Marian Gaborik

After 21 years as a member of the Rangers European Scouting team, Director of player personnel for Europe, Christopher Rockstrom has been let go by the organization. The man who scouted star goalie Henrik Lundqvist is gone. Could this be signaling a trend in the organization against picking European players?

In this year's draft in Los Angeles, the Rangers selected one European player. With their sixth round pick, the Rangers selected Jesper Fasth, of Sweden.

The New York Rangers were never serious contenders to sign any of the most coveted free agents this summer.  The albatross contracts of Chris Drury and Wade Redden have weighed heavily on the Rangers ability to compete in the free agent market.

The New York Rangers signed Brandon Prust today to a two-year deal for $1.6 million. Prust, who quickly became a fan favorite in New York, will be looking to reconnect with Artem Anisimov after last year's great performance.

I really like this kid. He skates really well, and he has pretty quick hands and decent puck control. He attacks the net, and as he showed last year, he has what it takes to score some nice goals. He brings toughness, and Brandon can easily play on any line. I personally am pleased to see him return.

As proven by the type of players the New York Rangers Drafted this year, it is quite obvious they went into the draft with a game plan, and as usual, the clueless Ranger fans are unhappy.

We need offense they scream, we want goals, goals and more goals. For years, over a decade actually, its been the same chant, the same tears, the same people , with the same boo hoos with the same results. No Cup!

The Rangers General Manager heard all your screams and answered them.

"With the 10th overall selection in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the New York Rangers select, from the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors, Dylan McIlrath."

Wait, what?

Yep, those same Rangers from 2009-10 who couldn't buy a goal with all the money they wasted over the years on Pavel Bure, Eric Lindros, Petr Nedved (twice), Theo Fleury, Anson Carter, Alex Kovalev (also twice), and many more took a big, mean defenseman with their first-round pick tonight, much to the surprise of, well, everyone.

With the NHL draft, and the Free Agent period fast approaching, many teams are looking to shake things up. One such team is the New York Rangers. Although GM Glen Sather has previously stated that he doesn't forsee his team being major players in the free agent market, the man is no stranger to trades.

With a large portion of salary cap space tied up with defensemen Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden, the Rangers must look to move one of the large contracts with Dan Girardi and Marc Staal due for new, more expensive contracts.

According to Larry Brooks of The New York Post, the New York Rangers have agreed to terms with 2008 second-round pick Derek Stepan.

Stepan, who played two years at Wisconsin, helping the team reach this year's Frozen Four, reportedly agreed to a three-year, entry-level contract worth $875,000 base salary cap. However, as per the NHL's collective-bargaining agreement, the deal cannot be registered with the league until July 1.

The first time I wrote one of these prediction pieces was back on Metro Hockey, and I must say, I did not come close with any of them, except the one where I had Chris Higgins scoring his first goal in February. That was borderline. But here it is, what lies ahead for the New York Rangers!

June 15, 2010: The Rangers cash in on the future considerations they acquired from the Nashville Predators in the deal that sent Hugh Jessiman packing. In return, the Rangers get two packs of Pemmican beef jerky and a case of Gatorade.

In just seven weeks, 30 NHL GMs and their staffs will hit the draft floor at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. When the Rangers have their turn, it is set to be their highest pick since 2004, when they used the No. 6 overall pick on goalie, and now Phoenix Coyotes property, Al Montoya. In 2001, they also used the No. 10 overall pick on another goalie, the injury riddled, and currently out of pro hockey, Dan Blackburn.

In a recent study conducted by Phil Kocher, of Dissension Media , on a New York Rangers message board that will remain anonymous for the time being, he meticulously created 25 poll threads, one for each of the players who played for a substantial amount of time on the Rangers this season.