Deep pockets, deeper trouble: the Rangers seemingly spend money and lose games proportionately. Can Glen Sather engineer a turnaround for this team?

Sporting News, The, Jan 13, 2003 by Jay Greenberg

And when a restricted free agent (with compensation) occasionally forces his way out, as Michael Peca did from the Sabres, the Rangers have little to offer teams who want affordable, young, promising players in return.

"How many draft picks can you trade and remain competitive?" Sather asks. "It's a complicated answer, but the only (young player) I was reluctant to trade was Johnsson, who we could afford because of the (Fedor) Tutin kid we drafted (second round, 2001).

"I want the same kind of team we had in Edmonton. Aggressive, with good speed, that doesn't throw the puck away blindly under pressure like we do now. Garth Murray may be that good second- or third-line player you are talking about, but it just doesn't happen overnight. I really am having to do it backward here."

Such is the deep hole in the bottomless pockets of the Rangers, one that can't be darned with all the money in the Cablevision empire.

"Free agency usually works best with one or two signings around a base of home-grown players," Capitals general manager George McPhee says.

Glen Sather knows. Believe him, he knows.

Jay Greenberg is a sports columnist for the New York Post.