Dan Boyle was the defenseman the Rangers always wanted.
Too bad it comes 10 years too late.
The 38 year-old suited up for the first time as a Blueshirt today, lining up with Marc Staal and looking to have one last great season at age 38.
“I want to be clear that I’m not here to just kind of fade away into the sunset,” the former Shark said to reporters in Greenburgh. “I’m here to win. Even before they went on their run to the Final, I wanted to be here.”
Boyle is here to help on the power play. A man advantage quarterback, the defenseman has 144 goals and 561 points in 954 regular-season games, which is why general manager Glen Sather gave him a two year deal for $9 million. The Rangers hope he can boost a the power play that only had 12.6 percent success rate in the playoffs.
” You guys know what I was brought here for, what my attributes are,” he said. “This team likes to play an offensive-type game, and that’s exactly what I want to do, get the puck out of the zone as quick as we can and keep it in the other end as long as we can.”
Of course, Boyle knows the Rangers need more than just him on the ice to produce.
“It takes five guys; one guy’s not going to come in and change everything . . . everybody that’s out there is going to have to be accountable to turn it around, said Boyle, who had half his points last year on the power play.
Along with Ryan Malone, Boyle become the latest Ranger to come from the Tampa Bay Lightning, although he last played in the Sunshine State back in 2007-08. But that also reunites him with Martin St. Louis, who is spending his first full season on Broadway.
” He’s a remarkable story,” Boyle said. “And for us to find each other this late in our careers is pretty special. We live five minutes from each other. I’m sure I’ll be leaning on him for all the little things away from the game.”
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