Battle Of Hudson

The Devils stunned the hockey world by trading their No.1 pick to the Canucks for Cory Schneider.

Today’s NHL Draft hasn’t had as much sizzle as expected. However, the host Devils made quite a move dealing away their first pick to the Canucks for goalie Cory Schneider. The stunning trade came as Devil fans anticipated who Lou Lamoriello would select. Instead, he rolled the dice and filled a huge hole for the future in net.

The 27-year old Schneider was supposed to stay in Vancouver and supplant Roberto Luongo. In what can only be described as a 180, Canucks GM Mike Gillis turned around and dealt Schneider to the Devils straight up for the ninth overall pick where they selected London Knights center Bo Horvat.

“Today’s decision was made after a thorough review of our options and in the interest of improving this team long-term through the draft and development of players,” Gillis said in a statement. “We appreciate the high level of professionalism and conduct both Cory and Roberto have shown while continuing to help this team be competitive. I would like to personally thank Cory for his contributions to our team and wish him the very best and a bright future.”

Tomorrow, the NHL Draft will take place at The Prudential Center. Newark will be the scene for one of hockey’s most exciting days capping off a great season. Who will go first? Who’s on the block? Which prospective free agents are ready to cash in? With it the final day of June, there’s sure to be plenty of fireworks.

Danny Briere and Vinny Lecavalier were bought out adding pizzazz to a vanilla market. Keeping Brad Richards prevents wheeler and dealer Glen Sather from overpaying for Stephen Weiss or Tyler Bozak. Nathan Horton is expected to test the market as will David Clarkson. Tyler Seguin and Kris Letang are both available and could get moved at tomorrow’s Draft. We could see another Pens star on the move if Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero concludes that he can’t extend Letang. He turned down an eight-year $56 million offer. Could it be two consecutive years where Shero steals the show? Last year, he moved Jordan Staal to Carolina after he rejected an extension. And what of Seguin, who following a quiet postseason might be on the block? Is it wise for the Bruins to unload a future star due to the logjam at center with Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci? The Blackhawks could also be making some changes. The harsh reality of a second Cup during the Cap Era.

Don’t expect the Rangers to be in on the fun. Sather gave away too many picks, making Sunday’s extravaganza in Newark an afterthought for blue seaters. Nevertheless, it should have plenty of drama with Colorado dangling the top pick. Supposedly, they’re enamored with Nathan MacKinnon and could pass up Seth Jones. Jonathan Drouin continues to get overlooked despite an enormous season and as much upside as MacKinnon. Keep an eye on Aleksander Barkov, who could spoil the party.

It’s a draft where the host Devils select ninth and should be able to land an impact prospect. The Sabres pick eighth. Despite Brian’s ramblings, Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek might stay. The Islanders pick 15th. The Rangers’ first rounder belongs to the Blue Jackets (19th) due to the Rick Nash trade. Columbus boasts three No.1’s (14, 19, 27) and could move up. Their second pick went to San Jose for Clowe. Three of five picks are in the third round.

For more coverage, NHL.com’s Adam Kimmelman takes a look at all 30 teams draft needs. Our very own Hasan will be at the festivities taking it in. Have fun. I’ll be at work following the excitement on Twitter.

With a busy off season already in full swing, the Rangers made an important decision Friday not to buyout Brad Richards. They could’ve amnestied him to free up more room this summer. Instead, the former Conn Smythe winner stays put for at least another year.

He’ll get the chance to play under new coach Alain Vigneault. A more offensive oriented mind who likes to pinch the D when the opportunity arises. Richards gets a reprieve following a dismal second year in Manhattan. Despite inconsistency, he still ranked third in team scoring with 34 points (11-23-34). The 33-year old veteran center struggled severely in the playoffs tallying just a goal. A step behind against the Bruins, he was benched by former coach John Tortorella the final two games.  A controversial move that may have contributed to his dismissal. Ironic considering how close they were, winning with Tampa.

“I’ve got to start over, so that starts probably in about a week or two,” Richards expressed after the season. “I can control that. That’s one thing I can control all summer is how I prepare, and if I do all that, then I’ll be confident and happy how I enter the season … I signed here to be a Ranger a lot longer than a year and a half, and I still hope to do that, but I have to take care of how I can play, and that’s all on me.”

