Rangers Sign Matthew Lombardi, a.k.a. The Sky Is Falling
Late Tuesday night, the NY Rangers announced the signing of Matthew Lombardi. A swift 32 year old center-man who just finished a nice season in the Swiss League. Of course, the over-reaction of fans was epic.
What people need to understand is that it’s a 2 year deal worth 800K per. That’s peanuts for one and it can be buried in the AHL, thus not impacting the cap if it doesn’t work out.
Lombardi is fast and versatile. He can play center and wing, plus he is a solid penalty killer. Glen Sather and the Rangers made another depth move that will fit in the parameters of the team’s current cap squeeze.
His speed is the key to the signing as Alain Vigneault absolutely loves guys with speed. He knows it kills and his system loves to use it in order to exploit defenses.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v32nT1ePBU”][su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltD9PgPBa7o”]Game Seven Highlights – [/su_youtube]
Next week, the Rangers will be heading to arbitration with 3 of their 4 RFA’s. Whatever is left of their approximately 14 million will be eaten up by those 3. Hence, the need to find cheap talent with prior NHL experience to fill voids and provide insurance.
The security the Rangers are looking for is a veteran center who will step in should JT Miller or Oscar Lindberg fail to distinguish themselves as the 3rd line center.
So stop running around yelling “the sky is falling!” The Rangers are a different team from last year, but it is way too early to claim they are worse.
Read more on Miller and Lindberg here:
JT MILLER: Can he become a star?
OSCAR LINDBERG: Future Ranger
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