Madison Square Gaborik?

I, like many read up on the plethora of rumors that swarm the internet, especially this time of year. Free agency frenzied fans, myself included, love to think of the possibilities of impact players possibly changing addresses come the following year. Not only does it provide entertainment for the fans suffering from “the almost end of the season blues”, it also gives us a brief period to play fantasy G.M.

Having said that, one article in particular stood out in my mind today. I might be one of the few, but I personally like reading Larry Brooks’ “Slap Shots” column in the New York Post, every Sunday. To my delight he wrote an interesting piece today about the potential of imminent UFA, one of the true snipers of the game, Marion Gaborik coming to the Rangers. On paper, it makes complete sense for the Rangers to, at the very least, look into the possibility of trying to woo him out of Minnesota. Yes, the Rangers are up against it as far as the salary cap goes. Offering him a huge contract, a la Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, etc., etc. makes little sense, especially coming off of major hip surgery that forced him to miss the majority of the season.

But, there is little doubt that, if he can be convinced to come here on a Marian Hossa type of contract, that he would no doubt help the offensively challenged Original Six club  from Manhattan be taken a little more seriously in the Eastern Conference. The obvious roadblocks here are if he would be willing to accept a one year, incentive laden contract and would he stay healthy in this year to be able to help the Rangers and in turn help strengthen his financial future.

My take on it, the Rangers should absolutely try to sell this to him, with the promise of making him a very rich man after this season. It won’t be easy, because there are suitors with the cap room to take a long term chance on this brittle superstar. But the Rangers have nothing to lose and everything to gain in trying to get this top tier talent to the unfriendly confines of Madison Square Garden. Larry Brooks couldn’t be more on the money in saying that this Rangers team needs a top end offensive force more than any team that made the postseason in 2009. Without a pure go-to guy, they will always be like Tiny Tim on Christmas, face pressed against the proverbial playoff glass, looking in on teams like Pittsburgh, Washington and Philadelphia pursuing their Stanley Cup aspirations.

There are other options of course, trading for a top line forward is always a possibility. But, with Gaborik, they can go a long way to solving their offensive troubles and only give up some cash, which is seemingly something they never had a problem doing.