Will New Faces, Old Strategy Help Spending-Happy Rangers?

Ah yes, another July 1 passes and the Rangers make another splash in the free agent market. This year they signed the oft-injured and cranky Marian Gaborik to a five-year deal worth $37.5 million, and tough guy Donald Brashear for two years and $2.8 million. Also, former big July 1 signing, Scott Gomez, was shipped off to Montreal in a seven player deal that brought back forward Chris Higgins, among others.

But will all the superstar swaps and signings pay off for the Rangers? They've made similar moves for the past two years and have a grand total of eight playoff wins and a mid-season coaching change to show for it. So is this summer different, or are the Rangers sticking to the same big money strategy that has failed them before?

When it comes to the Rangers and free agents, there's a precedent for big names going all the way back to when they brought in Wayne Gretzky in 1996. Since the inception of the salary cap, the Rangers strategy hasn't drastically changed. They're still willing to spend money on big names within the limits of the cap -- and there's nothing wrong with that. But is it a viable strategy for this team?

Last summer the Rangers signed Markus Naslund and Wade Redden to big contracts. In 2007, it was Scott Gomez and Chris Drury getting monster deals. Three of the four are either no longer with the team, or were a bust. Naslund retired after only one year at the Garden, Redden has been the most frustrating player to watch on the entire roster, and the underperforming Gomez was shipped off to Montreal.

That leaves Chris Drury, eight playoff wins, and the defenseman formerly known as Wade Redden as the results of the last two years of July 1st spending. Not such a great track record.

So are Gaborik, Brashear and Higgins the answer to the Rangers' problems? Last year one of the biggest problems with the Rangers is that they lacked any kind of fire and personality. The heavyweight Brashear should be able to add a spark with some haymakers.

However, with Gaborik comes huge risk. He battled groin injuries all last season, limiting him to just 17 games, and has had a history of injury problems. Over the past four NHL seasons he has played just 207 of a possible 328 games.

These certainly are new faces, but for a team that's used to bringing in high priced stars this year is certainly no different (Higgins is an unsigned RFA). As always, the merits of the signings will be shown by the results in April in May, but if the Rangers are looking for something different than a first round exit, these signings are likely not the answer.