Off-day opinions and Roster News.

So, as we wait for Wednesday night, we have some roster moves to talk about - which will lead to more moves down the line.

Today, the Rangers waived Arron Asham and Martin Biron.  I can't say I'm surprised about the Biron move, as he started camp late, never looked overly comfortable in either of his two appearances, and basically completely got posterized by Tomas "Teenage Mutant Ninja" Hertl on the between the legs goal of the year in the NHL.  Then, when the team needed a jolt, he handed St. Louis three goals.  The Rangers are also very high on Cam Talbot, and are looking for him to grab the reins and learn from Henrik Lundqvist.  Combine those factors, and this is an easy decision.

The Arron Asham move puzzles me slightly only because he was waived in the offseason, earned a job in camp, and had played well in his chances, sticking up for teammates and basically fighting for his NHL livelihood.

The waiver rules are that players are on waivers for 24 hours and can be claimed by any team.  If so, the Rangers are completely off the hook for their salaries against the cap.  If they are NOT claimed, they can be sent to Hartford of the AHL and have a much smaller percentage of their salary counted against the cap.  This also leads to roster adjustments.  My hunch is that along with Talbot, the Rangers will more than likely recall Chris Kreider.  my only problem with that is that recalling Kreider and playing him 4th line minutes does nothing for the kid.  Perhaps he takes the place of Rick Nash during his injury and another recall comes up to the 4th line.  If it were me, I'd send down Jesper Fast and let him learn the defensive side of the puck, and recall two players.  Brandon Mashinter can effectively be a younger version of Asham, and to replace Fast, there are a few options.  Danny Kristo may be the most NHL ready, but the other options that may present themselves are Marek Hrivik and Oscar Lindberg.

For my money, there should be one more roster adjustment.  The first resident of the New Blue Review Chateau Bow Wow is Derek Dorsett.  When he was acquired last year, we were told "Ranger fans are going to love him - he'll be a replacement for Brandon Prust."  He's replaced Prust at the top of the NHL penalty minute list...and nowhere else.  The difference is Prust take fighting majors and not many minors, and as such is noted as a valuable penalty killer.  Dorsett takes undisciplined minor after undisciplined minor, and when your team defense is suspect and your offense has been fairly anemic, you can't afford those mistakes, because the stupid penalties always seem to end up in the back of the net.

We'll know more in a few hours.  Until then....BLEED BLUE.