Now that I have had a few hours to sit and contemplate the Petr Sykora trade, I think I like it. The only reason some people are complaining about this move is because the Rangers gave up a young prospect for a veteran, but there are really a few aspects of this deal that differ from some of those we have seen in the past.
For one, Sykora is only 29 years old. Someone on the message boards pointed out that Petr is only TWO years older than Jed Ortmeyer. This is not an over-the-hill, overpaid, slowing veteran we are getting. This is a player who scored 34 goals as recently as 2002-03. Additionally, if for some reason he doesn't work out, his contract is up at the end of this season. No harm, no foul.
On the flip side of this deal, you have the 22-year-old Maxim Kondratiev. I think nowadays Ranger fans get scared when the team lets go of a young player for fear of a return to the "old days", where they let go of a lot of youth and got much older instead.
Kondratiev was one of the prospects Sather acquired in dealing Brian Leetch to the Toronto Maple Leafs at the end of 2003-04 season. Along with Maxim, the Rangers got Jarkko Immonen, who is excelling in Hartford, a 2004 first round pick with which the Rangers selected the highly touted Lauri Korpikoski, and a 2005 second round pick (Michael Sauer). Kondratiev had been a sixth round pick in the 2001 draft.
I am not going to try and convince anyone that Kondratiev is not a good player, because he is, but I can't sit and try to convince anyone that he is a blue chip prospect either. Evidently, the Rangers brass were happier with the progress of some other defensive prospects, such as Thomas Pöck, Marc Staal, Fedor Tyutin, and Bryce Lampman.
The Rangers also got back the 4th round draft pick they sent to Anaheim for Steve Rucchin. So if you look at it in a convoluted and cockeyed way, in dealing Brian Leetch and then Kondratiev, the Rangers ended up with Jarkko Immonen, Lauri Korpikoski, Michael Sauer, Steve Rucchin, and Petr Sykora. Not that bad.
I am not going into detail about what Sykora could bring to the team, as that has been covered fairly well. One thing that really caught my attention was, as Larry Brooks reports, the fact that Sykora got permission from the Ducks' GM Brian Burke to call Sather to ASK if the Rangers were interested. This guy WANTS to be here with his Czech countrymen. Hopefully, his game gets a big pick-up from the change of scenery.
Larry Brooks and the Hockey Rodent agree that this move is not an abandonment of the rebuild/youth movement, and I agree. If this had been Pöck and Nigel Dawes for Mogilny, I would have much different opinion, but it wasn't, so I don't.
NY Daily News: After a promising start that drew several compliments from Rangers coach Tom Renney, Kondratiev had lost his place in the team's immediate plans. Though he was hardly steadied by being paired with the unpredictable Darius Kasparaitis, Kondratiev showed a willingness to play a physical game and make plays with the puck. However, the emergence of veteran Jason Strudwick as a stabilizing and physical presence caused Kondratiev to be scratched for nine of the Rangers' first 37 games before being sent to Hartford of the AHL on Dec. 28.
The Star Ledger: Meanwhile, the 22-year-old Kondratiev, who was acquired from Toronto in the 2004 trade of Brian Leetch, was one of a surplus of young defensemen at Hartford, including 24-year-old Thomas Pock and 20-year-old Ivan Baranka, who seem almost NHL-ready. And with last summer's first-round draft pick, Marc Staal, having been named the top defenseman at last week's World Junior Championships and looking like a lock for a roster spot next season, the Rangers can afford to move some of that surplus.
The Journal News: The Rangers had discussed acquiring Czech forward Petr Sykora from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for the past month or so. And Ritchie Winter, the agent for the ex-Devil, has been calling the Rangers constantly the past three weeks to say his client wanted to come to New York. But it wasn't until Rangers center Blair Betts injured his left knee in Saturday's 4-0 win over Florida — he is out 6-8 weeks after an MRI yesterday revealed a grade-3 sprain to his medial collateral ligament — that the deal was made.
NY Newsday: The Rangers' interest in Sykora, 29, known as a versatile two-way player who has scored at least 21 goals in each of the last six seasons, first surfaced weeks ago. Sykora, who was born in Plzen, Czech Republic - the birthplace of the Rangers' Martin Straka, whom he idolized growing up - had seven goals and 13 assists in 34 games in his third season with the Ducks. In 2002-03, Sykora led the Ducks in goals with 34.
NY Times: Sykora's presence - he is expected to practice with the Rangers today - would make it possible for Coach Tom Renney to move his second-line center, Steve Rucchin, into Betts's position on the Rangers' third line, between Ville Niemenen and Jason Ward, for tomorrow night's game against the Calgary Flames at the Garden.
As you read in the articles above, Blair Betts will be out 6-8 weeks with a sprained MCL sustained in the Florida game Saturday. The Blueshirts still only have 22 players on the roster, including only 6 defensemen. There is no word yet as to who will be brought up.
Tomorrow night we get to see Sykora for the first time when the Calgary Flames visit the Rangers for the fourth game of this five game homestand. Then, on Thursday, it is Mark Messier Night.
You still have a chance to win a free hat, courtesy of FashionFlash.net. Just send your emails in, and Bird will select the winners the night of January 12th.
HDH
Posted by Jim at January 09, 2006 11:02 AMeMail this entry!
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