SANGUINETTI BACK IN THE FOLD

 This is certainly a good news bad news  story. Bobby Sanguinetti has been returned to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The good news aspect of it is that the team needs him to get the power play working again and the level of talent that he brings to the fold both offensively and defensively. The bad news is from Bobby’s point of view. He deserves the chance to stay in New York. The Rangers are going nowhere this season. Wade Redden and Michael Rozsival bring nothing to the table and take up an enormous chunk of salary cap. If it’s about winning Stanley Cups in the NHL and developing players in the AHL, Bobby Sanguinetti and Illka Heikkinen for that matter are better served in Hartford. But the common sense solution is that since the Rangers have almost no chance with their current configuration in doing anything other than finish out the season, then the best thing for Sanguinetti and Heikkinen’s development would be to play and to learn at the NHL level since that’s where both of their destinies are anyway.

Yes, that will make the Rangers even younger on the blue line and will mean they will lose a lot more games THIS YEAR.

On the other hand playing these two talented D-Men at the NHL level will build for the future.

But take it just one step further.

There is no reason to have Enver Lisin and Donald Brashear or even Ales Kotalik playing every day at the NHL level since Brashear can play in games when you need a thug in the lineup. He’s also on the roster to buy time for Justin “Scary” Soryal to get his skill set up to an acceptable NHL level. There is no doubt that with time he will eventually be a top flight NHL level enforcer. A trade should be sought for Kotalik. Lisin should go to Hartford. It’s time for Dane Byers and Dale Weise to get their chances as well. Both have earned the chance and have the talent to play at the next level. The Rangers need to stop kidding themselves about this season and use the rest of this campaign to build for the future.

Here’s our view of what the NHL Rangers should look like for the rest of this NHL campaign.

Prospal – Dubinsky (when he’s healthy) – Gaborik

Avery – Anisimov – Parenteau

Higgins – Drury – Callahan

Byers – Voros/Boyle – Weise

Staal – Del Zotto

Gilroy – Girardi

Heikkinen – Sanguinetti

Lundqvist / Valiquette

We would try to trade both Redden and Rozsival. If neither is tradable then we would send them to Hartford or look to move them to a team in the KHL just to get them off the books. We’d demote Lisin to Hartford and keep Kotalik and Brashear in the stands for insurance since neither have any trade value. But that’s just us… what do we know?

Here’s the official release:

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that defenseman Bobby Sanguinetti has been assigned to the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Sanguinetti, 21, skated in three games with the Rangers following his recall on Thursday.  He made his NHL debut on Friday at Tampa Bay.  He returns to Hartford where he has registered six goals and 16 assists for 22 points, along with 10 penalty minutes in 21 games this season.  Sanguinetti led all AHL defensemen in scoring and ranked fourth in the league overall with 22 points at the time of his recall.  He has registered six multi-point efforts on the season, including an AHL career-high four-point performance on October 31 against Providence (two goals and two assists).  Last season, Sanguinetti led Wolf Pack defensemen in points (42) and assists (36), and set a Hartford single-season rookie record for assists by a blueliner.  He also led all Wolf Pack skaters with five points (one goal and four assists) in six AHL playoff contests.

The Trenton, New Jersey native was originally the Rangers first round selection, 21st overall, in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.