Imagine on the first day of free agency next summer hearing the words “The Chicago Blackhawks would like to welcome Henrik Lundqvist to the organization”. It sounds like a fairy tale dreamed up by some overzealous fan but in reality it’s not that far fetched of a scenario.
During the last offseason, The New York Rangers signed two of the top centers in the game (Scott Gomez and Chris Drury) to multiyear megadeals and in doing so ensured the franchise would have playmakers and a leadership core long after team captain and franchise talent Jaromir Jagr decides to hang up his skates. The only harmful side effect to these signings was that they left the Rangers with little cap room to sign franchise goaltender and restricted free agent Henrik Lundqvist to a long term deal before the season began. Lundqvist and his agent instead agreed to terms with the team on a one year deal and both sides agreed to revisit the situation during the season.
Lundqvist has once again put together a stroong first half and will undoubtedly be amongst the candidates to be honored with the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender at season’s end. His steady and at times spectacular play has carried the Rangers early on and is the biggest reason that they are still in good position to make the playoffs even while the team has been suffering through a prolonged goal scoring drought and various growing pains with it’s young players. Everyone who watches the Rangers and all from within the organization acknowledge that Lundqvist is the most important part of the Rangers drive towards a championship, not only this year but in the future as well. It is time that Glen Sather and management open up the checkbook and make sure that Henrik knows his value to this franchise as well.
By signing Lundqvist to a long term deal now the Rangers can accomplish two goals. They can lock up their cornerstone at a relatively young age (think about the Devils signing Martin Brodeur to a 10 year deal early on and what having him with their franchise has meant and that’s the kind of security Henrik could give the Rangers) and continue to build around him and their considerable pool of young talent (Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan, Bobby Sanguinetti, Alex Cherapanov) while at the same time keeping him away from possible offers from other teams who might view him as the missing piece to their own championship puzzle. If Lundqvist makes it to free agency this summer, Would it surprise anyone if a team full of young burgeoning stars like the Blackhawks were to offer Lundqvist a max deal to turn their team from a possible playoff dark horse into a bonified contender? I believe Lundqvist would at least have to consider it (even with his desire to play in New York) with the upside of Johnathan Toews, Pat Kane, Brent Seabrook, Dustin Byfuglien and Martin Havlat (if he ever stayed healthy) being factors in his decision. What about former Ranger alum and broadcaster and now Blues GM John Davidson? Don’t you think J.D. would love a crack at adding Henrik to his roster in St. Louis after witnessing firsthand the effect he has on a team looking to regain it’s place amongst the game’s upper echelon. If Lundqvist somehow gets to free agency, there will be many suitors for his services and the Rangers will be forced to make some very tough decisions in order to retain him.
If the Rangers can get Lundqvist under contract before the summer it will also allow them to trade former first round draft pick and valuable bargaining chip goaltender Al Montoya in an attempt to shore up a young and inexperienced defense that has played extremely well so far this season but still could use a veteran presence and a power play quarterback on it’s blueline.The Rangers have many decisions to make as this year’s trade deadline approaches and even more decisions following the season but the one decision that seems abundantly clear is that they need to get Henrik signed long term now and avoid what would be an unmitigated disaster if he walks away. It’s time to hand over the keys to the castle to King Henrik and make sure he presides over his kingdom, in this case The Garden, for many years to come.
