When New York Rangers General Manager Glen Sather signed tough guy Derek Boogaard to a 4-year, $6.5 million contract last summer, the hockey world shook its collective head, sighed, and muttered "there he goes again." And before the giant enforcer was felled by a concussion in early December, it looked like Sather had in fact saddled his team with yet another albatross contract.   Unable to compete -- or keep up -- at a satisfactory level for head coach John Tortorella, Boogaard rarely saw more than four or five minutes of ice time a night, sometimes playing as few as three or four shifts in a game.

Boogaard's injury -- he's not expected to play again this season -- has allowed Sather to avoid having to make any tough decisions this year. But there are three more years remaining on his contract.  And with the Rangers needing to re-sign a handful of core restricted free agents this summer, and likely to pursue big-ticket free agent Brad Richards on July 1st, Boogard's $1.625 million worth of cap space must look awfully enticing.

Enter Andrei Nazarov, head coach of KHL goon squad Checkhov Vityaz.  You know, the team famous for giving NHL/AHL-rejects Chris Simon, Darcy Verot, Brandon Sugden and Josh Gratton a place to ply their trade.

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The Los Angeles Kings media guide lists Russian forward Alexander Frolov's favorite NHL city to visit as New York, and his top arena to play in as Madison Square Garden.   Starting this fall, the 28-year old former King will get the opportunity to try the city and its famous arena on for size full-time, thanks to the cap-friendly, one-year, $3 million dollar contract he signed with the Blueshirts on Tuesday.

According to reports, Frolov left as much as $20 million dollars on the table in the KHL in order to remain in the NHL and experience life New York.  Frolov discussed his decision to sign with the Rangers and his expectations for the new season in an interview with Sport-Express correspondent Alexander Shapiro on Wednesday. 

Their conversation, as originally translated on Beyond the Blueshirts, appears below.

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Defenseman Pavel Valentenko, who was acquired by the New York Rangers in the trade that sent Scott Gomez to Montreal last summer, is set to return to North America after a two-year hiatus in the KHL. 

In an interview published on his club's website yesterday, UHC Dynamo General Director Andrei Safronov revealed that Valentenko's contract would soon be terminated and that the 23-year old bruising blueliner would return to North America, where he spent a season playing for the Montreal Canadiens' farm club in Hamilton before bolting to Russia four games into the 2008-2009 AHL campaign.

"In the near future we’ll terminate our agreement with the defenseman by mutual consent," Safronov explained. "Valentenko’s contract is very large, and we can’t afford to pay that player such money."

"According to my information, Valentenko plans to go back overseas," Safronov added.

Valentenko's Russian agent, Igor Kramarev, went one step further on Friday, confirming that his client would travel to North America to participate in the Rangers Prospect Development Camp later this month.

"Pavel has received an invitation to go to the New York Rangers’ prospect camp," Kramarev told Sports.ru. "He decided to take advantage of this invitation."

Valentenko, who plays a physical, North American brand of defense and owns a booming slapshot, was plagued by injuries during his two seasons in the KHL.  He played just eight games for Dynamo Moscow in 2008-2009 before a back injury sidelined him for most of the regular season.  Once healthy, he struggled to regain a spot in the line-up and played in just one of Dynamo's playoff contests, leading to off-season rumors of discontent between him and Dynamo president Michael Golovkov. 

He returned to the team to start the 2009-2010 season, but suffered a pre-season shoulder injury that required surgery and three months of rehabilitation.  After a brief return a separate injury put him back out of the line-up, and once again he struggled to regain a spot upon returning to health.

Over the past two seasons, Valentenko has played a total of four AHL games, 15 regular season KHL contests, and a single KHL playoff game.  That alone makes him a longshot to crack the Rangers roster out of camp.  But if he remains healthy and returns to the form he showed with Hamilton in 2007-2008, a mid-season call-up wouldn't be out of the question.

Finnish defenseman Ilkka Heikkinen has signed a one year contract with HC Sibir Novosibirsk of the KHL.  The 25-year old blueliner, who joined the Rangers as a free agent last summer and appeared in seven games for the Blueshirts, chose to continue his career in the KHL after the Rangers refused to offer him a one-way contract.

