Rangers Claim Christensen, More on Waving of Vally, Johnson Recalled

As I reported earlier, the Rangers have elected to place back-up goaltender Steve Valiquette on waivers and have recalled Wolf Pack goaltender Chad Johnson as a temporary replacement. What I did not mention was that the Blueshirts have also claimed forward Erik Christensen off of waivers from the Anaheim Ducks. Both moves came withing several minutes of each other and have created a great amount of conversation in the Ranger World. Is this possibly the beginning of more to come? Could be, as Sather may be becoming a bit alarmed watching his team struggle.

Starting with Christensen, the 25 year old forward from Alberta has been sort of an enigma when you look at his career as a whole. He possesses recognizable offensive instincts and knows where to go on the ice to score goals. However, Christensen has not registered more than nine goals in a season since his 18 tally stint with the Penguins in 06-07. He also has not played in more than 50 games in a single season since that time, and that includes two years with the Thrashers and last year with the Ducks.

Donald Brashear is supposedly out with yet another injury, so Christensen could be his replacement for the time being. The 6-1, 203 pound centerman definitely holds more offensive skill and potential than Brashear, but he has struggled to find his game in more recent years, despite having a creative set of hands.

Moving along, goaltender Chad Johnson was called up to replace Steve Valiquette. If you remember, Johnson played up with the Rangers this past September in training camp and preseason. In his time at the NHL level he was phenomenal. You could tell right then and there that this kid has a bright future ahead of him and that he can potentially become the permanent back-up. Well, obviously Glen Sather and John Tortorella feel the same way recalling him as the temporary reliever of Lundqvist. Johnson is 10-6-1 with the Wolf Pack so far this season, and has a 2.10 goals against average.

Here are John Tortorella's thoughts on the waving of Valiquette courtesy of Ranger Rants:

“We’d like to send (Valiquette) down on conditioning but I don’t think we can because of our cap problems,” Tortorella said. “We want to get him down there playing and get his game back. Johnson gets to practice with us. I’m not sure where it all sits with him playing. It’s a tough situation for Valley. He hasn’t played a whole bunch. Sometimes your skills may diminish. It’s just been a little bit of a struggle for him. He works his butt off on the ice but he hasn’t played much and I think that’s hurt him. If he goes through, he gets an opportunity to play some minutes and get his game back.”

I, as well as many others, feel as if Valiquette is done with the Rangers and is being released to allow the Blueshirts an opportunity to acquire a more experienced netminder to back-up Henrik Lundqvist. Johnson still needs to develop in the AHL, so it would not be wise of them to make him a permanent on this roster this year, and I do not think they intend on doing so.

Valiquette will have a lot of work to do if he thinks he is going to get his game back. Steve's skills have progressively diminished over the past year or so and he is being exposed this season big time. In six starts, Valiquette is 2-3 and has allowed 19 total goals, leaving him with a goals against average of 3.74. For a back-up, those are some ugly statistics and I think it was time for him to go. Not too sure if any teams will be inetrested at the moment, but I believe that his career as a Ranger has come to an abrupt end.

Whether or not this is setting up for another move by Slats, I am not sure, but I can say the following. Sather is finally realizing that this team is struggling and not living up to its expectations. That is a good sign considering all of you feel that he sits around and does not do anything, which is normally the case. This time he is taking action, and today's moves might only be the beginning of something larger to come.
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)