Marc Staal

Earlier this week, New York Rangers defenseman and alternate captain Marc Staal and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist were selected to play in the 58th NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 30.

The selections are the first for Staal, the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and the second for Lundqvist, who is the only goalie in league history to record 30 wins in each of his first five seasons.

What constitutes a top-end defenseman?  There are many excellent defenders in the league, but a lot of them thrive in one area or another.  Some are offensive wizards while others are defensive shutdown types. The true gems of the league can do it all.

This past summer there was a lot of debate about whether or not Washington Capitals defenseman Mike Green was worthy enough to win the Norris Trophy.  The primary reason was because his defensive game was lacking.  Many think he is just a forward playing on the blue line.

The Hot list is made up of a few veterans and a couple of unlikely youngsters who could possibly be quick fixes for a fantasy owner at the moment. Our goalie just recorded two shutouts in his past two starts. Who is it and who else can help you pick up the pace in your fantasy league?

Note: Stats taken from December 6 to December 13.

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It's the third period and the New York Rangers are up 1-0 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The referees penalize Ryan Callahan, arguably the New York Rangers best penalty-killer, for holding after Evgeni Malkin blatantly dives.

Seconds into the power play, Dan Girardi goes down bleeding and into the locker room. The New York Rangers are now down two penalty-killers and the Penguins score.

Boy was yesterday an up-and-down night for the Atlantic Division. The Kovalchuk-less New Jersey Devils got torn apart by the Sabres. The Penguins got shut out by Jaroslav Halak and the St. Louis Blues in overtime. The Islanders lost a close game in which John Tavares scored his first hat trick. However, the Rangers pulled off a win in Beantown and the Flyers burned the hot Maple Leafs in Philly.

New Jersey Devils

Another off-season has passed us Rangers' fans by, and we got to bear witness to another logic-defying Glen Sather contract (known henceforth as the Brashear Blue Plate Special), the acquisition of yet another forward that can be associated with the word "enigmatic", an almost hold-out, and the shuffling of a mistake under the proverbial rug.

It seems like just another day in Rangers country.

Remember last year in the last game of the year, the Rangers lost to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout to get eliminated from playoff contention. The Flyers would wind up losing in the Stanley Cup Final to the Chicago Blackhawks.

But no one really knows why the Rangers lost that game.

I will tell you why.

According to a number of reports on Wednesday morning, the New York Rangers have signed 23-year-old defenseman Marc Staal to a five-year contract worth $19.875 million; the cap number is $3.975M per season.

New Jersey Devils

It seems that GM Lou Lamoriello is not in a rush to clear cap space. He has said that he'd like to see how training camp goes, which is a smart management move. A few players could be traded and Langenbrunner has recognized the possibility of being traded. However, he'd like to stay with the team.