Day: March 4, 2009

As of March 3rd, 2009, the Rangers sat in eighth spot in the Eastern Conference, six points out of home ice advantage for at least one round, and just one point ahead of the ninth placed Hurricanes. With just eighteen games remaining, the Rangers are not focused on building momentum for the playoffs, but are simply striving to make the post season.

It’s a position that cost Tom Renney his job last week, and saw the return of the volatile Sean Avery to New York via re-entry waivers yesterday. And as it so happens, it also coincides with this year’s NHL Trade Deadline and an added sense of nervousness in the Rangers’ locker room.

This year promises to be quieter than most for many teams, but despite the Rangers seemingly impossible position with the Salary Cap, there’s still some room to maneuver. Glen Sather made his first move yesterday by reacquiring Sean Avery off of re-entry waivers, something that is almost certainly going to have some impact on the team.

He also cleared some potential space by placing Aaron Voros and Erik Reitz on waivers, allowing them to be assigned to Hartford after the noon deadline if they aren’t claimed by another team.