Heikkinen played 72 games in the AHL for the Hartford Wolf Pack last season, picking up eight goals and 30 assists to tie defense partner Bobby Sanguinetti (who played 11 fewer games) for the Wolf Pack lead in scoring on  defense.  He saw limited playing time in his seven games in the NHL, and failed to register a point.

Heikkinen's departure from North America comes as no surprise, since he made his displeasure with spending the season in Hartford known in an interview with Newsday's Steve Zipay during the Olympic break in February.  While he played well for the Wolf Pack, he was largely overrated by Rangers fans desperate for anyone to replace dead weight Wade Redden on defense.  In the end, he failed to show enough to earn the guaranteed NHL job that he was looking for.

After signing with Sibir, Heikkinen spoke with Maria Levinskaya for an interview on the team's web site.  While it reveals nothing earth shattering, it provides a better introduction to Heikkinen than we ever got during his season in North America, and contains a few interesting anecdotes about his time with the Wolf Pack.  The highlights are included after the jump.  For the full translation, visit Beyond the Blueshirts.

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New York Rangers forward Artem Anisimov survived the additions of fellow centers Pavel Datsyuk and Evgeny Malkin to Russia's roster at the IIHF World Championship this weekend, and even managed to pick up his second point of the tournament with an assist on Russia's final goal in a 6-1 drubbing of Denmark on Sunday afternoon.  Not surprisingly, the 21-year old rookie has seen limited playing time on the tournament's most stacked roster, but he hasn't looked at all out of place when he has been on the ice.

Anisimov's invitation to join the Russian squad has had an added benefit: not only is the promising young forward gaining valuable experience by playing with and against some of the top players in the world, but his participation has put him, like his teammates, squarely under the Russian media spotlight.  Before he had even left Russia's training center in Novogorsk for the World Championship in Germany, Anisimov had been interviewed by most of Russia's top sports media outlets.  The best and most comprehensive of these interviews was done by Alexei Shevchenko of Russian site sports.ru.  In the lengthy interview, Shevchenko covered a wide array of topics ranging from Anisimov's thoughts on his rookie season, to his feelings on playing with tough guys Jody Shelley and Brandon Prust, and what it's like to play with super-pest Sean Avery.  In the process, Shevchenko provided a glimpse at the personality of a player who's rarely heard from in the North American press. 

Continue below to read the full translation of Sevchenko's interview with Anisimov. 

Note: I posted a link this translation in it's original location in the comments section of Rob's review of Anisimov's rookie year on Saturday, but we thought it warranted its own post for those who don't normally dig into the comments.

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The 2010 IIHF World Championship gets underway today at 2:00 pm ET with a game between the USA and host Germany before an anticipated crowd of more than 76,000 at Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.  The full schedule, and team rosters and statistics are available (or will be shortly) at the tournament web site.

No fewer than eight members of the New York Rangers organization have travelled to Germany to play in this year's tournament.  Team USA will be well represented, with current Rangers Brandon Dubinsky and Matt Gilroy joining 2009 first-round draft pick Chris Kreider on the side.  A pair of defensemen -- 23-year-old Marc Staal and 19-year-old rookie Michael Del Zotto -- will skate for Canada while fellow blueliner Michael Roszival will represent his native Czech Republic.  Goaltender Chad Johnson, who spent most of the season with the Hartford Wolf Pack,  will also represent Canada, though isn't expected to see much playing time.  Artem Anisimov rounds out the Rangers contingent, representing Russia, which will be looking for its third consecutive World Championship title.

Select games of the tournament (primarily those of Team USA) will be broadcast by Universal Sports in the US.  Check for availability in your area here.  Some games will also be available online (see right sidebar here. UPDATE: for a fee).  Universal Sports will also be hosting a Hockey Worlds Blog with the latest news and information from the tournament.

Fans not living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, USA, China, France, or Germany can also buy individual game broadcasts, team passes, and full tournament broadcast packages here.  TSN will be broadcasting the games in Canada; the broadcast schedule is available at their web site.