By bringing Richie back, Glen Sather is putting faith in a proven player who’s fully capable of bouncing back. If he gets hurt, they run the risk of not being able to buy him out next summer. He’s signed through 2019-20 with a cap hit of $6.67 million. Daily News Rangers beat writer Pat Leonard had more on the contract and how it could affect the club long term.

Still, the new “Cap Advantage Recapture” clause in the NHL’s and NHLPA’s new collective bargaining agreement likely will force the Rangers to buy out Richards’ contract in the summer of 2014 regardless of how he performs.The “CAR” clause seeks to penalize teams for doling out massive, frontloaded contracts under the previous CBA. It forces teams who have signed a player to a frontloaded contract to absorb that player’s remaining cap hit for the remainder of his original term in the event he retires early.
So if Richards were to retire from the Rangers following the 2016-17 season – when his signing bonus money stops coming in – the Rangers will have paid him approximately $51.96 million in salary by that point but only absorbed $37.2 million of it on the team’s salary cap (numbers adjusted due to lockout, to reflect that just 58% of the scheduled 2012-13 season was played).
The “CAR” clause would force the Blueshirts to absorb the remaining $14.75 million evenly through the remaining three years on Richards’ original contract, meaning an annual cap hit of $4.9 million for the next three seasons without Richards even playing for the team.
The Rangers will owe Richards the remaining $10 million of his $28 million total signing bonus regardless of how they proceed next summer. But if they had used a compliance buyout, the Rangers would have had to pay Richards just two-thirds of his remaining $36 million in salary – or $24 million – spread over two times the remaining length of his contract.

With Richards staying put, that leaves Sather less room to re-sign Ryane Clowe, who continued to insist he loves it here. There’s no margin for error with key restricted’s Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh, who are each due significant raises. Carl Hagelin must also be re-signed along with John Moore. Unless he can get creative, it could be a dull summer.

The Blackhawks pose for a team photo with the Stanley Cup. Getty Images/Charles Krupa

The Blackhawks are Stanley Cup champions for the second time in four years. They stunned the Bruins by coming back to win Game Six 3-2 in epic fashion. Chicago pulled it off by scoring two goals in 17 seconds to reverse a potential Game Seven to a thrilling victory.

Milan Lucic put the Bruins ahead 2-1 with under eight minutes left. He took a David Krejci feed and beat Corey Crawford to put Boston 7:49 away from forcing a seventh game. How close were they? Tyler Seguin nearly made it 3-1 with two minutes remaining. Cam Neely thought so and jumped up in the press box prematurely.

What happened next was the craziest ending to a Cup in recent memory. With Crawford pulled for an extra attacker, the Hawks pushed for the equalizer. In a board battle, Duncan Keith kept the play alive pushing a loose puck to Jonathan Toews. The Chicago captain, who scored a goal despite being questionable made a spectacular pass across to Bryan Bickell who tied it with 1:16 left. I was covering a Staten Island Yankee game but had the game on my laptop and heard cheering. I checked and couldn’t believe it. I put it down for a second and then heard more cheers. To my amazement, the Hawks were celebrating again after Dave Bolland slammed home the Cup clincher with under a minute to go. Ex-Devil Johnny Oduya’s shot was redirected by Michael Frolik off Tuukka Rask right to Bolland, who beat Johnny Boychuk to the puck.

The bizarre sequence will be replayed in Boston players’ heads for quite some time. How they lost was indescribable. On home ice no less. One of the stingiest defensive teams fell apart. Zdeno Chara had a rough series as did partner Dennis Seidenberg. However, you don’t expect what happened because it rarely ever does. Chicago wanted no part of a seventh game. Can you blame them? Anything was possible. These same Bruins found a way against Vancouver. As banged up as they were, I wouldn’t have put it passed them. Patrice Bergeron played with broken ribs, torn cartilage and suffered a separated shoulder during Game 6. What a warrior. It was also revealed that Michal Handzus played through a broken wrist and torn MCL. He wanted to win his first Cup that badly. Quite a pickup for the Hawks.

