INSIDE HOCKEY

NEW YORK – A few weeks after the Rangers season ended, GM Glen Sather, coach John Tortorella, and a number of other decision makers met at Sather’s home in La Quinta, California at the annual organizational meetings. With part one of their completed after the team selected Massachusetts high schooler Chris Kreider with the 19th pick in the draft, Sather’s attention now turns to Wednesday, when the cattle doors open to free agency.

So, what do we think the most important signing could be for the Rangers? Daniel and Henrik Sedin. True, there isn’t much money for the Sedin twins (who will probably command a total of about $12 million in total salary between the two twins). True, the Rangers will have to drop any number of Michal Rozsival, Wade Redden, and Scott Gomez in order to have room under the cap. True, the Rangers are already in a sort of salary cap purgatory, but also true that singing the Sedins will give this team more scoring than it had last year, and much more depth than they had in ’08-‘09.

Last year’s defensive corps was a strength for the Rangers. With Henrik Lundqvist between the pipes, it doesn’t have to be the top defense in the league. New York allowed the sixth fewest goals in the league last season. That should have been good enough for a top-of-the-conference finish. Instead, the Rangers finished 7th in the East, and were finished off in seven games by the Capitals in the first round.

The reason New York made a quick playoff exit was offense. More specifically, a lack thereof. This team needs more offense, and can afford to sacrifice defense in order to get it. Look at the teams that advanced in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Chicago. What did they all have in common? Sensational offensive stars. What do the Rangers not have? Sensational offensive stars.

That is why the Sedin twins have to be Sather’s target on Wednesday. Combined, they scored 164 points last season – 82 each. Daniel’s the goal scorer at 31-51-82, Henrik the playmaker at 22-60-82. For comparison, no Ranger had 60 points last season, in as anemic an offensive season ever seen on Broadway.

Here are our projected lines if the Sedin twins slip on the famous Rangers sweater somewhere around July 1:

Daniel Sedin – Henrik Sedin – Nikolai Zherdev
Brandon Dubinsky – Scott Gomez – Sean Avery
Ryan Callahan – Chris Drury – Lauri Korpikoski
Artem Anisimov – Blair Betts – Brian Boyle

Marc Staal – Dan Girardi
Michal Rozsival – Matt Gilroy
Bobby Sanguinetti – Michael Del Zotto

Henrik Lundqvist
Stephen Valiquette

As long as the salary cap doesn’t forbid the Rangers from keeping Scott Gomez and Chris Drury, this plan adds the depth the Rangers were missing last season. Concerns that Gomez and Drury are better suited for the second and third lines are rendered moot, while their top line should give them over 200 points. Daniel is the sniper, Henrik the playmaker, with Zherdev creating and scoring, too.

Dubinsky – Gomez – Avery showed quite a bit of promise in Game 7 against Washington, and they should be given a chance to bear that potential out. Callahan and Drury will – at worst – provide heart on the third line, and maybe Korpikoski rediscovers his game under a full season of Tortorella’s tutelage. Anisimov will probably swap with Korpikoski throughout the season, while Betts provides the bedrock to what was a sensational penalty kill last season.

Wade Redden is clearly not on the list of defensive pairs – that’s because under this plan, he’s either traded or sent down to Hartford. Die-hard Rangers fans will remember Darius Kasparaitis riding the bus in Hartford after the lockout because his salary and penchant for not staying in shape was simply too excessive for the Rangers to keep him with the big club. The same could happen with Redden this year, unless the Rangers find a taker for his enormous salary and rapidly declining play.

CURRENT RANGERS UNDER CONTRACT FOR 2009-2010 (SALARY CAP HIT)
FORWARDS
Scott Gomez (7.357)
Chris Drury (7.050)
Sean Avery (1.938)
Aaron Voros (1.000)
Artem Anisimov (0.822)

DEFENSEMEN
Wade Redden (6.500)
Michal Rozsival (5.000)
Dan Girardi (1.550)
Marc Staal (0.827)
Bobby Sanguinetti (0.855)
Matt Gilroy (number unknown)
Michael Del Zotto ($1.750)

GOALTENDERS
Henrik Lundqvist (6.875)
Stephen Valiquette (0.725)
TOTAL: 42.249

If the Rangers can get rid of Redden, that leaves them with a current cap number of 35.749. If the Sedin twins combine to ask for $6 million a year, that means the Rangers have 47.749 tied up in 13 players, and with the cap set at 56.8, they can spend about $9 million on the remaining 9 skaters. Betts will likely need only $1-$2 million, same for Callahan, Dubinsky, Korpikoski, and Boyle, all of who are Restricted Free Agents and thus have limited negotiating capabilities.

Sather told the media on Saturday Antropov’s asking price was “ridiculous,” so expect him to be let go. Meanwhile, Zherdev was qualified as an RFA at $3.250 million, according to the NY Post's Larry Brooks.

PROJECTED CAP HITS FOR UNSIGNED RANGERS
Henrik Sedin ($6.000)
Daniel Sedin ($6.000)
Nik Zherdev ($3.250)
Ryan Callahan ($.800)
Brandon Dubinsky ($1.000)
Blair Betts ($1.000)
Brian Boyle ($0.850)
Lauri Korpikoski ($1.200)
TOTAL ($20.100)

If these numbers are accurate the Rangers will have $55.849 million tied up in 20 players, with Del Zotto’s number not revealed to the media when he was resigned last month. Therefore, much to the surprise of some Rangers fans, New York might be able to make a run at the Sedin twins, though they certainly could be out-bid.

They better hope not. The Sedin twins need to be Glen Sather’s foremost priority when free agency opens at 12:01 in the morning on Wednesday.