As jurgenno pointed out in an earlier post, the Rangers defense (he’s a Brit, so he spells it defence. Feel free to poke fun) is the most critical aspect of the team that needs upgrading. The Rangers simply allow too many shots, are caught out of position, don’t play the body, and never make teams think twice before going to the middle. In addressing these areas, the Rangers also take some of the stress off Henrik Lundqvist and his cranky knees.

Heading into the 2010-2011 season, the Rangers have four defensemen signed: Redden ($6.5 million), Michal Rozsival ($5 million), Matt Gilroy ($1.75 million), and Michael Del Zotto ($1.087 million). They also have two restricted free agents in Marc Staal (2009 – $800k), and Dan Girardi (2009 – $1.6 million); and two unrestricted free agents in Corey Potter (2009 – $600k) and Anders Eriksson (2009 – $600k).

As with any conversation with the Rangers defense, the conversation begins and ends with Wade Redden. Despite the apparent pressure (again, my own speculation) to play the struggling defenseman, he simply has no place on this team anymore. Unfortunately, with a contract that pays Redden $23 million over the next four years ($6.5 million cap hit), Redden is virtually unmovable. There has been talk of sending Redden to Hartford, but that is highly unlikely. The Rangers are going to need some cheap alternatives to help address the many holes on defense.

The most realistic scenarios involving the Rangers defense do not include any kind of dumping of Redden, so it is safe to assume he will be back next year, as depressing as that sounds. With him, Rozsival, Gilroy, and MDZ signed, and the guarantee that Staal will be signed (assume $3.0-$3.5 million a year), that leaves one spot for the Rangers. In this case, you may see Girardi be an unfortunate cap casualty, as there simply may not be enough space to keep him and his rising salary. The cheapest, and probably best, alternative here would be re-signing Corey Potter at a salary comparable to what he received this year, probably around $750k. Potter represents a solid, positionally sound defenseman that can help address one of those holes. His low salary would give the Rangers some desperate flexibility too.

Of course, there is always the scenario that the Rangers are able to dump one of the big salaries that really hinder the organization’s ability to maneuver. In dumping a salary, the Rangers not only free up salary, but more importantly, free up a spot on the blue line for someone else. If the Rangers manage to pull this off, then there are a plethora of options that they can pursue.

First and foremost, they can decide whether to bring Dan Girardi back at the right price. Girardi was the second-best defenseman on the team according to GVT (6.8 GVT), a full goal against the next best defenseman (Rozsival – 5.6). Keeping Girardi, subtracting a big contract, and adding Potter is a decent short term solution that does not break the bank. This option leaves them without a big crease clearing defenseman that will deliver a punishing blow to anyone who dares cross the middle though.

The Rangers can also go the cheap UFA route and look at someone like Garnet Exelby. The 28 year old defenseman’s numbers aren’t much to look at (-0.4 GVT, 4 points in 51 games), but he is that big body (6’1, 215 lbs) that will deliver that big hit when necessary. He will also punish anyone that dares come near Henrik Lundqvist. Exelby will cost about the same as Girardi i both dollars and years, but he isn’t as sound positionally as Girardi. So in this option, you add Potter, subtract a big contract, and add Exelby. These first two options result in roughly the same cap hit and length, but both leave holes on the Rangers.

There is also the expensive free agent defenseman that every Ranger fan covets: Anton Volchenkov. Volchenkov, 28, is a beast defensively, and blocks any shot coming at him with reckless abandon. In his final year in Ottawa, the defenseman was a $2.5 million cap hit, and will command a minimum of $4 million a year over 4 years. Most of the Rangers holes can be filled with this one signing, but he is expensive, and fairly injury prone. Volchenkov hasn’t played a full season once in his career, and hasn’t reached 70 games since 2006-2007. With this option, you subtract a big contract, add Potter and a big contract in Volchenkov.

The Rangers defense was one of the biggest holes on the team this year that needed constant bailing out by The King. With the current salary cap restrictions, the organization is going to be extremely hard-pressed to address the holes that plague the blue line. If management is able to dump a big contract, then options increase exponentially, ranging from the cheap and reasonable to the expensive and somewhat risky. But the question remains, does the Rangers brass have the cojones to do what is necessary to improve the blue line?

Image Credit: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

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