What separates hockey players from most other sports is their pain threshold. These grown men will do whatever it takes to win. The display we saw in the first Original Six Cup since 1979 was a classic battle between two great teams. Three games went to overtime including Chicago’s pivotal 6-5 win in Game Four that swung the momentum. Brent Seabrook’s second OT winner changed the series. The Bruins were a goal away from going up 3-1. A predicament the Hawks faced in the second round before rallying back to beat the Red Wings. Instead, they evened the series and then took Game Five 3-1 on the strength of two goals from Conn Smythe winner Patrick Kane. Kane came to life tallying a goal and helper in the fifth game after being put back with Toews by Joel Queeneville. His hat trick eliminated the Kings. He led the Hawks with 19 points (9-10-19). Kane became the fourth American to win the Conn Smythe, joining Brian Leetch and recent recipients Tim Thomas and Jon Quick.

When Toews was handed the Cup by commissioner Gary Bettman, he handed it to Handzus who was a vet that hadn’t won. It then went to Jamal Mayers and former Ranger Michal Rozsival, who summed it up perfectly by screaming “Oh my God.” Good for Rozsival. He took a lot of abuse here but was a solid player who helped our team turn it around. He played well as did Oduya. Now, both have their names etched on Lord Stanley. Ironic how things work out.

Having a Boston friend who had to be torn up about how they lost, I sent her a text congratulating the Bruins on a great run. She thanked me and spoke of how proud she was of what they accomplished. They brought a city together in similar fashion to how the 2001 Yankees did. That Yankee team is still the one I cherish the most. Boston did themselves proud and were Boston Strong till the end. Considering that there wasn’t any hockey for so long, this lockout season turned out alright. Boston and Chicago gave us a great ride. One of the best Cups in quite some time. Thank you to both.

Congrats to the Blackhawks. They truly were the best team from start to finish. Two Cups in four years for a franchise that once went nearly 40 years without one. Toews and Kane changed all that. They’re a terrific organization. Top notch.

Basically, the two veteran coaches have been traded for each other. An oddity. Has that ever happened before? Speaking of irony, Lindy Ruff will coach the Stars. How will that work? Can you imagine this day coming back in 1999? After the whole No Goal saga. Buffalo resident Brian Sanborn devoted a show to it, appropriately titled “The No Goal Sports Show.”

I guess it’s just a weird June. There’s no other way to describe it. Tortorella in Vancouver with that press is even scarier. It makes Manhattan seem tame. His predecessor/replacement Vigneault coached there and Montreal. So, he should be fine here. Plus he is more media friendly. So, they’ll love him and probably already do. He doesn’t have to win a game to earn that.

Vigneault has already toured the radio airwaves appearing on the Rangers home ESPN and then WFAN. We heard how much he likes the roster, referring to it as a very good team. The pulse on a more aggressive system that should allow defensemen to jump into the rush more freely.

Tortorella taught our core well and developed a young nucleus. Now, he’ll take over the Canucks, who are a veteran team led by The Sedins. When asked who were the best players he coached, Vigneault chose them without hesitation. He didn’t disrespect Roberto Luongo, who probably finally gets moved this summer. It’ll be a luxury for Tortorella to have Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who are easily the best players he’ll coach. Marian Gaborik was pretty good and Rick Nash showed flashes. If you polled him, he’d probably still choose Brad Richards, who won a Conn Smythe when they teamed to win in Tampa. He’ll also get to coach Ryan Kesler.

I wonder if he’ll make better use out of Vigneault’s former defense, which boasts Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler and power play quarterback Jason Garrison along with Dan Hamhuis. That quartet is more offensive minded than the Rangers’ top four of Michael Del Zotto, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh and Marc Staal. Defensively, give the edge to the Blueshirts. Though Vigneault has plenty of work ahead to harness the talent out of the inconsistent Del Zotto.

What about free agents? The Canucks have more unrestricted’s including NY Puck target Max Lapierre, Mason Raymond and Derek Roy. The Rangers are mainly focused on re-signing key RFA’s Carl Hagelin, McDonagh and Derek Stepan. Glen Sather’s goal is to get Henrik Lundqvist done. He’ll also see if he can bring back Ryane Clowe and Mats Zuccarello. John Moore is a Group II and Steve Eminger is a UFA.

It’ll be intriguing to follow both teams. Especially the coaches. 

