Fedor Tyutin	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-	PIM
Regular Season	66	2	12	14	-8	44
Playoffs	10	0	5	5	-3	8

The Rodent hates him, I absolutely love him, and most ranger fans fall randomly in between. I’m not sure what everyones problem with this guy is. Some people (like the Rodent) love to nitpick every little play, as if every defenseman in the league makes the perfect play every single time that a forward comes at them. This just in, Tyutin is NOT Lidstrom, most of us get that, some don’t. So again, it all comes down to expectations. Are you expecting a #1 defenseman? Or are you looking for a 23 (24 as of last month) year old defenseman with steady improvements? I am looking for the latter, and I have been getting it year in and year out. He is certainly getting more physical out there, he is showing better close-off ability, and his skating seems to be improving every year. He also does have a fairly good offensive game, but it seems he is unwilling to take risks out there to assert it. I suppose it has to do with being young, and wanting to play your own end well before playing in the other teams end. He really has a canon of a shot, but it is not very accurate. He often sails it wide, or drives it right into traffic where it is deflected away. He needs to improve on that decision making aspect (when to shoot, when not to shoot) but these are things you gain with experience, and experience is something he is getting out there with regular shifts and excellent playoff play.

I really don’t have much else to say about the kid to be honest. He is young, he is learning, and he is a very good prospect. I see him as a future #3, 4 or 5 on this team, but mostly because we have a heckuva prospect base. Right now you have to imagine Staal and Sanguinetti will both be above him. Sauer has an excellent upside, and Baranka is really an injury free season from making the NHL.

The future looks bright, and Tyutin has led the way.

-Inferno

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Daniel Girardi	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	+/-	PIM
Regular Season	34	0	6	6	+7	8
Playoffs	10	0	0	0	-4	4

The little engine that could….or something to that effect. We’ve all heard his story, undrafted, signed as a Ranger, made his way through the organization, etc etc. But what is truly remarkable about this kid is that he plays with such calm and poise at such a young age. He reads the play well, makes the smart safe play, and keeps the puck out of the zone. You will rarely catch him out of position or flatfooted and he seems to have a knack of making perfect poke checks. What Dan doesn’t give you, at least so far, is any offense whatsoever, nor does he give you a physical presence. Ideally he is a #5 or #6 defenseman on a very good team. For us he is a #4. Which isn’t the worst thing in the world, considering the system we play. However it is important to not get overexcited with this kid.

Plenty of people absolutely drool over his play, which is nice and all, but its not really an accurate reflection of his game. Lets face it, the guy was replacing Karel Rachunek, Sandis Bozolinsh or Darius Kasparitis. 2 guys that just no longer have it, and 1 who never lived up to his potential. Bozo was a freaking nightmare, Karel was mediocre out there at best, and Darius’ skating made Colton Orr look like the Russian Rocket himself.

Its not all doom and gloom for the kid folks, its just keeping reasonable expectations. He should be a part of this club for a nice long time, but he won’t be a game changer, or the kind of player to shut down a guy altogether. That guy is Marc Staal. Dan Girardi is a really nice player, soon, our defense will be full of guys better than him, it just takes time for the kids to be ready.

-Inferno

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Check out this hella-cool vid… Kudos to LeftKinger of the hfboards for making it.

-Inferno

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In an offseason filled with moves I really don’t agree with, I think there is one move out there that needs to happen. Sign Michael Peca.

Ive been a strong advocate of this ever since that article cropped up on TSN stating vaguely that the Rangers may be interested. It simply is a move that makes sense. Here is my reasoning…

First, I don’t want to make the same mistake we made last year. Where we went into camp more or less leaving a spot to be won by a kid, only to have to scramble at the last second to find a suitable replacement. Last year we saw Avery, Hollweg, Immonen, Dubinsky, Cullen and Betts playing out of position to try to accommodate a 2nd line center position that simply could not be filled. Eventually we had to split the trio of Nylander Straka and Jagr apart to patch work a 2nd line that did reasonably well with Avery Straka and Shanny. I do not want that to happen again this year. I am more than happy to bring up kids to fill in for injuries (and there will be injuries folks) which allows them to make a case to earn a job. This year, a year where the Rangers have effectively gone for broke with the deplorable contracts handed to Gomez, and to a slightly lesser degree Drury, they need to lock everything down. Michael Peca lets you do that.

Second, penalty killing. Last year our top 6 penalty killers, in my opinion, were Betts, Ortmeyer, Cullen, Avery, Shanny. This year we are 2 men down. Assuming Drury can step in for one of those spots, who steps in for the other? More importantly who steps in for Shanny so the man isn’t completely winded come the playoffs? Peca is still an elite penalty killer. He also plays a very effective 2 way game. You can pencil in 15 goals and about 30 assists playing between Prucha and Callahan, along with a lower goals against output for that trio.

Next you have role. I think Peca was looked at as a key cog, a real important piece of the puzzle to the Leafs last year, as well as the Oilers before that. Now he can play a role without any pressure of having to score the big goal. If we lose because Peca isn’t scoring enough goals, we have some serious problems.

To sum it up, it just makes sense. Seriously. The only negative argument I hear when it comes to this guy is his injury history (which is VASTLY overstated) and his lack of production offensively. But to me, I am not looking for offense from this guy, I am looking for defense and grit. If he gives that, and can be signed for say 1 year at 1.5, then you have the makings of a legitimate stanley cup favorite in new york. Also it would give a very balanced defensive mentality from your 4 centers. All 4 would be guys who play their own end of the ice, and do so very well. This is important for a team that plays a defensive system as we do. Worst comes to worse, he is hurt, and you have Dubinsky up in the middle of the year anyway. To me, thats better than just handing him the job, even if he isn’t ready, and if last year in Hartford showed us anything, its that he could use a little bit more time there (1/2 a season should be enough).

Make it happen Glen.

-Inferno

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