Report: CuJo To Deal With Rangers

After failing to hammer out a deal with Mike Richter, the New York Rangers are apparently closing in on free agent goaltender Curtis Joseph.

The New York Post is reporting the Rangers will likely announce the signing of Joseph to a four-year contract worth approximately $22 million perhaps as early as Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Richter has played his entire nine-year NHL career with the Rangers, but has been unable to reach a contract agreement with the team. As an unrestricted free agent, Richter was left unprotected in the expansion draft and claimed by Nashville, but only for the purpose of collecting a compensatory draft pick.

After July 1, Richter had the right to negotiate with any team and the Rangers offered him a five-year contract worth more than $27 million. But Richter's agent, Herb Pinder, elected not to accept the offer in the hopes of receiving a higher bid from the Philadelphia Flyers. Since Richter was born and raised in Philadelphia, it was believed the Flyers would offer Richter a contract for more than $30 million.

But July 7, the Flyers signed free agent goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck to a two-year contract worth a guaranteed $8.5 million with an option for a third season. With the Flyers out of the running for Richter, the Rangers then pulled their five-year offer off the table and made a three-year, $15 million proposal.

While Pinder did not respond to the revised offer, the Rangers started to seriously pursue Joseph. After a weekend of negotiations between Smith and Joseph's agent, Don Meehan, it appears the two sides are closing in on a deal.

The 31-year-old Joseph had better statistics than Richter during the 1997-98 seaon and excelled for the Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs.

Joseph was 29-31-9 with a 2.63 goals-against and eight shutouts in 71 games last season. But in the postseason, Joseph had three shutouts and helped the Oilers rally from a 3-1 deficit to upset heavily favored Colorado in seven games in the opening round. The Oilers lost to Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals.

Richter helped the Rangers end a 54-year championship drought with a Stanley Cup title in 1994 and backstopped the United States to an upset at the World Cup of Hockey in 1996.

But last season, Richter had a dismal outing at the Nagano Olympics and was just 21-31-15 with a 2.66 goals-against average for New York, which missed the playoffs despite a $44 million payroll.

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