Whither the PK?

The Rangers' character-3rd-liner pool took another hit today, as Ruslan Fedotenko signed with the Philadelphia Flyers (yet another reason to like them and then immediately get angry at yourself for liking them). It's a 1 year, $1.75 million deal (a $350,000 raise over last season), and, much like with the Prust deal, while I can't be angry with Fedotenko for taking that deal or with Sather for not offering it, I'm still sad to see the guy go.

For what it's worth, to make up for the depth hemorrhaging we've been doing this week (Mitchell, Scott, Prust, Fedotenko, and Zuccarello), we did sign a little bit more than just Asham, Haley, and Newbury, whom I mentioned Tuesday. We agreed today to terms with some kid name Kyle Jean, so look for that to potentially matter in a few years, or not. But more importantly, we signed erstwhile Coyote Taylor Pyatt to a 2-year deal at $1.55 million per year. I think I'd rather have Pyatt at $1.55m than Feds at $1.75m, so I can't really complain.

But let me try: Fedotenko and Prust were two of the club's top penalty killers last season (and Mitchell was a pretty responsible forward in a jam as well). They've been nominally replaced by Asham and Pyatt. First of all, I'd never use the word "responsible" to describe Arron Asham for any reason. I'd use other, less savory ones. But here's my real point:

Last season (including playoffs), Prust and Fedotenko combined for 296:17 of shorthanded time on ice, and yet finished the season only a combined -2. Meanwhile, across their two respective teams, Asham and Pyatt, who combined for 1752:29 on ice, played a total of six shorthanded seconds between them. So, as excited as I am about seeing Taylor Pyatt suit up, I still think this offseason has not been kind to the New York Rangers thus far, especially on the PK.

Staal and Fedotenko

Looks like we get both Staal and Fedotenko back tonight. Awesome. Newbury was sent to the Whale already, so that replacement is obvious. On D? I'm thinking Eminger, who got less than 9 minutes in the last game and less than 11 in the previous one, sits out. That's the right move, especially given how Gilroy's been playing lately. Top 6 D-men are Staal, Girardi, Sauer, McDonagh, McCabe, and Gilroy - I like this a lot.

As for the lines? Well, here's what Torts should do:

Dubinsky - Anisimov - Callahan
Wolski - Stepan - Zuccarello
Fedotenko - Christensen - Prospal
Avery - Boyle - Prust

And then he should leave those lines together all game long, and he should given them all good ice time. Here's what he's going to do, I'm betting:

Dubinsky - Anisimov - Callahan
Wolski - Stepan - Zuccarello
Prospal - Christensen - Boyle (three centers)
Fedotenko - Avery - Prust (zero centers)

With those third and fourth lines getting mixed and matched throughout the first period, decreasing ice time dramatically in the second, and ending up mixing everything up and rotating only two lines throughout the third, looking something like:

Dubinsky - Stepan - Callahan
Wolski - Christensen - Prospal
(Everyone else is on the bench)

I guess only time will tell. Better with Staal and Fedotenko than without them, certainly. Let's go Rangers!