Alright….let’s put things in a little perspective.  This team was a massive disappointment this season.  All the complaining that is being done in regards to players who helped this team barely keep their head above water really has no logic.  For the sake of Petr Prucha’s career, he needed to leave New York, for reasons we have discussed ad nauseum on this website.  As for Nigel Dawes, did anybody ever think to consider that maybe this guy has peaked?  I mean, he’s a great skater and is great in the shootout, but he’s a defensive liability and can’t create his own scoring opportunities consistently even though he’s a beautiful skater.  Its apparent Sather had no intention of resigning either of them, so why not go out and get something in return?

As for the guy they traded them both for, Phoenix is not really a hallowed ground of hockey.  Its where players go to die, and Derek Morris has been a fairly stable player for an organization that has been consistently awful year, after year, after year.  Remember when Paul Mara used to play in Arizona?  Now we sweat this guy more than he sweats through that big lumberjack beard of his.  Just goes to show what a change of scenery can do for a guy.  And as for trading for ANOTHER “puck moving defenseman”, what is the point in that?  We already have two (kind of), who have played noticeably better under Tortorella.  What they need is grit

Speaking of grit, my man-crush for him aside, the Rangers need a guy like Sean Avery.  I know I know…Tortorella has the fire that they need, but ya know something, Tortorella doesn’t skate.  The team has zero personality, and its something you need in hockey.  It’s not chess, its not baseball, and its not a Friday night poker game with your buddies.  Its hockey, and if you don’t play it with emotion and an edge, you’re gonna get blown off the ice (see of the season, first 5 month).

This team was going nowhere, and after all the screaming that was being done for moves needing to be made, we should feel somewhat glad that Sather rolled the dice a bit.  Who knows what Prucha and Dawes would have contributed down the road, and who knows what Antropov, Morris, and Avery will provide down the road.  But at least we won’t be asking ourselves what might have been if the Rangers kept the same team.  Just one of those things time will tell.

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