Kan't Kill Kasparaitis

Darius Kasparaitis has more lives than a cat. In fact he has more lives than Glen Sather wishes he had. Rumors abound that Kaspy is getting himself in the best shape that he been in years. Jaromir Jagr has said that the Rangers need a defenseman. Strange, isn't it? The Rangers have eight defensemen on the roster and Jagr says we need one. Apparently Rozsival, Malik, Tyutin, Girardi, Mara, Pock, Strudwick and Hutchinson don't quite fill the right bill and Jags may be right. Maybe Marc Staal is the answer. Maybe. The Rangers don't have a rock em, sock em, stay at home defenseman who can keep the opposing forwards honest. Enter Kasparaitis.

The knock by Renney on Kaspy was that he wasn't in shape. However if Kaspy comes in in great shape what will be the next excuse? Too old? Kasparaitis will be 35 in October. Jagr is already 35, Shanahan is 38 and Straka will be 35 in September. He makes too many mistakes? Malik is 32, and who makes more mistakes than Malik? So who would you rather have? A mistake prone 32 year old mush or a mistake prone 35 year old basher?

I like the idea of a 35 year old guy working himself in the best physical shape he can be in, especially one who is not afraid to sacrifice his body and dole out punishing hits. The Rangers do not have that on their back line. We have many stick and poke checkers but too few body hitters. Is it any wonder there is always a crowd of opposing forwards in front of Lundqvist? I guess the other knock of Kaspy is that he draws over $3 mil/year. Malik draws over $2.5 mil. I would rather have Kaspy for the extra mil or so, wouldn't you? Stay tuned.