New York Rangers: Should Derek Dorsett Be Scratched?

Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday night equaled another loss for the New York Rangers as they fell 5-3 to the St. Louis Blues. While the team did show “some” signs of improvement, backup goaltender Martin Biron and fourth-line forward Derek Dorsett did everything they could to stunt the Rangers’ growth.

The Rangers showed fight and were always in the game against the Blues, and maybe if it wasn’t for Biron’s questionable goaltending skills and Dorsett’s stupidity, the Rangers might of actually captured at least a point in Saturday night’s game instead of leaving St. Louis empty handed. I am not entirely concerned about Biron because he is the Blueshirts’ backup goalie and will not play much, but Dorsett is a player I feel that must be called out and dealt with.

While Biron made mistakes that led to goals that shouldn’t have happened, Dorsett took three dumb penalties in key spots during the course of the game which led to two Blues power plays … and look at that, the Blues won by two goals. Now I am not blaming Dorsett entirely for the loss as the Rangers’ defense is still nowhere close to being perfect, but my question is why is this guy in the lineup? He is a non-factor.

Yes, the Rangers need toughness in the lineup and he provides that, but nowadays I feel enforcers must contribute to the goal-scoring if you want to have a good team, and Dorsett does not provide any offense whatsoever. Why should a player like Aaron Asham, who is an enforcer with a good wrist shot who lights the lamp every once in a while, be a healthy scratch while Dorsett is out there to do nothing then to stir up trouble and take dumb penalties that cost the Rangers a win?

It makes no sense. Scratch Dorsett. He is a waste of space on this Rangers team right now, and with a squad who is struggling to play defense and score goals, the last thing you would ever want is to keep sending a player out there who will constantly leave you shorthanded and not get one past the opposing team’s netminder.

Steven Carollo is a New York Rangers’ and sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter, add him on Facebook, connect with him on LinkedIn and join his Google network.