Sean Avery heads to Dallas, Glen Sather still (presumably) as smug as ever.

Rangers GM Glen Sather has quickly made his mark on this season’s NHL free agent buying spree, overpaying Wade Redden to the tune of $6.5 million dollars a year and Michael Roszival for $5 million a year. Hey, it’s not like we’ve needed a physical defenseman since Jeff Beukeboom got sucker punched in 1998 (10 years, for those counting at home). To be fair to Glen it’s not as if Redden’s signing doesn’t try to address the team’s other blue line need – a defenseman that can move the puck. However, signing him and Roszival strikes me as somewhat redundant, and I don’t even think Roszival’s as bad a defenseman as a lot of other Rangers fans do.

That would almost be forgivable, however, if Sather’s arrogance did not cost the team one of its most dynamic players. Sean Avery, who after earlier today making for some more hilarious blog fodder decided to take his antics to Dallas, signing with the Stars for less than $4 million a season over the next four years. While Avery’s stat sheet is, on the surface, solid-but-unspectacular, the Rangers don’t have another forward with the same edge on the ice. This past season the Rangers were 33-14-10 with Avery in the lineup and 9-13-3 without him. Obviously, Avery isn’t that good, but his impact on ice was undeniable. He was an agitator, a playmaker, and a scorer all in one, a combination the Rangers simply cannot replace on their roster.

Now without Avery and very possibly Jaromir Jagr (our leading scorer – remember him?) the Rangers will have some serious issues in filling their first two lines. Sjostrom! Voros! Rissmiller! Get ready to see these names getting significant minutes next season, barring a surprise signing or trade (and scratch Marian Hossa off that list – he’s going to Detroit, a team that obviously needed more scoring). It’s looking as if the best case scenario now for the Rangers (if you’re still concerned only about next season) is a Jagr return and a Mats Sundin signing, a scenario that doesn’t particularly excite me all that much considering the team’s current situation. But hey, a possibly declining Wade Redden for six years! Who can complain, right?! Thanks Glen! I do hope you enjoy a good cigar in the luxury box next season, because you’ve earned it.

Oh well. Thanks for the memories, Sean, and good luck in Dallas. At least you’ll be far away from those pesky French-Canadians. And we all know Martin “Fatso” Brodeur won’t miss you…

Update: The Rangers made a not-terrible trade getting Nikolai Zherdev from the Blue Jackets along with Dan Fritsche for Fedor Tyutin (who I liked, but was expendable) and future Hall of Famer Christian Backman. Zherdev instantly becomes a top 6 forward on the Rangers and they now have two spots open at the back of the defense while saving a little cap room…like I said, not terrible.