Front Stage Centre

In a move that can be considered both suprising and not suprising at all, Shanahan has decided to sign with the NYR. Not that I don't understand why he would want to leave Detroit - as he said himself, he was more about Detroit's past then its future, and Detroit is left with a shell of a team after losing Shanahan an Yzerman. But come on, the NYR? Although they looked good in the regular season they got smoked out of the water in the playoffs by what turned out to be a pretty average hockey club in NJ. Sure Jagr was hurt, but how many games could Jagr have singlehandidly won?

Shanahan is a lot closer to the end of his career than to the start, and I would have thought he would have wanted to go to a contender. Who that might be, I don't know, but I don't think its the NYR. Perhaps Shanny was lured by the coaching group, maybe it was the NYR facilities, maybe it was the lore of wearing the Blueshirt, much like Gretz and Mess had been lured by. Or maybe it was that the Rangers were willing (as usual) to pay an older guy a hefty sum.

Now don't get me wrong, $4million/year is probably a pretty good bargain for 41 goals. And Shanny may indeed get more goals this year, especailly if he's paired with Jagr. But Shanahan was invisible for the most important part of the season last year. He was a total non factor against the Oilers. And if you're the NYR, and you want to win the cup, I would think the last thing you would do is take on an older player as a main cast member. And at $4/year, Shanahan is going to have to play a starring role on Broadway.