Off To The Races
by Matt Waxman
When the clock struck twelve, twelve PM Eastern Standard Time that is, the gates were opened. The bell had sounded. The jockeys, with a swift contraction of their forearm muscles, disturbed the repose of their horses and sent them into a gallop.
Some horses are best suited for a full sprint right out of the gates; the hope is to maintain their top speed long enough such that the others are too far behind by the time they tire. Other jockeys hope to maintain a good pace, as determined by the sprinters, throughout the entirety of the race such that they are in striking distance when the home stretch is at hand. Everyone knows, however, that it is those whom demonstrate patience and poise, waiting for the opportune time to make their move that usually win the race.
Could the same be said about NHL teams during the offseason? Will those that rush to fill holes on their roster, the sprinters, sacrifice effectiveness for speed, sticking their finger in the dam? Will those that address each issue sequentially end up being stiffed, beaten out for the top-shelf talent? Do the teams that enact an intricate plan come out ahead of the pack?
The Rangers surely resembled a sprinter during the afternoon on July 1, but were they? The signing of Scott Gomez and Chris Drury did occur on the same day within hours of each other, but was the speed with which these moves were executed the result of much thought or impulse? Were these moves the stroke of genius or a foolish attraction to shiny objects? Is all that glitters gold?
The pace of July 1st is always breathtaking, making your cheeks fly back and tears stream. If we might consider the horses to be the free agents, the truth is that, for the most part, all of the sprinters in this race are the best horses available. The less talented horses know this and as a result, also act as sprinters, attempting to stay in the pack such that for at least a few moments they are the geographic equals of the superior horses.
When the top free agents hit the market they are signed before you know it. Once the top free agents start to put their flags in the sand, some of the teams that missed out on them go into a frenzy trying to lure the best remaining player – these teams have been pulled into the sprint. Meanwhile, the lesser free agents, because they had been in the vicinity of the better ones, receive inflated contracts. Teams must participate in the madness or will be left out in the cold. And since these GMs want to keep their jobs the concept of supply and demand is at its best. The speed of these signings cannot be used to assess the quality of these transactions since it’s good business for the free agents to be sprinters and turn the teams into sprinters. If the Rangers really expect to compete for a Stanley Cup this year, they needed to obtain some of the best available talent and that’s what they did.
If Gomez and Jagr can click the way Nylander and Jagr did, then Gomez could easily put up 100 points this season; however, Gomez and Nylander are different players in almost everyway. Gomez will bring better speed and the ability to single-handedly mount an end-to-end rush. Scott Gomez‘s ability to play the penalty kill means that he will offer more versatility than Nylander, as well as somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 more shots on goal.
But hold on a second, Nylander elected to shoot more than a half-century less than Gomez (shots: Nylander-193, Gomez-248) and still scored twice as often (goals: Nylander-26, Gomez 13). Watching Gomez all these years it is apparent that he has developed into a good shooter, and is at least on par, if not superior, with Nylander’s shooting abilities. The discrepancy in goals scored is the result of role, line mates, and team. Gomez with linemates Elias and Gionta, especially because of Gionta, would definitely be encouraged to shoot, not necessarily to score, but such that the shifty Gionta could have a chance at working his craft – putting rebounds in the back of the net. Furthermore, the Devils as a team are not known as offensively dynamic, this is to say their offense is concentrated on working traffic in front of the net, using deflections, and all else that is in the nightmares of goalies. Accordingly, it makes perfect sense that Gomez should shoot often.