Michal Rozsival will have surgery on his hip to repair a torn labrum. The surgery is being described as “clean-up” work and is expected to have no lasting impact on his play. Rozsival is set to become a UFA on July 1st, with no word on what the Rangers’ strategy might be with their leading scorer from the blueline.
21 year old pending UFA Blake Wheeler was in New York the Rangers’ practice facilities this week. Wheeler will have his choice of teams come July 1st, after turning down the Coyotes contract offer. The Minnesota native was drafted #5 overall in the 2004 draft, a move that surprised most at the time.
Perry Pearn will not be the coach of the Florida Panthers after they elected to go a different route. Former Tampa head coach (and Rangers interim head coach) John Tortorella is rumored to be a chance for the Los Angeles job, after the Kings fired current coach Marc Crawford following two consecutive losing seasons.
Henrik Lundqvist finished third in the voting for the Vezina trophy trailing Martin Brodeur and Evgeni Nabokov.
Former Ranger Glenn Anderson is hopeful that he’ll finally get his name called for the Hockey Hall of Fame. His former team mate on the Oilers and Rangers, Mark Messier, brought the topic up at last year’s ceremony.
Speaking of former Rangers, Mattias Norstrom announced his retirement after 14 seasons with the Rangers, Kings and Stars. Norstrom was part of the trade that Neil Smith “most regretted”, one which brought the aging Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley to the Rangers.
The league announced the official draft order, and the Rangers have currently got five picks, with their 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th round picks in addition to a 3rd rounder from Carolina (acquired in the Matt Cullen trade).