This mans’ days with the Rangers are officially over. (Photo: CS Smith/flickr)

You know how we know the NHL season has official begun? The waiver wires are spitting out names by the dozen.

Yesterday, the Rangers placed Sean Collins, Michael Haley, Chad Kolarik, Kris Newbury, Logan Pyett, Brendon Segal, Mike Vernace, and Tommy Grant on waivers. Why, you might ask, did they put half of their AHL team on waivers? Because of a stupid little rule that said they had to.

All eight of those guys are actually on NHL contracts meaning at the start of the season, they need to be placed on waivers to be sent down to the AHL. Usually this happens in October and no one even notices. Unfortunately this year the season is starting in January meaning they technically need to be “sent” to the Whale in order to continue to play there after Friday. So basically this was a formality.

The good news is no one claimed them so the Whale roster will stay intact. The even better news is the new CBA abolished re-entry waivers which means any of these guys can still easily be called up at any time. (I’m not sure if they will have to go through waivers to be sent back down again, though.)

*UPDATE: It looks like one of those guys is leaving the Whale as according to the AHL transaction page, Brandon Segal has been recalled by the Rangers. No confirmation from either team but if he is indeed headed to NY, the recall is much deserved as he has been one of the best players for the Whale recently. (And before anyone worries what this means for the Rangers roster, they are shorthanded at forward to begin with. I wouldn’t read too much into it at the moment.)

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In other waiver news, Wade Redden was placed on waivers today in order to be bought out. After the Rangers stated that they planned to pay Redden to sit at home and the Canadiens decided to do the same thing with Scott Gomez, the NHL and NHLPA got together and worked out an agreement to allow teams to use one of their two compliance buyouts before the season begins. Originally those buyouts were only supposed to be used either this summer or next summer.

The new provision states that teams can only use one and the player it is to be used on has to be making more than $3 million a season as well as agree to the buyout. Honestly, I think the new edition to the rule should be called the “Fix Glen Sather Mistake” provision, especially since it’s only expected to be used on those two players.

To make a long story short, Redden will be bought out tomorrow after he clears waives and be allowed to sign with any team he wants. He will still get the remaining salary owed to him and the Rangers will be on the hook for his full cap for this season only. The cap isn’t an issue since the Rangers would’ve had to deal with that if he sat home so I’m glad he’s getting the chance to play.

And since I’m not sure if I’ve ever written it on here, here’s my take on Redden:

He never asked for any of this. Yes he signed the contract but if someone offered you that money, what would you do? The exact same thing he did. It didn’t work out here and for that I feel bad for him. It wasn’t that he was a horrible player. He just wasn’t a $6 million a year player. He has been amazing in Hartford the past two seasons so I really hope he gets another chance with another team and is able to end his career on a high note. I know I’ll be rooting for him.

Hello, our perfect goaltender. (Photo: Tim Baker/flickr)

As expected, the NHL and PA are going to take this ridiculousness as long as possible. I mean knowing these two sides, is it any surprise that they can’t release the PA voting and things still aren’t official as of noon today? No, unfortunately it’s not.

That said, the schedule is expected to be released today. Assuming these two sides get their act together and it is, I’ll post it as soon as it’s available.

But while we wait, here’s a couple of loose odds and ends from this week.

» Continue reading “While We Wait For The Schedule, Henrik + More”

Congrats Jeff on the birth of your second child! (Photo: Melissa Andus)

In case you missed the news last night, it looks like the Rangers will still be opening the season on the road. Except rather than on the west coast, as had been planned if the season started on time, they will be opening a couple hours north in Boston. That should be a good game to say the least because you know, Rangers-Bruins games never have anything worthwhile happening during them.

To prepare for that the game, the boys took to the ice again yesterday for another informal practice, although this one looked more like a regular practice as every Ranger on a NHL contract (or in Del Zotto’s case, soon to be contract) was in attendance except Jeff Halpern. And why was Halpern missing? Oh because his wife just had a baby. I think that’s a legit excuse, don’t you? Congrats to the Halperns on their new bundle of joy!

» Continue reading “Crowded Ice + Congrats To Halpern”

Yeah I wouldn’t be happy about this either if I was you… (Photo: Bridget Samuels/flickr)

Recently, the Rangers released a preliminary roster for the Connecticut Whale’s training camp set to start on September 29th. (There is nothing that will stop it from starting on that date.)

Here is the list of players set to report:

» Continue reading “I’m Locked Out, You’re Locked Out…Redden’s Locked Out?”

Wade Redden will be ready to lead the team in his second season as Connecticut Whale Captain. (Photo: Peter Hindle)

The Whale will maintain most of it’s core leadership this year.  The leadership of an AHL team is very important.  One reason is for the development of players.  Another reason is to keep the team cohesive and acting as one unit throughout the season.  Rosters in the AHL change like tabloid headlines.  Players move in and out of the roster much more frequently than in the NHL making leadership within the AHL roster more important in some cases.  Every AHL team needs a solid core of players with experience and leadership skills, you will always find veterans on any AHL team.  Last year the team had other leaders like Brendan Bell and Jordan Owens.  Guys who know the ropes in the league and have had experiences with more than one team.  Going into this year there are three leaders that come to mind in Hartford.  Two on ice and one off the ice.

» Continue reading “Solid Leadership Remains For Connecticut Whale”