Torts: We are at a different stage now
John Tortorella, head coach of the New York Rangers stands on the bench against the Buffalo Sabres at HSBC Arena. (March 30, 2011) Credit: Getty Images
GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- It's time, according to Rangers coach John Tortorella.
"I think we're in a situation with our club right now where in the last couple years, we kept our assets, we developed our assets and stayed with it," Tortorella said Thursday on the eve of free agency. "There's a point in time where you say, OK, they're growing, we've got a good solid foundation. Now you start looking at other areas to add -- maybe on both sides, free agency or a trade, whatever. I think we're there."
The Rangers need a No. 1 center and a power-play quarterback, and free-agent target Brad Richards, who won the Cup with Tortorella in Tampa in 2004, fits the bill. If Richards decides to go elsewhere, the Rangers must find a way to fill those holes and add an experienced defenseman and the right-fit forward before beginning the season Oct. 7.
"I don't believe in talking people into something. If they don't want to be here, we don't want them," Tortorella said during prospect camp. "There may be a situation where you know what, that didn't work; let's not just add for the sake of adding, stay with it. That's a key come July 1 because it turns into such a frenzy, you get a little crazy. If it isn't what we need, and if it isn't the right piece for us right now, then we have to stand pat and continue to grow."
Should the 31-year-old Richards -- who had 72 points in 77 games with the Dallas Stars last season -- spurn what is expected to be a multiyear, front-loaded contract worth between $40 million and $50 million that will produce a cap hit of $7 million annually, there might have to be a trade, because the free- agent market for top forwards is thin this year.
Pat Morris, Richards' agent, has been telling the media that his client wants to play in "a hockey market with an opportunity to win" another Cup. The club must have "good younger players coming in" and be in a place "where hockey matters every game, game in, game out, and there's a full building." Several cities meet that criteria, including New York, Toronto, Chicago and Philadelphia.
In order to negotiate a trade for a top center, the Rangers would have to surrender some of the assets Tortorella mentioned, plus a prospect and presumably a top draft pick. Colorado's Paul Stastny is a center who could be available.
General manager Glen Sather and Tortorella have agreed that an experienced defenseman is needed to round out the young blue line. One possibility: Steve Eminger, who played with the Rangers last season, could be re-signed, Tortorella said.
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