The lockout is now real and some New York Rangers have begun to make commitments to other teams for the 2012 season.

Already Rick Nash has inked a deal with HC Davos to reunite with Ranger hater Joe Thornton, where they both played in the last lockout.

The Fourth Period also reports that Carl Hagelin is in talks with Sodertalje SK of the Swedish Div II League.

Though early reports of the squad’s unity and intention to grow together in the New York area delighted Rangers fans, the players can hardly be blamed for making other plans.

The reality is that some could really use the money, others simply relish the competition and still others believe it is a better means for improving their game.

It doesn’t really matter what the individual’s reasoning is, for as long as there is no CBA, there really is new “New York Rangers,” at least in the way we imagine the team, with its current roster.

Hagelin and Nash are the first to make headlines about going overseas, but there are likely several other Blueshirts weighing the possibility as well.

As romantic as the idea of 25 teammates skating and practicing joyfully together is, that’s not the way things can be in a CBA-less world.

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