Sather must keep things moving forward

GREENBURGH, N.Y.

The end yesterday was just the beginning.

John Tortorella speaks often about "the process." The Rangers have transformed themselves from a disjointed group two years ago into a hard-working, hard-effort team, which is part of the process.

The next part started yesterday, with the players packing up for the offseason and Tortorella and president Glen Sather, along with the rest of the front office, hunkering down to plan another important spring and summer.

Tortorella's three-year extension, signed weeks ago, is confirmation that Sather likes the direction in which he has taken this team. Now it's Sather's turn to keep it going, with the challenge of numerous moving parts before the calendar even gets to July 1.

The main target is the same as it's been since the trade deadline: Brad Richards. Marian Gaborik hinted at Richards Monday -- "We all know who's out there," he said of the impending free-agent crop -- and Tortorella, whose love for Richards and Marty St. Louis is known leaguewide, spoke vaguely about the sort of addition he'd like to see Sather make.

"It's not about . . . signing a bunch of free agents," Tortorella said. "It's signing the right guy."

SEE PHOTOSCountdown: 10 worst Rangers playoff moments

Sather, who did not speak Monday, has long had trouble with the "bunch of guys" vs. "the right guy" battle. If the playoffs is a war between a player and his brain, as Henrik Lundqvist put it on the eve of Game 5, then the offseason is a battle between a general manager and desires.

Sather has long been known to have eyes bigger than his roster, adding players who either wear down over the length of their free-agent contracts (Chris Drury), need to be moved to make salary-cap room (Scott Gomez, Michal Rozsival) or simply prove to be head-scratching additions (Derek Boogaard).

To his credit, Sather has made lemonade out of some real lemons. Ryan McDonagh is a mainstay in the making, and he's a Ranger only because Sather needed to unload Gomez and found a willing taker in the Canadiens two summers ago. In January, he flipped Rozsival for Wojtek Wolski, whose $3.8- million salary for next season almost certainly will be bought out, which means Sather will save $4.53 million of cap space for next season.

But the Rangers have little cap space this summer, less when Wade Redden's $6.5- million cap hit is added July 1. Deals for restricted free agents Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov and Brian Boyle might have to wait until camp.

Sather's challenge is to add skill. The Rangers have some among their young guys, and Gaborik's miserable season didn't help matters. Richards and a puck-moving defenseman are musts.

Sather has a little more than two months to find a way to make room for the top targets. He'll also have to figure out how to stay away from the clunkers of summers past. As the Rangers' young group matures, expectations go up, and there's a smaller margin for error on the ice.

It's also smaller off the ice for Sather. Everyone agrees that Richards can be the No. 1 center the Rangers need. What they don't need is freelancing, seat-of-the-pants signings that could slow down this process just when it needs to accelerate.

The Dolan family owns controlling interests in the Rangers, MSG and Cablevision. Cablevision owns Newsday.