New York, NY

Rangers GM Todd Westacott was forced to submit a statement to the media this morning in response to a wave of angry e-mails and protests following the trade of team captain Shea Weber.

“The New York Rangers organization would like to request the patience of our amazing fan base following the trade of team captain Shea Weber. This move was be no means an attempt to cut salary and the Rangers organization is more committed than ever to winning a championship this season as well as contending for multiple championships in years to come. We ask for you trust in the fact that this was just the first step and other moves are being explored to fill the void in the lineup that Weber leaves behind.”

Rangers fans have apparently been outraged by the trade of the fan favorite captain and have seen it as a sign of management focusing more on the financial future of the organization then winning a championship this season.  Reports have also surfaced that the force office was split on the decision to trade Weber and it took a convincing powerpoint presentation and several highlight reels feturing the upside of Dylan Strome, Nikita Zhadorov and Julius Honka to convince the board members to approve the trade.

“Ultimately I think they saw that it would be difficult to retain the core of this team two years from now when guys like Tarasenko need hefty raises and veteran pieces like Jonathan Quick are free to test the open market. It took some convincing to see that some pretty spectacular young kids were coming back that would give us some nice cap flexibility for the foreseeable future.”

Word has it that GM Westacott has spent the last 24 hours busy on the phones to virtually every team inquiring which defenseman are available. Apparently Westacott has narrowed down the list to a few choices and hopes to have another deal completed soon.