I'd be intrigued to get him but honestly after extensive research yesterday (aka, 15 minutes on twitter and prospect sites) he really seems like a AAAA sort of guy. Lots of doubt that he'll ever be a good enough skater for his offense to be a factor in the NHL game.
Certainly worth a waiver pick to find out of course.
Dolan doesn't really fuck around with the Rangers. He keeps out of it pretty much entirely, leaving Sather and his disciples to their own devices for the last 16 years or so (for better or for worse). So at least he doesn't fuck around with the team like he does with the Knicks.
It's an interesting time for the Rangers right now. You may have just missed out on a pretty bright period for the team over the last 5 years or so, including a trip to the Stanley Cup Final a couple of years ago. Right now the team has a declining defensive corps with Marc Staal and Dan Girardi on bloated and possibly unmovable contracts, and Henrik Lundqvist is on the back end of his prime in net.
On the plus side, the team has undergone a pretty significant, if understated, overhaul during the offseason, getting an average of nearly 2 years younger and a hell of a lot faster up front. The team is going to start with two new much-hyped rookies in the lineup, including the young Russian Pavel Buchnevich on a top line that was absolutely on fire throughout preseason (for whatever that's worth) and college free agent Jimmy Vesey, who was hotly pursued over this offseason by about a third of the league. That's on top of other fast young talent that has been brought in like Mika Zibanejad, Brandon Pirri, and Michael Grabner, and in addition to many of the pieces that were already there like Rick Nash, Chris Kreider, Mats Zuccarello, and Derek Stepan.
So this season could go either way. It should be a very fun team to watch offensively, but the Rangers are going to live and die by their defense this season. Here's hoping for the best.
