The NYR Facts Of Life: #97 Matt Gilroy

For each player who suited up in a Blueshirt this season we will take the good, we will take the bad and take them both and see what we have. And this time around we start with the high numbers and work our way down so we begin with #97, Matt Gilroy.

#97's #s: 58 games, 3 goals, 8 assists, +5, 14 PIM (5 playoff games, one goal, -1, 2 PIM).

Take the good: Hobey stepped up his game in the playoffs and was pretty solid. Well, at least solid enough to keep veteran Steve Eminger in the press box. The Rangers scored just eight goals in the five games of the playoffs and he had one of them. Either Gilroy's confidence grew or he was just desperate to make an impression but he was more willing to jump into the attack later in the season. At the start he was more physical than he was in '09-10 but the offense was absent. His plus/minute went from even in that rookie season to a +5 this time around.

Take the bad: That was the only statistical category to improve. Gilroy had his points per game, hits per game, blocks per game, ice time per game and, hell, even the actual number of games decline. The ice time dropped by over two minutes as he was leapfrogged by a pair of rookies on the depth chart. His skill set seemed to lend well to the Tortorella offensive experiment but Gilroy didn't do enough up front that he was sent back to the blueline before the game was over.

Take them both and then we have: A guy turning 27 this summer who showed little ability to justify his $1.75 million two-year contract for either of the years. He was let off the hook for his struggles in the opening season because of the transition from college to pros but the sophomore slump did little to indicate that there is a future for him in the NHL, much less in New York.