On the Horizon: Brendan Shanahan
Denis Gorman wrote an article on Shanahan that is being carried by the Free Press. He will face his former teammates when the Rangers play Detroit on Monday. As usual, Shanny was good for a quote or seven:
“You’d like to say it’d be just another game, but I’d be lying,” Shanahan, 38, said recently at the Rangers’ practice facility. “It’ll be strange seeing those uniforms on the ice, and a lot of the guys I played with are still there.
“When you’ve had as much fun and success (as I did with the Red Wings), you look back on it fondly. A lot of the things I try to do every day were lessons I learned with Detroit. It’s an organization that’s respected throughout the league. A lot of teams — including ours — want to get what they have, (those) expectations and results.
“I don’t know if those games are that fun to play. For a player who has left a team, the first game back or against his old teammates is a tough one to play.”
Shanahan has complained about the treatment Jaromir Jagr has received from the NHL officials. Scott Burnside over at ESPN called him out for the comments but understood why Shanahan was frustrated:
Hmmm. Shanahan’s New York Rangers are in 10th place in the Eastern Conference after Wednesday’s 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs (who, by the by, leapt over the Rangers into ninth place with the entertaining, physical win at Madison Square Garden).
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As for Shanahan, the All-Star last scored at even strength Dec. 9 and has managed just three goals in his past 16 contests (although he has scored in back-to-back games for the first time since early December).
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Still, we’re prepared to give Shanahan a break.He is the man, after all, who helped save the game during the lockout (or did he just invent it?), and he’s looking for any edge that will get his team back into the playoffs.
Mike Chen at Fox Sports also questions whether the New York Rangers should consider trading Shanahan. He thinks there is a case for making a trade:
The strongest trade asset Sather has is Shanahan. Now Shanahan may not want to move, but he’ll bring a lot back in return. This is a guy who’s still in the hunt for the Richard trophy, even at age 37. He’s a warrior, a natural leader, and a guy that pretty much everyone likes in the locker room. He can help a power play and he can punch in dirty goals. For any team needing skill, grit, and leadership — even for just one year — trading for Shanahan could mean the difference between a long run and a quick exit. Plus, he’s a free agent after this season, so there’s no long-term salary cap impact. It’s simply a Cup-or-bust move a la Doug Weight last year.
Chen makes a good case but I just don’t see it happening unles New York just goes into a brutal tailspin. There has been lots of talk about players agreeing to be traded (Forsberg and Sundin) to help their current team improve by receiving prospects and draft picks only to re-sign with their current team. Shanahan really seems to like New York and a big part of his reason for playing for the Rangers was to improve his ties to the league’s front office to work there after his career ends. So it is an interesting idea but I’d be surprised if it happens.
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