially call up Mats Zuccarello. His reasoning is that with Wolski out of the lineup, a top six minutes slot has been opened. The only reason in his mind that Andre Deveaux was called up to replace Mike Rupp was due to the role he filled.

Avery is a bottom six guy and can fill in temporarily in the upper six. In this situation the Rangers have a few options. However, more will be known tomorrow after the team practices in preparation for their contest against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday.

The way the lines are currently constructed look like this.

Wojtek Wolski | Derek Stepan | Marián Gáborík

Brandon Dubinsky | Brad Richards | Ryan Callahan

Ruslan Fedotenko | Brian Boyle | Brandon Prust

Artem Anisimov | Erik Christensen | Andre Deveaux

If Wolski is out of the lineup the Rangers will have to consider what is best for the team. There would be a hole in the top line and one potentially on the bottom line. Where Avery, Deveaux, and Zuccarello could fit in is a tough choice and I'm glad that it’s Tortorella’s to make. 

Transactions Update:

The Rangers have come to terms on a contract with defenseman Anton Strålman

@TSNBobMcKenzieBob McKenzie  Anton Stralman's deal with the NYR is one year for $900,000. 3 hours ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®  Favorite  Retweet  Reply

Strålman could potentially eat up some of Jeff Wowitka’s ice time.

@stevezipaySteve ZipayWoywitka envisions battling Anton Stralman for ice time. Torts says Woywitka "can pass the puck, good teammate, he's going to improve."14 minutes ago via TweetDeck  Favorite  Retweet  Reply

A lot is going on in New York Ranger land so check back the Bleacher Report New York Rangers page tomorrow for some more updates and alerts.

Tom Urtz Jr. is an NHL Featured Columnist. For more NHL free-agent news, updates and alerts about players: