I know its pretty early to start this discussion but this is going to be a focal point for this franchise come the trade deadline. Dan has done it all for us, laid his body on the line and taken a lot of punishment blocking shots. He routinely plays well against opponents top lines. That being said, he's about to be 30 and we all know the wear and tear his style of play takes on guys once they cross that age barrier. However it doesn't matter to some bone head GM's in this league as defensemen ALWAYS GET PAID when they hit UFA in this league. We have seen many a dman worse than girardi get the ridiculous 5 year $5-6 mil per deal and that's not a deal this team can afford to give out next summer . NOW, if we are in contention and look like we have a shot to win it all (pretty laughable thought at this point I know) but if we do you obviously have to keep Girardi for a playoff push. If the much more likely scenario of us fighting tooth and nail for the 6,7, or 8 seed comes into play. I am absolutely on board with moving Girardi at the deadline. We could really fetch a hefty price for him to a contender and we all know how Glen has robbed people blind in trades the past 4-5 seasons.
This has been brought up before and every time I'm torn. He's one of the toughest Rangers of all time and has laid it all out for this team. Guy has tremendous heart, no doubt about it. But that style of play has clearly worn on him. Wasn't the same last year and is off to a slow start this year. Nevertheless will still get paid this off season (by somebody), and could still bring back a nice return should we trade him. In my opinion what we do with Girardi (whether it's re-signing him, trading him or letting him walk) depends on two things. One is how well McIlrath develops this year. He missed all last year and had a rough camp this year. If he shows signs of playing the game he is capable of then we have more flexibility. The second is Sather needs to get a read on Staal. Obviously I'd rather have Staal than Girardi, Staal is clearly still the best defenseman this team has. But he's only signed one more year than Girardi is. If he's planning on bolting to Carolina to play with his bros in two years it will be tough to replace both Staal and Girardi's minutes. No idea if he will or not, I feel like he wouldn't, but you never know. Yeah this is looking pretty far ahead but we have to keep that in mind when deciding on Girardi. We need to keep and lock up at least one of them.
I think they should lock him up. Let the guy finish his career with the Rangers. They need a guy like Girardi to mentor the young defense-man.
Either way I wouldn't re-sign him after this year, but yeah, I've been on board with moving him if they're out of it or floundering around the playoff cut. Even though he's a UFA you'd probably get a 2nd or 3rd rounder plus a decent prospect for him.
At first I said trade him because of the cap. Now, I say, keep him, trade MDZ for a high pick and or a young, talented, cheap forward prospect. I still MDZ a lot but honestly, Skjei is really looking like he's going to be a tremendous pro. Allen and McIlrath give the team a couple of physical guys. MDZ is expendable with the three defenseman coming soon.
Keep him he is worth the money... He's a valuable as he'll to this team.. This team makes the mistake of letting guys walk all the time and it always backfires on them
Its simple. If he hits UFA we will not be able to afford him. I certainly don't think the move is to extend him now for big money when the real person we need to focus on extending right now is Hank. If this team is struggling come April... its time to move Danny for a nice package. Which considering what people who get desperate are willing to give up at the deadline, there is no way we would get short of a 1st rounder and a nice prospect.
Good point about Skjei and McIlrath. This team has young defensemen to fill the holes. And you know when people give up 1st round picks at the deadline for guys like Paul Gaustad (!!!!!) Danny will bring a helluva a nice package. Especially with Glen at the helm.
unless the money is way out of line, you do all you can to keep him. true blue Ranger. would dearly love to see him lift the cup in a Ranger uniform. you know he wants that also. Lunqvuist, Staahl, Girardi, Callahan, Stepan, Mcdonagh, should be Rangers for as long as possible
always hurt the team. We missed Prust last year big time before we got Dorsett (who is not Brandon Prust) Hell, when they signed Gomez and Drury the year they outsed Nylander they spent the whole next season crying how Gomez and Drury couldnt play with Jagr.