I'll be scouring the 'net for online feeds of Russia's games that aren't being broadcast stateside (their opening game vs. Slovakia at 2pm on Sunday will be) so if you're interested (and don't mind not understanding the commentary) follow me on Twitter, where I'll post links to the ones I find.  And Chris Johnson will be covering the tournament for the Canadian Press, so follow him too.

Know of other links that those wanting to follow the World Championship might find useful? Post 'em in the comments.

There haven't been many things for Rangers fans to be positive about lately, but the ongoing development of rookie Artem Anisimov has to be one of them.  While the young Russian hasn't been piling up points -- on the contrary, he ended a 17-game scoring drought on Monday -- he has continued to improve in other areas of the game, earning an increasing amount of ice time in more important situations from head coach John Tortorella.

Anisimov's adaptation to New York and the NHL has been helped by the presence of fellow Russian Enver Lisin.  Lisin, playing in his fourth season in North America after spending parts of the last three with the Phoenix Coyotes, has had mixed results so far in his first campaign with the Blueshirts, earning time in the press box for his play away from the puck after being slowed by a foot fracture in late fall.  The 23-year old returned to a full time role two weeks ago, playing primarily on Anisimov's wing. 

That they fit together on the ice should come as no surprise, considering they spend the majority of their time together off it.  The pair have become virtually inseparable since arriving in New York, renting apartments in the same building, traveling to and from the rink together and spending much of their down time with one another. 

And so it was only natural that Russian web site All Hockey would choose to interview the dynamic duo together, posing questions they solicited from their readers.  The highlights from their far-ranging conversation are translated after the jump.  For the full translation, visit Beyond the Blueshirts. 

Consider it a little diversion from the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth that comes part and parcel with being a Rangers fan these days.

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There aren't many Russians who have enjoyed an extended residency at the World's Most Famous arena, but if 23-year old Enver Lisin has his way, he'll get to become one of them.  At the New York Rangers season subscriber forum on Tuesday night the happy-go-lucky forward's joy at being a part of the Rangers organization was obvious.  The former Phoenix Coyote, who rarely stopped laughing or smiling, admitted that he had never been on a team that was as close as the current Rangers squad, telling fans "I realize day after day how lucky I was to be traded."

A little over two weeks ago, as he prepared to face his old team for the first time, Lisin spoke to Sovietsky Sport reporter Gennady Boguslavsky about his time with the Coyotes, his thoughts on his new team, and a variety of topics ranging from head coach John Tortorella to his chances of playing for Team Russia in the Olympics.  Here's a taste:

- Doesn’t it scare you that it’s difficult for Russians to grow roots with the Rangers?  It didn’t work out in the careers of Kovalev, Zherdev…

- If you’re scared of such a thing, you should quit playing hockey.  Each player has his own history.  I hope everything works out for me in New York.

- Talk about coach John Tortorella.

- He’s demanding, strict.  But if he gets mad, its for a reason.  It’s good that Tortorella is unbiased.

- Who are you friends with on the Rangers?

- We’ve formed a good team, there’s a lot of youth.  Nobody is broken up into cliques.  We all hang out, we go out together for dinner. But of course, I’m better friends with Artem Anisimov.  We rent a house and live together on road trips.

- You weren’t invited to the Olympic camp at Khodinka [Arena in Moscow].  But do you think that you have a chance to go to Vancouver?

- Every player has a chance.  Even if it’s small… The coach will decide who to take to the Olympics.  My job is to score a lot of points and play excellent hockey so that they pay attention to me.

For more from the interview see Beyond the Blueshirts here.  For a recap of the season subscriber event, check here.

His four goals and two assists led the New York Rangers in scoring during the preseason, but 21-year old rookie Artem Anisimov wasn't one hundred percent sure he'd start the season with the big club until he stepped on the ice in Pittsburgh last Friday night. Before he did, the native of Yaroslavl, Russia spoke to hometown sports web site Yaroslavl Sport about his preseason success, his highlight reel goal against the Boston Bruins, scoring on his friend and former teammate, Washington Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov, and what lies ahead.  

