exactly what I was going to say. haha. plus Henke hasn’t proved his ability to do it consistently. year long stats don’t matter since he played really well for one half and sub par in the other half. if you look at the splits it will show that.

“Dubinsky’s stock has skyrocket this year, albeit he has come down to earth recently, but if he continues to develop like he has this season, why would he not be in contention for the “C”? ” He’s too young. thats why. Can he be a captain in the future? Sure. But its too early to tell if him and Staal are natural born leaders. Unlike Drury, who has led a team at every level, and Gomez, who grew up playing with one of the best captains out there (even though I hate Stevens), Dubi hasn’t really shown signs yet of being that natural born leader either in the locker room or on the ice. It doesn’t mean he can’t do it down the road, but your captain usually isn’t a 21 or 22 year old kid that just got into the league a season ago.

And not only his he going to be “one of” the highest paid goaltenders in the league, he will be the THIRD highest paid goaltender in the league. Only Khabibulin (coming out of the lockout and on the tails of his stanley cup season) and Luongo get more. Do you really think he is the third best goaltender in the league? Ever since Conklin started playing for Pittsburgh, he hasn’t even been the third best goaltender in the Atlantic Division!

I’m also with you on the captaincy thing. Say no to Drury.

Playing in NY adds a little something to the math for calculating how much a player should be paid.

A couple of examples:

Patrik Elias is signed for a then max (approx) 7.8 million a year. Many teams wanted Patty, including the Rangers, and you better beleive that a portion that 7.8 million to prevent him from crossing the Hudson.

Scott Gomez signs a front-loaded contract upwards of 7.something million a year. The front-loading is a neat trick, as the interest that Gomez earns on his big payout will easily push his yearly salary upwards and beyond what it says on paper (that is why it tails off so dramatically, the interest accumulates). Part of that 10 million is there because the rangers could afford it, and it made sure that Gomez wouldn’t center Gianta and Elias ever again.

Henrik Lundqvist signs for more than six million for six years. We don’t know if it is front loaded or not. We don’t know what performance incentives are there or not. However, we know he is now one of the highest paid goaltenders in the league. This says something about how the ranger’s view his consistency. Last year, he won 37 games and six in the playoffs. The year before, over thirty wins (?) in the regular season as a rookie. The year before that, winning goaltender in the Swedish Elite League. I think the year before that (at 21) his team went to the finals. Four years in a row of high level success, showing improvement year over year, and the ability to play in the big games. He is being underpaid by several millions of dollars a year compared to markee players at other positions, has won more playoff series than Ovechkin and Crosby and Phanuf and Richards, all rookies in the same year, and all making the same or (much) more than Henrik.

You just highlighted the fact that this move was made out of desperation.

OK, here’s what I would have done: not resign Shanahan, and then use that money to sign him to a contract worth 5.5 million a year for 5 or 6 years, while still saving over 4 million in cap space for this year (5.3 million – 1.25 million, the difference between Hank’s current cap number and my proposed number = 4.05 million free cap space). Not to mention the extra million in cap space we would have this summer.

And it’s not like I didnt suggest that during the summer, because I did. I never liked the Shanahan resigning, certainly not for that much money. Even if he took 4 million up front (his deal last year), we still could’ve signed that deal with Hank, BEFORE he was ever up for RFA status.

Sather is a moron.

Dan Blackburn
Mike Dunham
Jussi Markkanen
Jaime McClennan
Jason LaBarbera
Steve Valiquette
Kevin Weekes

Still upset we have Hank locked up for the six years? I’m not.

Shanahan deserves to be captain more than Jagr.