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The New York Rangers had high hopes for Wojtek Wolski coming into this season. A big winger (6’3” 215 lbs.) with skill, Wolski was a potential candidate for left wing on the hypothetical top line with Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik. That line never materialized, however, as Richards and Gaborik were split up after just a few games, while Wolski struggled and saw his ice time drastically diminish. He then missed two months after undergoing groin surgery in early November, and hasn’t seen the ice since compiling a -3 rating in less than six and a half minutes in the January 15 loss to Montreal.

Wolski’s problem is two-fold; he has always been an inconsistent scorer, and his style of play does not mesh well with John Tortorella’s system, which requires players to play physical, defensive hockey away from the puck. Despite his size, Wolski is simply not a physical player, and the time he’s missed this season has greatly hindered his ability to adapt to the system. Given that, unless he’s getting top-6 minutes, he’s unlikely to make much of a contribution on a checking line. It makes for a tough Catch-22 situation for Wolski and his coach — he can’t help the team without getting significant ice time, but he can’t earn that ice time until he proves that he can help the team.

Since arriving in a trade with Phoenix last season, Wolski’s inconsistency has made him a regular target for trade speculation. As he told the NY Daily News on Monday, “I know I'm supposed to be getting traded, I hear it all the time. I know I have a big contract. If they could trade me and free some space and get some value, I'm sure it's possible. But I have no control over any of that.”

The reality, however, is that Wolski’s only value right now comes from the fact that he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. As such, his $3.8 million cap hit could be added to a trade package to balance out salaries (such as in a deal for, say, Rick Nash) but no team that is looking to make a playoff push is going to be bidding on Wolski’s services.