Kotalik Update

From Andrew Gross at Ranger Rants: Haven’t heard back from Ales Kotalik’s agent, Larry Kelly, but it’s becoming clear that one of the hold-ups to this deal, if not the main one, is Kotalik taking his time weighing his options as he has a limited no-trade clause in his three-year, $9 million deal. Frankly, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher. If the Flames, who have been scouting the Rangers for a couple of weeks, wanted Kotalik despite his lengthy stint as a Rangers’ healthy scratch (eight out of nine after last night), why he wouldn’t want to go to a team where he’d see more playing time is a bit strange. Devil’s advocate, though, Kotalik is well within his right to exercise his contract terms, just as Dany Heatley was when he decided he didn’t want to play for the Oilers. It worked out for Heatley. Maybe Kotalik has a preferred destination but, obviously, any comparisons between Heatley and Kotalik are silly, especially considering how far Kotalik has fallen out of favor with coach John Tortorella. Kotalik’s confidence, by his own admission, is shot. From my perspective, this is not a situation that will ever resolve itself for Kotalik in New York, at least not as long as Tortorella is coaching. Click here for more on Kotalik.