Christopher Higgins, acquired in a trade that sent former Ranger Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadians, is currently on pace for about a total of eight goals this season and only about twenty points. I will be honest here and say that I was excited to see Chris signed to a 1 year, $2.25 million deal over the summer, knowing his potential and remembering that he had once scored close to thirty goals a few seasons back. However, he has not been that player that recorded 52 points in 2007-08 by any means, and I think it is time management starts looking deep into this, and maybe find a way to rid themselves of the struggling winger and bring in a true secondary scorer.
This has been an offensive squad that has had trouble scoring goals this season, obviously. Having a player that simply cannot put pucks in the back of the net when he has prime opportunities isn’t helping the cause, and surely does not help the overall confidence of this team. The effort is there, the skating is there, the chances are there, but the production is not. I know we are beating a dead horse with this, but these are the facts, plain and simple and in black and white.
Everyone, including myself, has said that if he continues to work hard the goals will begin to come. Well, that clearly has not been the case as this guy is simply snake-bitten and nothing really seems to be changing that anytime soon. There is really nothing Higgins can do for himself right now other than hope and pray pucks find the twine. I mean, he is able to find the open space and get into the key places on the ice, but once he is given the puck, either the shot hits the post, goes wide, is stopped by a sprawling goaltender or he just fans.
In fact, the 26-year-old Smithtown native is one of the only players that did not score more often while playing on a line with Vinny Prospal and Marian Gaborik. Enver Lisin, Sean Avery, Brandon Dubinsky all saw an increase in production while spending time playing with the league’s leading goal scorer, but that is not the story with Higgins. Like I said, nothing seems to be helping him here and for that reason, I think he needs to be removed.
You cannot bench him because he has given extra effort in almost game he plays in, you cannot send him down because then he will have to go through waivers and he will be claimed with the Rangers getting nothing in return, and trading him will be tricky. Although, making a trade would be the best way to solve several problems on this team. For starters, head coach John Tortorella has previously stated that he will be talking to GM Glen Sather and will continue to do so, as the two discuss acquiring a seventh defenseman for the club. Now the only available option for that as of right now would be to call up a player from Hartford, because free agency will just be too expensive and cost New York money they do not have with them being so close to the cap ceiling.
By trading Higgins and possibly another piece, the Blueshirts may be able to get that seventh blue-liner. On the other hand, you could always trade Higgins and try to get some sort of depth scorer for cheap. General Manager’s around the league, though, will be well aware of Higgy’s struggles so that is what makes trading him so difficult. Sather has be known to make some pretty pathetic signings in the past, but one thing he has proved himself capable of doing is pulling off near impossible trades, so maybe he can work some of his magic when looking at it from that standpoint.
I just do not believe that keeping Higgins on this club will improve the lack of scoring situation at all, and right now the Rangers are going to have to start scoring a bit more frequently if they want to capture a playoff spot down the stretch. Yes, there may be larger problems in Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival, but I think an easier one to deal with is Christopher Higgins. It will be interesting to see this guy’s future with the Rangers as time goes on, but I am quite sure many of the fans are hoping it comes to an abrupt end sometime soon.
(Image courtesy of AP Photo)
Monday, December 28, 2009
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6 comments:
Higgins may not be the right guy for the NYR but I think you are looking past the real problem: Tortorella and his air headed coaching is the problem with the Higgins case. With the exception of Gaborik and Prospal, no one including Higgins knows who he will play with, and once he starts with a line, he has no idea whether the combo will last seconds, minutes or a whole game. The roster is definitely soft, but Higgins is not; he simply isn't being used right. The same can be said of Brian Boyle, another player who may or may not have what the NYR need but we will never know because the kid never knows if he will even see ice much less who his linemates will be. Everything said, Tortorella is a the exact opposite of Renney: He is very unintellectual and impulsive. If his decisions work, it is more luck than skill. To fix all of this, the NYR needs to shed players like Kotalik, Lisin and Brashear and replace them with players like Byers, Dupont and Parenteau. If Byers et als can't cut it, then they should be moved and others traded for while Gordie Clark tries to repair years of draft day damage. And us fans will have to be patient to allow time for this to work, but we don't and shouldn't have to be patient with what we see now which is another Sather failure.
Tortorella's frequent line changes are not helping Higgins, which is true, but I do not see a coaching change anytime soon, nor do I see Torts changing his ways here. So the only way to solve this problen is to get rid of Higgins because his struggles aren't helping this team at all.
Like you said, Higgins is not soft by any means. He is much like Ryan Callahan and could become a fan favorite if he could find a way to score like Cally. Unfortunately, that is not the case and it for some reason it does not seem as if things will turn around for Chris.
And yes, Parenteau, Byers, and maybe Dupont should be in the lineup instead of Voros, Brashear, etc. Btw, have you watched any of the World Juniors? Our youngsters are looking great!
o NYR Blogger:
Actually, I have seen the junior play. Both the team and the NYR prospects looked very good to me which is a credit to Gordie Clark and his scouts. Clark may yet be Moses to the NYR but I don't think so as long as we have an air head coach and a GM who does not understand Cap restraints or the business side of hockey very well. Sad but true. We just never seem to get it right.
Yes, it is unfortunate. At least Clark knows what he is doing.
Thank you for this article. Higgins should have buried the puck one minute into OT against the Islanders the other night. It takes a lot of team work to produce a prime scoring opportunity in a game and Higgins (and Drury) has rarely converted this season. At the very least, do not re-sign him next year.
@ scchask:
You are welcome, and welcome to the site! You make a good point; player's efforts are wasted when they create an opportunity like Higgins had ans they their teammate does not bury it. Very frustrating.
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