John Dellapina just can't quit him. Yes, once again the "other JD" pressed Brian Leetch's agent to see if there is the possibility, the glimmer of hope, that #2 will return to the Madison Square Garden ice on which he performed so spectacularly back over 12 years ago.

Today, the Daily News reporter writes that the Rangers and Jay Grossman have "talked" about ways to get the blueliner back to Manhattan. However, the agent did point out that he has not engaged in serious discussions with anybody.

I am a little baffled as to where he would fit. With the recent signing of Thomas Pöck, the Rangers already have eight defensemen (Kasparaitis, Malik, Tyutin, Rozsival, Ward, Rachunek, Ozolinsh, and Pöck). Even assuming Ozolinsh does not start the season on the roster, they have all of the seven "D" spots filled. (Rants regarding Marc Staal's unlikely chance at making the club out of camp will follow in the coming weeks).

JD also "worries" that the need to replace Jed Ortmeyer with only about $3.4 million dollars of payroll would make it more difficult to sign Leetch. This raises a couple of issues to me.

First of all, what's wrong with using some prospects to replace Ortmeyer? Surely we must have SOMEONE who can fill in for Jed's eleven minutes per game and seven points per season, right? Not to minimize anything Jed Ortmeyer does on the ice, because he brings quite a bit to the team in penalty killing and blocking shots, but I mean aren't those exactly the spots you want prospects filling? Dellapina should start pimping for the guys already in the organization that weren't born before 1970.

Secondly, exactly how much does Johnny think Leetch deserves to get paid? He made $4 million last year playing for the Boston Bruins. He is now 38-years-old, and missed 21 games last season with knee, groin, and head injuries. He has missed a total of 71 regular season games since the end of the 2001-2002 season. He finished tied for somewhere around 53rd in scoring among defensemen in 2005-06. Exactly how much could he possibly be demanding?

Ultimately, I think it still remains highly unlikely that this signing would occur. I also believe it is a move that does not need to be made. The Rangers have done a pretty good job of moving away from their ways of the past. I just hope they no longer deal in sentimentality. We did this once with Mark Messier, didn't we?

HDH

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