Recap: Glen Sather Gets Nash-ty

In a move that was months in the making, Glen Sather waited out the ridiculous demands of Columbus GM Scott Howson, and finally got his man. The deal finally consummated saw fan favorites Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov sent to Columbus and Rick Nash finally landing on Broadway. It had been a quiet offseason for the New York Rangers up till the Nash deal, with very few minor moves being made but Sather finally landed the piece he had been waiting for. Sather was trying to land the talented forward at the Trade Deadline but Howson’s demands were very high. So Sather waited out the demands, and waited out all the other teams that were trying to land Nash and landed him for a lot less than anyone expected. Along with Dubinsky and Anisimov the Rangers sent Tim Erixon and a 1^st round pick to Columbus, relatively cheap considering what was originally asked for.

In Nash the Rangers get a big, physical scorer who has big time scoring ability, something that the team was missing in their postseason run that ended prematurely with an Eastern Conference Finals loss to the New Jersey Devils. When introduced to the media this Wednesday, Nash was clearly very happy to be in New York. Nash said that New York was his #1 priority; he called the Rangers a world class team and said it’s every kids dream to play for an Original Six team in a big time city. Nash also said that he was happy that the Rangers didn’t have to tear up the core pieces of the team to get him.

So what’s next for the Rangers? Shane Doan is next on Sathers offseason list, but yesterday it was reported that Doan is looking for a year 40 million dollar deal, which may take many teams out of the running for him. Also on the list will be resigning Michael Del Zotto, the offensive D man, who is the Rangers last RFA. After losing Brandon Prust, John Mitchell and Ruslan Fedetenko, Sather added Arron Asham, Jeff Halpern and Taylor Pyatt. Solid pick up’s and character guys in the locker room.

The Rangers are still in good shape with the Salary Cap, Rick Nash is owed 7.25 million this year but they shed 7.85 million in salary getting rid of Dubinsky and Anisimov. The Rangers still could use another forward (Doan) for the right price as well as a right handed Defenseman, maybe a quarterback for the Power Play.

Teams are also still waiting to see if an agreement can be reached on a new CBA, to see exactly what the cap is going to look like. Talks have progressed somewhat slowly but there has been no indication to this point that there will be a work stoppage or a delay to the start of the season.

No matter what, the Rangers have landed their main target and have made the team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals, better. With Marian Gaborik out till at least November or December, adding an offensive force like Nash was very important. When Gaborik returns a top line of Gaborik, Richards and Nash will be pretty formidable and one that other teams in the league will hopefully find very hard to contain. Just like Sather many Ranger fans are hoping that the acquisition of Nash will put the team over the hump and get them that elusive Stanley Cup that has evaded the organization since 1994.