The first three games of the regular season haven't been quite as successful as the preseason was for Anisimov, but in his two years with the Hartford Wolf Pack the lanky center has shown a willingness to work hard, adapt to the situation in front of him, and take the lessons he's taught to heart.  It'll only be a matter of time before he joins fellow rookies Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy in scoring his first NHL goal.

- Artem, may I congratulate you: Your fate has been decided — you’re on the Rangers’ roster!

- Thanks, of course.  But, I wouldn’t put it so categorically.  How has it been decided?  It can change any minute.  For now I’m on the team, and I’ll most likely play in the first road game against Pittsburgh.  But then — we’ll see what happens.

- Recount in detail how you managed to create that masterpiece in the exhibition game against Boston.  Was it a move you worked on or an improvisation? Did that goal give you confidence? Or has it become routine for you?

- What is there to say!  And is it really possible to call it a masterpiece?  I simply beat the defenseman and acted according to the situation.  Even though it’s a move I worked on in practice, in games it doesn’t always work.  In the game with Boston, it worked.  I’m just glad for that goal, glad that I scored, and that my team won!

- It seems that you were happier when you upset Varlamov in the exhibition game with Washington.  Didn’t Semyon resent the goal you scored?  If you had not opened the scoring for your team in the third period, it’s possible his shutout would have stood up.  Do you know a weak spot of Semyon’s — your former teammate on Lokomotiv — that helped you score this goal?  By the way, was it possible to talk to him after the game?

- I didn’t talk to him after the game, but I was very glad that I scored on him in the NHL — even though it wasn’t the regular season, it was still nice.  As for his weak spots, I’ve already forgotten how he played, and where his weak spots are!

- Four goals in four games — even if they’re practice games — is that regular work for you?

- I set out in every game to score or at least set-up a goal, or to do everything so that a goal is scored.  In general, I do everything so that my team wins!

- Ok… but goal-scoring streaks — what’s your record?  Do you generally track such statistics?

- Honestly, I don’t remember!  But, I think in Hartford I scored goals in five games in a row.

- Let’s get back to the start of the regular season.  With what sense are you preparing for the first game of the season?  Did the coach say anything to you about the results of camp before including you in the line-up?

- No, the coach didn’t say anything, he simply put me in the line-up in the exhibition games, and now in the first game of the regular season.  So I’m preparing as usual — as I do for every game.

- But preseason is one thing, the regular season is another… is there really no difference?  Aren’t you nervous?  Or are you so confident in your strengths, so perfectly prepared, that you have no doubts?

- A game is a game.  It’s the same game whether it’s in the regular season, in the Stanley Cup finals, or in exhibition games — everyone gives their all: someone’s better, someone’s worse.  My debut game for the Rangers was last season, so no, I’m not nervous.  Though, to be honest… the nervousness is always there, you can’t get rid of it.

For more from the interview, visit Beyond the Blueshirts.

With their final pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft last June the New York Rangers selected 20-year old defenseman Mikhail Pashnin of Mechel Chelyabinsk of Russia's Vysshaya League.  Less than a month earlier, the Chelyabinsk native had made history when he was selected first over all by CSKA Moscow in the KHL's first ever entry draft.  CSKA, led by general manager, coach and Ranger Stanley Cup-winner Sergei Nemchinov, traded it's first three picks in the draft in order to acquire the top spot and select the promising blueliner, who Nemchinov knew from his time coaching Russia's junior team.

Fears over whether the young defenseman would ever want to leave Russia to play in the NHL meant Pashnin -- a bit of a late bloomer who first drew attention overseas at last year's World Junior Championships -- was still available when it came time for the Rangers to use their 200th overall pick. 

Those fears may have been unfounded.  As Pashnin told Russian web site Sports Day by Day on Saturday, the NHL is in his thoughts — just not in the near term.  The young blueliner wants to build up his confidence — and put some much-needed weight on his frame — before making serious plans for the NHL.

- You went down in KHL history as the first pick of the first draft.  Do your teammates still tease you with taunts?

- Being part of history is great (laughs).  It’s very flattering that selecting me first became a priority for CSKA’s management. The guys mess around sometimes.  During practices, for example, they’ll say "Hey, first pick in the draft! Pass the puck!"  I don’t take offense.  It’s nice, even.

