Over the weekend, Glen Sather spoke to the media at the NHL draft, and today it was John Tortorella’s turn to meet the press on the day in between Chris Drury’s buyout and the start of free agency. As I did with Sather’s press conference, here’s what the coach of the Rangers had to say today in Greenburgh, with my reactions in italics.
On the offseason: “I don’t think a whole bunch has changed, certainly from my thinking. I think if you talked to me in a couple of days, with free agency and stuff like that, things might change then. The philosophy stays the same here. We want to continue to try to infuse youth into our club, continue to develop the assets that we have right now. Tomorrow, free agency starts, and every team in this league is trying to get better. We’ll go along the same lines.”
There was a story in The New York Times today that said 27 teams are interested in signing Brad Richards. Along the same lines, indeed.
On Chris Drury’s buyout: “It’s a little bit of everything. Chris and I have been very honest with each other right along the way here. Everybody knows what direction we’re trying to go in. We went with our kids. Dru – Dru’s Dru. We love the guy. We still have to make decisions for what you think is best for your hockey club. So, obviously, when you get into a situation where now there’s a buyout, we’re trying to keep ourselves flexible for the cap, to look at other things along the way. I’ll speak for myself – I wish nothing but the best for him, and I hope someday – I’ll just leave it at that. I’ll leave it at that right now. That’s just the way this works here. When you’re looking to go in a direction, we’re trying to stay with the plan here, and as Dru is going along here, we felt this is a decision we needed to make for our club.”
This fairly well echoed what Tortorella said on breakup day, only now it’s official.
On how much thought he’s given to a new captain: “Not a whole bunch right now. I think those decisions will come about come camp. We’ll have our talks, we’ll see. Maybe our team changes even more this summer, along the way. You never know what’s going to happen. So I think, come camp, that’s when those types of decisions are going to be made, as far as what we do there.”
On Drury’s leadership skills filtering down to the players who remain: “I’m not hopeful. I know it did. That’s why this is a hard one. It’s not an easy thing for us, just as it isn’t easy for Dru. Dru gave everything he possibly could give to this organization. As an organization, you’ve got to continue to evaluate on all things, and make decisions for what’s best for your team and the direction you’re going. That’s what this goes to. It’s certainly not hope, because I know he’s had an effect on a lot of people in that locker room.”
On how he would want to select a new captain: “I have a particular way. I don’t want to discuss it, but I have a particular way.”
The smart money is on Ryan Callahan wearing the “C” when the season starts. Of course, the Rangers are in contract negotiations with him right now, and saying so would mean more dollars out of their pockets.
On starting the season in Europe: “The last two teams have won the Stanley Cup after starting in Europe. There are a number of things going on around our club as we start. With the renovations (at the Garden), Europe – I know you guys are going to talk to me about that as the season gets going, and rightfully so. They’re there. I think the key thing is, there’s a comfort, or at least there’s a knowing – I think they understand our routine, we understand their routine. They understand our camp routine, they understand our regular-season routine – games, practice schedule, pregame stuff. That’s not going to change. We just need to stay with our routine through all of this. There may be some bumps in the road. You never know what’s going to happen with the building, and you never know what’s going to happen in Europe. You’ve just got to roll with it, and stay within ourselves, and keep our focus. That’s a key thing, because there are a number of things that are going to be around our team in one year, but I think we’re going to be okay.”
There’s always the theory that a long road trip at the start of the season is good for building chemistry. That’ll probably come up at some point between now and the end of October. The schedule is the schedule – the Rangers will still play 41 games at the Garden and 41 elsewhere. The whole issue, to me anyway, is a little overblown.
On the importance of July 1: “It’s an important day for us, because it’s a day where you have an opportunity to improve your team. I think we’re in a situation with our club right now where I think the past couple of years, we’ve kept our assets, and we’ve developed our assets, and stayed with it here. Then there’s a point of time where you’ve to got to say okay, they’re growing, we’ve got a good solid foundation. Now you start looking at areas where you add, maybe from outside the organization – free agency, trade, whatever it may be. I think we’re there. I really like the way Glen (Sather) has stayed with it, as far as allowing us, with our kids, to grow. I think we have a really strong foundation, and we’re at a different stage of the process. July 1 certainly comes into play.”
On optimism about July 1: “I have no idea what’s going to happen. You never know what’s going to. Come July 1, it’s such a frenzy, you never know what’s going to happen. I just know our thinking is we’d like to improve our team in certain areas. Not just one particular area – you never know where it leads to. I know Glen and the whole organization feel, okay, there’s our kids, there’s our foundation, now let’s see where we can add and continue to try to get better. There may be a situation where, you know what, that didn’t work – let’s not just add for the sake of adding, and stay with it. That’s a key, come July 1, because it turns into such a frenzy that you get a little crazy. If it isn’t what we need, and it isn’t the right fit for us right now, then we have to stand pat and continue to develop.”
Brad Richards or bust, then. It’s the smart play in a thin free agent market.
On the prospects in camp: “They’ve had a good camp. You’ve got to remember that these guys, it’s the middle of June, and we’re putting them through their paces, and they’ve done a lot here the past few days. I like the way the camp’s gone. It gives us a chance to see some kids that we had in last year’s camp, even in the big camp, to see how they’ve grown, and you get to look at the kids from this year, maybe even a couple of surprises that we weren’t even sure of – that’s what you’re looking for here. As far as the work ethic and what was accomplished in this camp, it’s terrific. For June, some of these guys haven’t even been on skates – for the time of year, they’ve done a really good job.”
