Rangers Review: Jody Shelley
When Jody Shelley became a Ranger, I thought the trade was unnecessary to be honest. Brashear had just cleared waivers and Brandon Prust was assimilating well into his checking role. As much as I doubted him, Shelley played his enforcer role well and exceeded many expectations by putting up a couple of important points down the stretch. If Shelley re-signs, the sixth round 2011 pick turns into a fifth round 2011 pick for the Sharks.
Continue on after the jump for the specifics.
What we liked: Besides his solid play on the fourth line I'm sure all Rangers fans loved when he did what he does best: score goals fight for his life. According to his hockeyfights.com page, Shelley had 13 fights this season between the Rangers and Sharks, 7 of which he was voted the winner. As a Ranger he only fought three times, being voted the winner twice, including this solid fight against Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond in New Jersey on March 10th:
What we didn't like: Honestly, in his short time with the Rangers, there wasn't much not to like about Shelley. Sure I could go on about his statistics and how they are very indicative of a career fourth-line player; but that is Jody Shelley in a nutshell. Besides his horrible skating ability, he protected his teammates and was a part of a refreshingly aggressive and effective fourth line at the end of the year.
Highlight Play/Game: As much as Jody "You've got to be kidding me" Shelley (watch the video) is known for letting his fists do the talking, he got the Rangers off to a quick start in the last game of the year against the Flyers with this solid tip:
Final Thoughts: As much as I think the role of the enforcer in NHL hockey is dwindling, I think it might be a mistake not to re-sign Shelley at a fair price. It's not like he'll have teams lining up for his services, and he fit in well down the stretch. Also, if the Rangers do end up going with more youth next season, I would like to have a guy like Jody around to keep any agitating players in-line around our future studs (and Gaborik of course).
So should Shelley be re-signed? If so, how much? Imagine an Avery-Prust-Shelley line to start out the first game of the year next season? Yikes... Let's hear it...
