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The feeding frenzy is
starting to subside. Still some decent bait out there for GM's who are
willing to swim in deep waters.
Mike Richter – goalie – resigns with New York Rangers
Rangers GM
Glen Sather was doing a little fence mending when he called Richter the
foundation of the franchise after Richter re-signed with the Rangers for 2
years and $4 million per season. Just before the UFA deadline, Sather had
made it public that his team was going to pursue pending UFA
Curtis Joseph as their goaltender. With Joseph now in Detroit and
Belfour in Toronto, Sather's options became pretty limited.
Byron Dafoe is too young as heir apparent to the goaltending duties –
Dan Blackburn would not be served to sit on the bench for 5 years behind
Dafoe had he signed in New York.
Fantasy Impact: We’d expect that Richter will be the #1 guy for the
Rangers next year, but how much he plays depends on Blackburn’s development.
Now 35 years young, Richter was 24-26-4 in 55 games last season, finishing
with a 2.95 goals-against average, and a .906 save percentage. And remember
– that was on a bad defensive team. The Rangers should be marginally better
in their own end, but not a lot. Richter will stay busy, and the real
question mark is will he stay healthy? If he does, he should get 20+ wins
and be maintain a .906 save %. In the 2nd year, he’ll likely split a lot
more time with Blackburn, so bare that in mind.
Scott Lachance – defenseman – signs with Columbus
Hot on the heels of the Blue Jackets signing rugged
Luke Richardson, they turned around and snagged a younger version of the
same in
Scott LaChance. For the next 4 years, at $2 million per, he’ll patrol
the blue line for the Blue Jackets (barring a trade) which is good news for
the Blue Jackets netminders, but as far as fantasy stats goes – it won’t be
great. LaChance is a stay at home defenseman, which might improve goaltender
Marc Denis' stats a bit, but LaChance’s own stats won’t make him
draftable unless you have an incredibly deep d-man draft.
Fantasy Impact: 10-13 points and a +3 on an improving team.
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