Staple: Rangers show some restraint on first day of free agency

There's a reason the NHL free-agency period usually is called a frenzy. Some general managers lose track of their senses when the clock strikes midnight.

Glen Sather and the Rangers showed some restraint Thursday, but perhaps not enough.

He brought back centers Vinny Prospal (one year, $1 million, with another $1.1 million in reachable bonuses) and Erik Christensen (two years, $1.95 million) on reasonable deals, considering the market for centers is fairly thin.

Martin Biron didn't get to show much on the ice for the Islanders last season, but he showed he's a mature veteran who can handle a tough situation. Getting him for two years and $1.75 million to back up Henrik Lundqvist was shrewd.

And yet . . . Sather sometimes cannot resist the lure of the new face. He was not alone in overpaying for a new piece, even though the $6.6 million for four years he gave Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard was not even close to the strangest contract handed out Thursday.

But it's a pattern for Sather, one that stretches from the pre-lockout, pre-salary-cap days of spending without limit for the likes of Dave Karpa and Igor Ulanov on up to Wade Redden, Donald Brashear and Ales Kotalik in the last few seasons.

The Rangers' commitment to youth and its own prospects won't be damaged by adding Boogaard and subtracting the toughness and quality locker-room presence of Jody Shelley, who got three years at $1.1 million per from the Flyers.

Sather was the model of control in comparison to some other GMs. The Flames' Darryl Sutter gave Olli Jokinen $6 million over two years. Former Ranger Manny Malhotra, who has carved out a serviceable career as a defensive center, got three years and $7.5 million from the Canucks, who also grabbed defenseman Dan Hamhuis for $27.5 million for six years. Sergei Gonchar, 36, got $16.5 million for three years and a no-trade clause from Ottawa.

The Rangers could've used a defenseman such as Hamhuis or Paul Martin or Zbynek Michalek. The latter two got five-year deals from the Penguins. The Islanders could have used one of them, and Garth Snow made serious pitches for Hamhuis and Martin, but both went elsewhere.

That's one pitfall of the rebuilding process; Hamhuis and Martin didn't choose the up-and-coming Islanders over the established Penguins. Snow might need to wait another year before the prime free agents consider his team.

Sather, unfortunately, has bid against himself too many times, especially with Wade Redden. A source said Boogaard had a four-year, $7-million offer from the Oilers; an enforcer who's never played more than 68 games might not be the guy to outbid others for.

Neither local team got much better, which can be viewed as a disappointment. They also didn't get much worse, which sometimes can be a victory.

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