Steve Zipay brings us today’s update from prospect development camp.

Ryan Bourque, who has spoken to his legendary father Ray every night, ended the scrimmage with a backhand goal.

Bourque said that he didn’t expect this camp to be so tough, especially John Tortorella’s conditioning drills the first two days, but that he is stronger for it.

Evgeny Grachev didn’t skate today but is said to be fine. All week when Grachev would miss a shot he would bang his stick or wave it in frustration.

Ilkka Heikkinen has opened up some eyes with his shooting ability in camp.

The Rangers have announced that they have signed forwards Corey Locke and P.A. Parenteau.

Locke, 25, scored 25 goals and 54 assists for the Houston Aeros, Minnesota’s AHL affiliate, last season.

The 5-9 170lb winger has 308 career AHL points in five seasons.

He was a fourth round selection of Montreal in 2003.

Parentau, 26, scored 78 points in 76 games for the Hartford Wolfpack last season.

Parenteau,6-0 195lbs, played the last two seasons in Hartford after being acquired by the Rangers from Chicago in 2007.

Both of these guys seem like they are AAAA players, to use a baseball term. Guys who can tear up the minors but for some reason can’t really hack it in the pros. Both will be with the Rangers in training camp and will get a shot with the Rangers. Otherwise, high scoring in Hartford.

Earlier today, I posted the Rangers‘ announcement regarding the signing of depth forward Tyler Arnason and this is what one fan commented with:

Just so Rangers fans understand…you don’t build a team by signing every single big name player you can find/afford and slap him into a long term contract.  Sather is trying to “acquire depth”.  Meaning…because the Rangers have pissed away most of their prospects and draft picks on horrendous trades and bad decisions, Sather has to try and build depth using players that have developed elsewhere.

While it’s not likely to work as there’s no gel between these players at all, it’s better than just signing big name egos because that doesn’t work for any team.  There has to be “buy in” to the organization and it’s system, which can only come with years of exposure (ie AHL).  This is what separates teams like Detroit, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey from teams like New York, Tampa, and Los Angeles.  Every prospect that steps from the AHL to the NHL in Detroit plays the same way as veterans on the team; that will never happen to the Rangers if they continue to build from the top up and sign those players to obscenely large contracts.

5 years for Gaborik?  That’s almost 2.5 seasons worth of work for him.  I also think the Rangers are paying something like 7 million a year for michal rozsival…if that’s true, the real problem with the Rangers is the GM.  Though I knew that the minute they hired John Torterella (not his signing however) and picked up Avery…it was like Sather wanted to create a circus in his locker room.  That was reaffirmed when they signed Donald Brashear after he seriously injured one of their players…on purpose.  Then they ditch Orr (as I understand)…um…they do the same thing, score maybe 10 points a season…and there are plenty of them to go around (Laraque, Godard, Clutterbuck(?), etc.).  Maybe Sather needs to sign the one who didn’t try to kill Blair Betts.

Do you folks agree with his sentiment?

I would like to take a break from the free agent frenzy and lack of any true Rangers activity and bring up a debatable topic amongst New York Ranger/hockey fans alike.

As all die-hard Blueshirt and hockey fans know and found out last week,  Brian Leetch will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame this upcoming November. It’s well deserved and something that we all knew was coming.

With that in mind, what do you think the chances of that happening to Mike Richter one day? Check out his numbers here.

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As mentioned earlier on this blog, Rangers‘ General Manager Glen Sather may be interested in bringing back Sergei Zubov to help bolster the club’s woeful power play.

Certainly, this would be a significant upgrade over Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival but what do you folks think?

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Yesterday the Rangers announced the signing of 21 year old forward Chris Chappell.

Chappell is 6-4 209lbs and had 154 points and 243 PIMS in 248 career OHL games.

He will most likely spend next season in Hartford.

Nothing wrong with adding depth, especially someone at that size. Another Girardi? We will see.

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Steve Zipay reports that the Rangers have signed forward Tyler Arnason.

Arnason, 30, had 22 points in 71 games for Colorado last season.

His most productive season came in 2003-04 when he had 55 points in 82 games with Chicago.

Monzo: Mark Bell last year, Tyler Arnason this year — two Blackhawk retreads.  Hopefully he has a good season with the Pack.

Press Release After the Jump Read more…

The Fourth Period — which is hit or miss, speculates the Rangers and Devils have made multi-year offers to UFA center Saku Koivu.  Koivu was rumored to be close to signing with the Wild a few days back, but nothing was made official.

Monzo: I think for a short-term top center, as previously mentioned, Koivu would look great paired with Marian Gaborik.

Hoffman: While Koivu certainly sounds appealing, I am of the firm belief that we need a goal scorer. Koivu can dish it out the puck with the best of them but this team really needs players that can score goals.

Larry Brooks, of the New York Post, mentions in today’s in paper that Glen Sather may check in with former Ranger and soon to be 39 year old, Sergei Zubov.

For if the Blueshirts are counting on either Michal Rozsival or Wade Redden to be dramatically better than they were last season (and, in Rozsival’s case, the year before last, as well), they are setting themselves up for disappointment and failure.

To that end, Sather is likely to check in on old buddy Sergei Zubov. Zubov will be 39 in three weeks, and is coming off a season in Dallas in which he played 10 games because of a hip injury that was repaired by surgery performed by the very same Dr. Marc Philippon who performed hip surgery on Gaborik.

Brooks doesn’t know that Sather will talk to Zubov but just assumes that he will because he will provide a better alternative to Redden or Rozi on the point. And while Zubov will forever hold a place in Rangers fans hearts for 1994, as Brooks mentioned, he only played 10 games last season and is coming of surgery. This is one of those cases where I would give that spot to Michael Del Zotto or Matt Gilroy to see if they can man the point on the power play. Then again, it all comes down to money. If Zubov will come back to the Rangers for a one year deal worth around $2 million, then its another story but anything more and I would go with Del Zotto or Gilroy.

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