From July 16-Aug 16, we’ll be profiling all 30 NHL teams by recapping what they did this offseason and previewing their upcoming campaigns.
2011-12 season
51-24-7, 109 points. First in the Atlantic Division, first in the Eastern Conference.
Additions
Arron Asham, Taylor Pyatt, Jeff Halpern
Departures
Ruslan Fedotenko, John Mitchell, Brandon Prust, John Scott
2012 Draft
1st round, 28th overall — Brady Skjei (US NTDP)
Looking back
Not much to look back on, really -- the summer’s been a quiet time for Rangers news. (Aside from Brad Richards doing this.) As it stands, the roster looks almost identical to the one that made it to the conference finals before losing to the Devils.
The additions of Asham, Pyatt and Halpern are notable only in their lack of significance, especially after GM Glen Sather said following the draft that he was going to be “fairly aggressive in the free-agent market.”
Looking ahead
The big question: Will Sather continue his pursuit for Rick Nash? The Rangers emerged as the front-runners to acquire the Columbus captain prior to the trade deadline, but Sather ultimately refused to meet the demands of Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson.
That the Rangers struggled to produce offense in the playoffs (they only scored more than three goals once in 20 games) led many to believe Sather would be even more motivated to land Nash in the offseason.
However, Sather has said he doesn’t want to “dismantle the core of our organization. We’ve got a lot of good young kids, and we want to let them grow and develop.”
Have your say
Vote in our poll and let us know what you think of the Rangers’ 2012-13 outlook in the comments section.
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