- The Rangers have valued you more modestly in the NHL draft — at number 200…

- The main thing is that they picked me.  It’s a strong, good team, with traditions.

- So you have thoughts about the NHL?

- Of course.  But they’re somewhere deep inside.  I need to play with men, to put on some meat.  When I feel that I can stand on my skates with confidence, then I will think [about the NHL] more specifically.  Right now all thoughts are tied to the KHL and CSKA.  I’d like to justify the advance [payments] they gave [me].  To win high [standings] places with the team.

- Have representatives of the Rangers already approached you?

- They’ve called, asked different questions.  One of them [Rangers Russian scout Vladimir Lutchenko] is often in Moscow at CSKA games.  He explains certain moments in the game, gives me specific advice.

- But they did not invite you to training camp…

- We told them right away that I would remain here.

Pashnin made his KHL regular season debut for CSKA two weeks ago, earning his first KHL point -- an assist -- in his second game.  Like most young players in the KHL, he's struggled to earn playing time, averaging just 8:56 in ice time over his first three games before sitting out CSKA's fourth.

For more from Pashnin, visit Beyond the Blueshirts.

Former San Jose Sharks and Boston Bruins defenseman Kyle McLaren has earned a training camp try-out from the New York Rangers. The 32-year old defenseman is currently listed on the team's 44-man Training Camp Roster.

McLaren spent last season in the AHL with the Worcester Sharks after failing to crack a stacked San Jose blueline in the fall.  His season in AHL exile followed a 2007-2008 campaign in which he struggled with a persistent knee injury and played just 61 games.

The twelve year NHL veteran was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2009 NHL trade deadline, but the deal was nixed when he failed his physical because the hand he had broken in a fight during a December 10th game against the Springfield Falcons had not yet fully healed. 

McLaren returned to the Worcester lineup on April 3rd, playing the final five games of the regular season before facing the Hartford Wolf Pack in the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs. 

When asked how his team planned to deal with the Wolf Pack's dynamic top line of Artem Anisimov, P.A. Parenteau and Brodie Dupont during a radio interview prior to the start of the series, Worcester head coach Roy Sommer revealed his intention to match his top defense pairing of McLaren and Mike Moore against the trio whenever he could.

Remember how Rangers GM Glen Sather said after the draft-day acquisition of forward Brian Boyle that it was Boyle who shut down Anisimov in the AHL playoffs last season? Didn't happen. Boyle didn't even play for Worcester. It was McLaren and Moore who were matched against the sophomore center -- who was playing without concussed winger P.A. Parenteau -- on practically every shift.  The duo performed admirably, and held Anisimov to just two points over six playoff games.  (Technically three, but that's a story for another day.)

There's a fairly large jump in the level of competition between the AHL and NHL, but McLaren looked good against the Pack in the playoffs -- obviously good enough to pique the Rangers interest and convince them to offer him a try-out.

The Humboldt, Saskatchewan native earned $2.5m last season, but his agent, Neil Abbott, went on record last month saying he and his client understood that McLaren is "a reclamation project", adding that they're not looking for a big payday, just the opportunity to play. 

If he's truly healthy, the physical, stay-at-home defender could prove to be a reasonable, cheap, veteran option for the 6/7 slot on the Rangers blueline this season.

Unrestricted free agent Nikolai Zherdev still hasn't found a new home for the 2009-2010 NHL season, but according to an interview with the winger on Russian site Sport-Express, he could be just days away from inking an NHL pact.  The 24-year old winger reports that he has a number of options on the table, but is most interested in joining the Atlanta Thrashers, where he'd be part of a Russian-speaking contingent that includes fellow former Ranger Nikolai Antropov, Vyacheslav Kozlov and superstar Ilya Kovalchuk.  Zherdev, who has spent the past few weeks training with Kovalchuk in Moscow, suggests that a one year deal with the Thrashers is his most likely option for the upcoming campaign.  That should serve as a pretty good indication that the offer on the table is nowhere near the reported $4.5m payday he was seeking from the Rangers.

- What’s the situation with your future?

- Negotiations are underway with several teams, but for the time being I’m in limbo — no contract has been signed.  I hope that everything will be settled in the next 2-3 days.

