3:29 p.m. Newsday's Steve Zipay just confirmed a very interesting move by the Rangers. They have traded former first-round pick Al Montoya and Marcel Hossa to Phoenix for right wing Fredrik Sjostrom, tough guy/winger Josh Gratton and goaltender David Leneveu.
LeNeveu is apparently a former student of Rangers goaltending guru Benoit St. Allaire.
5:27 p.m. Analysis: The reason this move is so interesting is because the Rangers gave up their top goaltending prospect, Montoya, and didn't get back anything resembling an impact player. I'm sure plenty of Rangers fans out there are wondering, Why couldn't we get more for him.
The answer is that Montoya's stock had fallen by a considerable degree this year due to injuries and inconsistency in the minors. Consider also that the Rangers recently signed Henrik Lundqvist to a long-term, big-money deal, which means that every team in the league knew that Montoya was never going to have a fair shot to be a starting goalie in New York.
Combine those factors, and you've got a pretty good idea of the forces at work here. Let's talk about who the Rangers acquired in the deal.
Gratton is a depth player -- a minor-league enforcer. Just check out his penalty minutes on Hockeydb.com and you'll see what I mean. LeNeveu, 24, doesn't appear to be much of a prospect. His goals against average has hovered around 3.00 in the American Hockey League, but who knows what Allaire can do when get gets hold of him.
Sjostrom is a former first round pick. He's 24 and he brings some decent speed and grit to the lineup. Look for him to bump either Ryan Hollweg or Petr Prucha into the press box. To me the most disappointing aspect of this move is that it failed to help the Rangers on defense, where they had their biggest need. We'll see if Sjostrom can bring some energy and scoring to the rink, because that's really all the Rangers needed from a third- or fourth-line player.
Comments (2)
Pointless move, solves nothing.
Am a little curious about this move... I think the Rangers could have waitted until the offseason to trade Montoya. Personally, I would have gone down to Hartford have a heart to heart talk with him, encourage him to finnish strong, and then during the offseason, trade him for players we need. This could be a desperation move in getting what we can now for Montoya.