Today is musings day, and it’s been a while since I have had the opportunity to write one of these.  But with Suit out of town and Chris sans internet, I get to enjoy writing one of these today.  And wouldn’t you know it? It’s the first musings post Brad Richards!

I understand the fear of Richards’ contract, I really do. I don’t get how people think the Rangers are a WORSE team now than they were before the signing.  I mean…really?

So with Richards and Mike Rupp in the mix, someone is moving away from the center position.  My guess would be Derek Stepan, if only for the fact that Henrik Lundqvist is better at face-offs than him.

Speaking of a surplus of centers, when can I celebrate that Erik Christensen is no longer on the roster?

Off Richards for a second, we should all be very, very happy that Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan, Mike Sauer, and Brian Boyle filed for arbitration.  However, the longer Artem Anisimov remains unsigned, and the longer teams remain under the cap floor, the more worried I get.

Bug note: I just killed a mosquito in my apartment.  Slammed my shoe against the wall to do it.  Ten bucks says I get a noise complaint tomorrow.  My downstairs neighbor is…well, he’s one of these.

We all know that Slats is going to bring in some guys on PTOs, like he did with Ruslan Fedotenko and Garnet Exelby last season.  Who do you think will be invited on PTOs?  Steve Staios and Karlis Skrastins come to mind, assuming Brent Sopel finds a home.

Back to Rupp for a second, that contract may be a bit on the high end, but it’s not a cap killer.  Brandon Prust needs a break from his role as enforcer.  “It’s just pain” can only go so far.

Assuming Wojtek Wolski remains a Ranger this year, I wonder what kind of season he is going to have.  I think if he winds up on the top line with Richards and Marian Gaborik, and factor in that it’s a contract year, I think 65 points is within the realm of possibility.  Of course, so is 20 points.

Speaking of Gaborik, assuming he stays healthy, he should have a monster year.

One of these obsessions I don’t understand: blocked shots.  Sure, they are great…but I would rather have a team that doesn’t NEED to block shots.  That means puck possession.  You don’t need to block shots if you always have the puck.

Carl Hagelin…my guess is that he starts in the AHL this season.  It’s nothing against him, I just think there’s a log jam at bottom six winger, and he could be better served learning with the Whale.

Christian Thomas is still my dark horse to make this team.

Site note: What do you guys think of the Sin Bin? We have another coming up this weekend, so you’ll have another chance to vote on the best/worst comments. We are aiming to do this on a weekly basis, and have the winner of the best post write a guest post to be published each Sunday.  Winner of the worst post? Well, you are guaranteed coal for Christmas.

Finally, I have to ask what the obsession is with jersey numbers. In case you missed it, Richards has #19, Fedotenko #26, and Christensen #40.  Unless you’re buying  a Richards jersey in July, this really shouldn’t affect you.  I mean, were any of you REALLY buying a Fedotenko or Christensen jersey?

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