Defense: Murphy: and scoring

You can't help but wonder what exactly is up Steve Spott's sleeve nowadays. The Rangers have one of the strongest blue lines in the league, already loaded with Ben Fanelli, Ryan Murphy, Julian Melchiori, Cody Sol, Max Iafrate, Evan McEnemy, Cory Genovese, Jared Gilbert and Jesse Young. In addition they also added two defenders over the past week and a half, picking up Mitch Eden in a trade from Oshawa and Stephen Midensky from free agency.

Moves like these point to a trade. So what could Spott look to be landing? My opinion is no different than last week. 2 more players who can score are all this team needs to raise a banner in September. I have no doubt in the goaltending tandem of Franky Palazzese and John Gibson, and the defensive core speaks for themselves. Up front you've got Tobias Rieder and Radek Faksa who can score almost every time they touch the puck, as well as Andrew Cresenczi and Michael Cattenaci who provide lots of secondary scoring, but I think this team could use a guy who can score like Faksa and Rieder. Maybe a guy who will come back as an OA next season (currently the only potential OA for next year is Cresenczi). A bit more experience and a few more goals and this team will be flying.

The Rangers started the week very strong, winning 6-1 in Mississauga on Sunday afternoon (Reports have it that the Major's fan went home very disappointed). Melchiori had his first of the season , Zach Lorentz scored twice, and John Gibson made 35 saves against the defending Eastern Champions.

Gibson will certainly be missed while he plays at the WJC in Calgary and Edmonton, while another surprise return will certainly help the Rangers blueline. Ryan Murphy was sent home by team Canada on Wednesday morning. Certainly this was unexpected, but maybe not shocking. Murph has changed his playing style this season, which could be expected coming in. However a lot of fans have thought he may now be overthinking his playing style. He said he wishes he had played more of his style at the WJC selection camp, and he played a lot more like he did last season tonight against the Soo. I think this is what he needs to do. Play his style, stay calm and work hard. This is what got him noticed by the NHL in the first place. Hopefully he can turn around his dismal point total so far this season and show why he is the best defenseman in Canadian junior hockey.