It took a while to start. Once the anticipated press conference did, new Rangers coach Alain Vigneault was introduced by Garden CEO Jim Dolan and Team President and General Manager Glen Sather. Before the 35th coach in franchise history addressed the media, both Dolan and Sather thanked John Tortorella for four years. A classy gesture even if the latter emphasized why he made the change. 

The Rangers off-season has already begun. Team President and GM Glen Sather has replaced John Tortorella. Alain Vigneault will officially be introduced as the new coach tomorrow at Radio City. He’ll become the 34th coach in franchise history.

The 52-year old coach brings experience, having coached Montreal and Vancouver. He took the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Final in 2011. They lost in seven to Boston. A bitter pill they never recovered from. The past two years have seen them eliminated in the first round. It was time for a change.

Vigneault gets a fresh start on Broadway. He takes over a good team. There won’t be any goalie controversy. Henrik Lundqvist is a stud who can steal games and series like he did to Washington. There’s great leadership with captain Ryan Callahan along with Marc Staal and Dan Girardi. It remains to be seen if Brad Richards will return. Ryan McDonagh is an emerging All-Star defenseman and Derek Stepan is developing into a two-way offensive center. Rick Nash is an established finisher. Derick Brassard led the club in postseason scoring with 12 points. Other key pieces include Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider, who has the potential to become a 30-goal scorer. Vigneault will need to get more out of Michael Del Zotto, who can hit the open market next summer if the Rangers don’t re-sign him.

Assessing the roster, it can use a little more bulk. Sather has an important decision on pending unrestricted Ryane Clowe. The 30-year old rugged forward was acquired from San Jose at the trade deadline for second and third round picks in 2013 and a conditional 2014 second round pick if he’s re-signed. Sather must weigh the positives against the negatives with a player who missed time due to a head injury (concussion). Clowe reportedly wants to stay. Will he give the Rangers a discount? That remains to be seen.

Sather will be quite busy negotiating new contracts for McDonagh, Stepan and Hagelin. All are Group II who are due significant raises. He also must decide what to do with Mats Zuccarello. He impressed in his return finishing second behind Brassard with seven points in the playoffs. He’ll probably be retained. The Rangers are also evaluating Mike Sauer, who’s considering retirement. Slats’ biggest focus is extending Lundqvist. The former Vezina winner expressed disappointment with this season and was noncommittal. Even if Sather says that didn’t impact his decision to fire Tortorella, it might not be the whole truth. The Rangers can ill afford to lose their franchise netminder. It must get done before training camp.

One player Vigneault coached is Max Lapierre. Originally a Montreal second round pick, the gritty 28-year old from Saint Leonard, Quebec is an agitating center who can inject energy. Not the most popular due to his post-whistle etiquette, Lapierre is a solid checker who’s strong on faceoffs and kills penalties. He plays a physical style that would be a good fit in New York. While some might question why I’d recommend a player I’m not fond of, you have to look at what he brings.

Lapierre is a physical type who takes the body. In ’11-12, his 244 hits led the Canucks and ranked just outside the top 10 in the NHL. By comparison, Callahan dished out 271 and Brian Boyle recorded 236. Lapierre also won 52.1 percent of draws. Boyle won 51.8 the same year but took a lot more. In 2013, he converted 56.4 to Lapierre’s 50.6. One could argue that they’re similar in terms of statistics. But there’s more to it than that. Anyone who’s watched Boyle knows he isn’t consistent. Yet when the playoffs came, he elevated his play a second consecutive year, tallying three goals and two assists. He doesn’t always use his size (6-7 244). Lapierre is listed at 6-2 207. A checking line of Lapierre, Boyle and a choice of Arron Asham, Derek Dorsett or Taylor Pyatt would be an upgrade. All year, the Rangers’ lack of a consistent forechecking fourth line that could bang bodies hurt. AHL types such as Kris Newbury and Micheal Haley are ill suited.

In 2013, Lapierre earned $1 million. Boyle is due $1.7 million entering his final year. It stands to reason that it wouldn’t cost a ton to sign Lapierre. A player who knows what to expect under Vigneault. A multi-year deal for between $3-4 million is doable. He might ask for $2.5 based on market value. Maybe he’ll take less if he wants to come East with Vigneault.

After being passed up to coach the Rangers, Mark Messier isn’t sure of his future. Neither is general manager Glen Sather.