It’s pretty much gone according to plan. The players known as the best prospects in the organization – Tim Erixon, Christian Thomas, Ryan Bourque, Carl Hagelin, Dylan McIlrath – have looked the part.
On Brian Boyle and Mats Zuccarello working on their skating with Barbara Underhill: “I think it’s great for people to see that, some other players see that, that – Brian Boyle had a really good year last year. Zucc got a real good taste of it, fell off a little bit toward the end. It was a tremendous learning experience for him. And Brian. Remember, I wanted Brian out of here. I didn’t think he was going to be on the team. What they’re telling me is, and especially Brian (is) that wasn’t enough. And it’s right. He has to come back and do it again. He has to continue to improve. And Zucc, he’s going to be here for a month and a half. He’s going to go home for a little bit, but then stay here and train with Reggie (Grant) and be around the organization and our facility, to get ready for next year. It’s a matter of trying to be better, because we’re trying to get better as a hockey club, as we talk about – July 1 or whatever it may be – it will go right by you. If you’re not looking to improve, there may be someone looking to go right by you. So I think that’s their mindset in being here right now.”
If the Rangers do succeed in getting Richards, it is going to be very interesting to see how things shake out with the four NHL centers the Rangers currently have, with Boyle and fellow restricted free agent Artem Anisimov, Derek Stepan entering his second season and Erik Christensen. It is entirely possible that one would move to wing. And that’s another reason for Zuccarello to be working hard to ensure his roster spot, which he knows is not locked up heading into camp.
On how involved he is in recruiting free agents: “I’ve gotten on the phone a couple of times. Like, I got on the phone with (Marian Gaborik) when we did sign him. Gabby was worried about camp, because he heard so much about the camp, and I explained to him about camp. So it’s not so much prior – it’s getting to them right away. You know what I’m telling them – I’m telling them to get here in shape, because we’re going at it hard right at the start of camp. It’s not so much me. We’re doing a lot of that in discussing players and what they are, and what they think they are right now, with all our scouts. As far as trying to talk people into it, I don’t believe in trying to talk people into something. If they don’t want to be here, we don’t want them. So I haven’t done much of that – it’s just been basically after, and giving them the program right away.”
It’s a good philosophy that you don’t want to have to talk somebody into joining your team. Then again, a fat paycheck also has a way of getting someone to want to come – and sometimes for the wrong reasons.
On trying to figure out which free agents would fit well with the Rangers’ program from the outside: “It’s not difficult. I think sometimes, you don’t have all the information. You think you may have the information on that particular player, and it happens with all teams that it really wasn’t the true information sometimes on the player. I think you’ve got to be careful that when you’re always looking to the free agent, maybe there’s another guy that we do know – he may be the better answer than trying to get someone that you think is better than that guy. So you have to be really careful there, and we’ve combed through the list. I like our team last year. I’ve said that, and I’ll say it to you again – I think there are some areas where we have to improve, and we all know what are the areas that we need to improve in. I just don’t want to force feed, because there are some guys that played with us last year that are free, that we should have interest in as we go along the way here, that we already know, and they know us. So you’ve got to be really careful in those situations where you keep changing things over. I don’t think that’s a good thing. I think that’s what we’ve done the past couple of years, is stay with it here, and stay with our people.”
On defense: “You’re always looking for defense. (Steve Eminger) falls into that category. We know what Emmy is. We put Emmy on both sides, and I thought he played with a lot of bite in his game. There were struggles at times, but he gave us some good minutes along the way, mostly playing out of position most of the year. So, you don’t have to keep on combing down the free agent list and force yourself to get maybe that guy, that sixth or seventh D from another team, when maybe Emmy is the guy. I’m not saying he is, but it’s a great question. You look at (winger Ruslan) Fedotenko, it’s the same thing. You go down the list, but we know what Feds did, and if it isn’t good on that list, maybe Feds is the guy. That’s where you have to be careful, always looking to try to get someone else, where we already know what these guys are, and they know who we are. Again, we’ll see how it goes.”
On the other unrestricted free agents, Vinny Prospal and Matt Gilroy: “I have interest in those guys. I thought Gilly has gone through a process that he continued to go through, and probably will continue to go through, but I saw improvement in him in the last quarter of the year. I thought he had a good playoff. So I have interest in Gilly. Vinny Prospal’s a guy that, again, left here, I stayed a month after the season and he was working every day. He’s a guy that, I think he has to wait his turn to see what happens. I think that’s the world he lives in now as a player, for not only us but for other teams. We’ll see how it goes as we go through here, but I certainly, I’m not going to say we’re done with Vinny Prospal. It would be wrong for me to say that, because I still have interest there. I do.”
Good news for Eminger, who has said he would like to come back, as that is the first public indication that the Rangers are interested in having him return. Fedotenko also should be expected back, although he could be tempted by other offers. Expect Gilroy to land elsewhere, while Prospal – like Tortorella said – will have to wait. It would be more likely for him to return to the Rangers if they do not get Richards, because of both cap room and need.
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