HOW DOES HE DO IT? 

Glen Sather pulled off a move that has got to leave some people scratching their heads wondering how he does it.

The NY Rangers have announced that they have traded Donald Brashear AND Patrick Rissmiller to the Atlanta Thrashers for a serviceable center in Todd White. The move creates a minimal amount of cap space and is a low risk shot at easing a major shortcoming the franchise has in the middle.

If this move doesn’t work out, the Rangers send White to Hartford and are free from his contract at the end of the season…if he does play well then they have dealt with a severe issue.

Brashear was set to earn $1.4mm and Rissmiller was guaranteed $1mm ($2.4mm total). Todd White makes $2.375mm. It’s get rid of two issues, take back one and hope to catch lightning in a bottle. On the negative side, once again it’s another reclamation project. In order to free even a miniscule amount of space as they did, to move Brashear and Rissmiller, you were going to have to take back a bad contract or a struggling player to do it. They did that but filled a need at the same time.

However, on the plus side of the ledger, they get rid of a serious malcontent in Brashear who, while a good soldier while in Hartford clearly has nothing left in the tank, and Rissmiller who was essentially useless in both New York and in Hartford and was anything short of a team player in his time in Connecticut’s capital which explains why he was “loaned” to Grand Rapids.

It’s a GREAT move by the much maligned President & General Manager.

For those of you calling for Glen Sather’s head, you have to tip your cap to a move like this. At the same time you must acknowledge that he got himself into this mess in the first place, but just like he did with Scott Gomez, he found a way out of it.

If Sather REALLY wants to impress anyone, find someone OTHER THAN HARTFORD who’ll take Wade Redden’s contract… I know someone who might be able to pull that one off…CALLING CRISS ANGEL….

Here’s the official release:

NEW YORK RANGERS ACQUIRE CENTER

TODD WHITE FROM ATLANTA THRASHERS

In exchange for forwards Donald Brashear and Patrick Rissmiller

New York Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced today that the Rangers have acquired center Todd White from the Atlanta Thrashers, in exchange for forwards Donald Brashear and Patrick Rissmiller.

White, 35, has skated in 635 career regular season games with the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild and Atlanta Thrashers, registering 140 goals and 239 assists for 379 points, along with 226 penalty minutes and a plus-21 rating.  The 12-year NHL veteran has reached the 20-goal and 50-point plateaus three times, and has registered 75 career multi-point performances.

In 2008-09, White established career-highs in games played (82), assists (51), points (73) and power play goals (12) as a Thrasher.  He led Atlanta in assists, tied for the team lead in power play goals and ranked third in points.  White reached several career milestones that season, including his 500th career game on November 2 vs. Florida, his 300th NHL point with a goal on November 28 vs. Nashville, and his 200th career assist on February 8 vs. Philadelphia.  He also recorded a career-high, nine-game point streak from March 6 vs. Montreal to March 21 at Tampa Bay, tallying 10 points (three goals and seven assists) over the span.  White finished the season strong, recording 28 points (eight goals and 20 assists) over the final 26 games.

The 5-10, 195-pounder skated in 65 games with Atlanta in 2009-10, registering seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points, along with 24 penalty minutes.  He recorded four multi-point performances, and posted a three-game assist streak from November 22 vs. Tampa Bay to November 27 at Carolina (three assists).  White also skated in his 600th career game on December 12 vs. Montreal.

The Kanata, Ontario native originally signed with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent on August 27, 1997.

Brashear registered one assist and 73 penalty minutes in 36 games with the Rangers this past season.  He also skated in 27 AHL games with Hartford in 2009-10, recording two goals and four assists for six points, along with 25 penalty minutes.  He signed with the Rangers as a free agent on July 1, 2009.

Rissmiller skated in 69 AHL games with Hartford and Grand Rapids this past season, registering 20 goals and 27 assists for 47 points, along with 26 penalty minutes.  He signed with the Rangers as a free agent on July 1, 2008.