Rangers Keep Christensen; Lose Shelley And Replace With Boogaard

Glen Sather started the free agency bonzana off with a solid pickup in backup goaltender Martin Biron. Since then, he's resorted back to being one of the worst general managers in the league.

Before going down that road, he did avoid one disaster by actually re-signing Erik Christensen to a two-year deal at $925,000 per season. That's only a $175,000 raise per year than what he made last season, but it's also more than the $750,000 (which is on par with what he made a year ago) he turned down in a previous offer. Christensen has generally been a journeyman, or was on the verge of becoming one, in his five NHL seasons. But after a waiver pickup by the Rangers from Anaheim, he emerged as the team's top center and perfect linemate for Marian Gaborik. In 49 games, he scored eight goals and 26 points - a stark improvement over the zero points he had with Anaheim over the course of nine games. Because his numbers aren't astronomic as a result of being fairly inconsistent, he wasn't going to get into the millions. But for the times that he does produce and is on his game, he's basically the best player on the ice and deserves a roster spot in New York.

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Shelley apparently didn't deserve a roster spot, or at least that's the way Sather saw things. A near-trade deadline acquisition by the Rangers for a fifth round pick from San Jose, Shelley stepped in as the lead enforcer (though Brandon Prust did more fighting) in place Donald Brashear and played a crucial role on a very effective fourth line for the Rangers down the stretch. And he actually scored some goals - two to be exact! That's a big deal for him.

It wasn't a big deal to Sather. He offered Shelley a one-year deal for $825,000, watched Shelley reject it and then let the man walk over to Philadelphia (maybe not literally, but it's possible) to sign a three-year deal with the Flyers for $1.1 million per season. So it's okay to sign Donald Brashear for $1.4 million per year, which the Rangers are still on the hook for next season. But to up the ante on Shelley a bit and pay the most productive and intelligent enforcer the team has had in a while (Colton Orr wasn't as good in the offensive scheme like Shelley was last year), that's a no go? Incredible. And now, he's with a division rival, that is nasty enough as it is.

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With Shelley gone, it was naturally time for Sather to play the "Replace the Enforcer" game, ala Brashear for Orr, Shelley for Brashear, ??? for Shelley. That replacement comes in the form of Derek Boogaard from the Minnesota Wild. The 28-year old, who has yet to play more than 65 games in a season and has not scored a goal in FOUR YEARS (has two total - both scored his rookie year), was granted a four-year contract for $1.65 million a season. That is undoubtedly worse than the Brashear signing.

Now, Boogaard is understandably not being brought in for his scoring prowess. But at least Shelley is able to create some chances and net a puck every once in a blue moon. Boogaard has no offensive upside and is a much less regarded fighter than Shelley. And he's $550,000 more expensive per year for an extra year.

I sure hope Donnie Walsh isn't drinking from the same fountain at The Garden, or there's zero chance LeBron James is a Knick.