Its become abundantly clear that John Tortorella intends to ice a completely different roster next year. I have to admit that I thought Lauri Korpikoski was a guy that he'd like to keep around.
Outside of Evgeny Grachev the recently drafted Chris Kreider and maybe 2008 2nd rounder Derek Stepan the Rangers do not have any young prospects in their system with top line potential. They recieved Enver Lisin, a speedy russian enigma from the Coyotes in exchange for Korpikoski. Lisin had been bounced around from the AHL to the NHL the last two years and never really got to settle in playing under Wayne Gretzky (as good as he was as a player, hes that bad as a coach.) Lisin has the high ceiling that we're looking for, but hes pretty far from reaching it. Now Korpikoski is far from a superstar, but I felt that he would become an excellent third line player who served a purpose, meaning that he wasnt a guy who'd be plugged onto a third line just because he wasn't good enough to crack a top 6, but because he does the little things right and can really be a useful piece in creating a winning team. That said, I'm ok with this move. The Rangers motto for the off season has been "bust or boom", starting with the draft, continuing with signing Marian Gaborik and taken a step further by acquiring Lisin. This trade is a watered down version of the Tyutin for Zherdev trade from last year. Both Lisin and Korpikoski are only 23 years old, so its tough to say who won this trade but if they both end up hitting their ceilings, the Rangers will come out on top here. Elite third liners are nice, top line scorers are even nicer.
Rating (1-5 pucks) - 2.5 pucks - Its pretty much a wash at this point.
