With Petr Prucha re-signed, that leaves Sean Avery, Brendan Shanahan and Henrik Lundqvist.
It’s refreshing to see Prucha brought back for two more years. He’s scored more than 20 goals in his first two seasons and is the only Ranger to do so since Alexei Kovalev. While Kovy didn’t work out quite as well as Ranger fans would have hoped, Prucha still has a shot to contribute to the continued success of the club. Larry Brooks wrote yesterday that Lundqvist’s negotiation has hit a snag, alluding to the potential for club-induced salary arbitration.
While Lundqvist has put up impressive numbers in his first two seasons and been an essential ingredient in the rebirth of the Rangers, he doesn’t have the leverage to demand Luongo-like money at this stage in his career. He’s easily worth the range that’s been quoted, but there’s talk of the ante being upped by Gomez and Drury’s contracts.
The aforesaid troubles to come from waving so much money at two marquee centermen seems to have reared their heads, but Hank has expressed a Shanny-like desire to stay in the City and that he wasn’t interested in any other offers besides one tabled by the Rangers.
It’s safe and obvious to say that the utmost issue at the moment is shoring up Lundqvist so both the goalie and the club are satisfied.