Rangers coach Tom Renney repeatedly referred to Sean Avery as one of the team’s most valuable components during the drive to the conference semifinals, so imagine the 27-year-old winger’s surprise and anger upon reading that management called him “a reasonably effective player as well as a detriment to the team,” in the team’s salary arbitration brief that will be presented during today’s hearing at Toronto.
“It’s hard not to take something like that personally and not to be emotional about it,” Avery told The Post yesterday. “I know this is part of the business, I know this is part of the process, but it’s extremely disappointing to read something like that coming from Slats [GM Glen Sather] and not to be offended by it.
“They talk about me taking, ‘unnecessary penalties,’ and make a lot of references about me that I don’t want to go into but that I don’t think are fair. I certainly don’t think I was a detriment to the team.”
No one could possibly think Avery was a detriment to the Rangers. That’s careless and inaccurate terminology Sather is employing in his bid to win the salary arbitration case. The fact is that after acquiring Avery from the Kings on Feb. 5, the Blueshirts went 17-6-6 with him in the lineup, adding a jagged edge to a team that had been way too smooth for its own good the first four months of the season.
Avery, who earned $1.1 million last year while recording 48 points (18-30) in 84 games overall and 20 points (8-12) in 29 games for the Rangers, is seeking an arbitration award of $2.6M. That’s a bit of a reach, but the Rangers’ submission of $1.3M is laughably low.
“At the end of the season, my hope was to sign a long-term deal,” said Avery, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. “I would have loved that. . . . But that never became a legitimate possibility. It became obvious pretty quickly that I was going to wind up going to arbitration. That’s OK, I understand the situation with the cap and I understand that this is a business, but not only aren’t we anywhere close, they’ve decided to really go after me in this brief.
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
Two days after the elimination by Buffalo for which he assumed responsibility after going scoreless in the six-game series, Avery lobbied for the Rangers to sign Scott Gomez. On July 1, the Rangers signed Gomez and Chris Drury. One or the other will skate between Avery and Brendan Shanahan.
“The arbitration hasn’t changed my opinion at all about wanting to be a Ranger and being excited about this season,” Avery said. “I’m really high on the team. I just wish Slats hadn’t said these things about me. That’s hard to take.”