- Is it possible to say that you’ll definitely remain in the NHL?

- Yes, now it’s only a matter of NHL clubs.  With Russian teams the question is closed.

- In the North American press there is conjecture that you could be excellent in combination with Kovalchuk and Antropov in Atlanta.

- The most serious dialog goes on with the Thrashers.  It’s true there are other options.  But personally I would like to end up in Atlanta, where several good Russian players play.  It would be comfortable and pleasant to play with them.

- Have you already talked to Kovalchuk about this topic?

- I’m actively preparing for the season with him now, and of course I asked him about the city and the conditions on the team.  Ilya, naturally, invites me to Atlanta with all his might (laughs). The company could indeed turn out to be first class.  As you know I played last season with Antropov on the Rangers, we even shared a room [on the road].  And there’s also Vyacheslav Kozlov.  Most likely, I’ll sign a contract with the Thrashers for one year — to begin with, it’s necessary to familiarize myself [with the team/city].

Zherdev goes on to discuss his recent snub by national team head coach Vyacheslav Bykov, who failed to invite the flashy but flighty forward to Russia's Olympic camp this past weekend, and vows to earn a trip to Vancouver with his play over the first half of the season.  For the full translation, see Beyond the Blueshirts. 

New York Rangers fans will have their first opportunity to see 2009 seventh round draft pick Mikhail Pashnin in action -- and whet their appetites for the upcoming season with some live hockey -- this weekend when his KHL team, CSKA Moscow, takes part in the Red Bulls Salute 2009 ice hockey tournament in Salzburg, Austria. 

The tournament features six of the top teams in Europe and kicks off tomorrow, Thursday, August 27th.  CSKA play their first game at 2:30pm EDT on Friday, against Swiss club ZSC Lions, and meet the hosts, EC Red Bulls Salzburg, on Saturday at 2:30pm EDT.  A final round of games will be played on Sunday to determine tournament rankings and crown a champion.  See the Red Bulls Salute 2009 web site for more information, including the full schedule and live stream. 

Pashnin's first ever KHL training camp got off to a late start this summer after negotiations over his transfer fee between CSKA and his previous club, Mechel Chelyabinsk, hit a snag.  Since joining the team two weeks after the start of camp, on August 5th, the 20-year old defenseman has been scoreless in two preseason games.

The KHL regular season gets underway on Thursday, September 10th.  Pashnin and CSKA see their first action on Friday, September 11th, when they face local rivals Dynamo Moscow and fellow Ranger prospect Pavel Valentenko.

UPDATE 5:28PM: Salavat Yulaev Ufa assistant coach Igor Zakharkin has denied his team is close to signing, or ever even considered signing, Zherdev.  See Beyond the Blueshirts for more.

...

According to Russian sports site Championat.ru, former New York Ranger and unrestricted free agent Nikolai Zherdev may be days away from signing with Salavat Yulaev Ufa of the KHL.  Citing "a source close to management" Championat reports that the contract is tentatively scheduled to be signed on Thursday and puts the probability of the 24-year old returning to Russia at "more than 90 percent".

Salavat, which is coached by Russian national team coach Vyacheslav Bykov, has been rumored as a possible destination for the forward since he played for Bykov at the World Championship in Switzerland in May.

While the idea of Zherdev signing in the KHL will come as a surprise to no one, the following line from the Championat report is likely to raise a few eyebrows:

However, the forward, who is well know to Vyacheslav Bykov, head coach of Salavat and team Russia at the last World Championship in Switzerland, has another offer from the NHL club Columbus, whose colors he defended for several years.

For a full translation of the Championat story, visit Beyond the Blueshirts.

Zherdev spent the better part of four years climbing in and out of the doghouse in Columbus, but seemed to have finally made a breakthrough of sorts in his final season under head coach Ken Hitchcock's tutelage.  But the opportunity to beef up their blue line proved too enticing for the Blue Jackets, who dealt the talented but inconsistent winger to the Rangers along with Dan Fritsche for Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman last summer. 

UPDATE from Jim: Nevermind, looks like everyone is just confirming that RDS is reporting it, nothing is official just yet.