At yet another crucial crossroads in his his young career, Hugh Jessiman was re-signed by the Rangers.

I have a hard time seeing Jessiman as a serious candidate for an NHL job this year, but one would think he might be a possible call-up during the season. Of course, it all depends on how he fares in camp and beyond.

On an unrelated note, we are venturing into dangerous territory again in the comments section, with a small group of you crossing WAY over the line. I’m of the belief there’s too much good, productive conversation here to allow it to be ruined by a few misguided souls. So if it reaches the point where I need to ban someone, I’ll do so.

Back to Jessiman, here’s parts of the official release below:

Jessiman, 24, skated in 71 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack of the American Hockey League (AHL) this past season, registering 18 goals and 24 assists for 42 points, along with 154 penalty minutes and a plus-10 rating. He established career-highs in goals, assists, points, penalty minutes, and plus/minus rating. Among all Wolf Pack skaters, he ranked third in penalty minutes (154), eighth in points (42), and tied for fifth in goals (18) and eighth in assists (24). He also posted nine multiple-point games, including one three-point effort on March 29 vs. Springfield (one goal and two assists). Jessiman recorded a career-high, six-game scoring streak from March 15 to March 29, collecting nine points (three goals and six assists) over the span. In addition, Jessiman appeared in five playoff games with Hartford, registering one assist and a team-leading, 21 penalty minutes.

The 6-6, 230-pounder has skated in 166 career AHL games in three seasons with Hartford, registering 32 goals and 42 assists for 74 points, along with 299 penalty minutes. In 2006-07, Jessiman notched his first career multiple-goal game on March 4 at Hershey (two goals), and recorded a three-game, goal-streak from February 24 to February 28 (three goals). On January 21, 2006, he tallied his first career AHL points with a two-point effort vs. Providence (one goal and one assist). In 14 career AHL playoff games with the Wolf Pack, Jessiman has collected one goal and one assist for two points, along with 30 penalty minutes. Additionally, he has also appeared in 45 career games with the Charlotte Checkers of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), registering 25 goals and 20 assists for 45 points, along with 108 penalty minutes.

In college, Jessiman skated in 80 career contests with Dartmouth College of the East College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECAC), collecting 40 goals and 42 assists for 82 points, along with 137 penalty minutes. In 2002-03, he set the Dartmouth record for freshman scoring with 47 points (23 goals and 24 assists), capturing the ECAC, Ivy League and New England Hockey Writer’s Association Rookie of the Year honors

Update, 10:30 a.m.: The Rangers have re-signed Greg Moore, ensuring more trips on the Greg Moore Highway. No word yet on terms…

Earlier: One of the side effects of a job covering the Rangers is that when you go to a barbecue or the beach or even a golf tournament, people are likely to ask you about the team’s prospects for the season ahead. Which is fine. I like talking about the Rangers, otherwise writing about them in a blog and a newspaper would become painfully tedious.

But at least a half dozen times this weekend when people asked me what I thought about the team’s offseason moves, I struggled to articulate what exactly they’ve done.

Obviously, I know what they’ve done. I can give you the full list of trades, signings, and departures. But when it comes to assessing whether those moves helped or hurt the team, that’s when things get trickier

So usually I spew something about how they’re expecting to be a little quicker and a little more cohesive without some of their high-maintenance components from last season, and that they’re counting on a handful of new acquisitions to thrive under the spotlight in New York. And right about then is when the red flag should go up in all of your heads.

Look, this could work. There is a very good chance that Nikolai Zherdev delivers on his explosive potential. There is a chance that Markus Naslund looks more like a perennial All-Star than the aging wing he resembled last year in Vancouver; just as there is the good chance Wade Redden flourishes upon leaving what had become a negative atmosphere in Ottawa. All of those things, along with an increased comfort level for the likes of Scott Gomez, Chris Drury, and Henrik Lundqvist, and another year of seasoning for Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan Callahan and Nigel Dawes could make the Rangers a scrappier, more dangerous team in 2008-09.

But (and you knew this was coming)…….

What’s also to say these Rangers don’t turn out to be something like the 1997-98 Rangers? Think about it: a team loses a charismatic legendary captain and is forced to rely on players who either a) haven’t shouldered such a hefty responsibility before, or b) are past the point of being able to do so. A team that brings in some free agent signings as either a false tonic or a stop-gap solution, only to see those players are out of their depth playing in New York (or when it comes to Pat LaFontaine, riddled by injury).

Granted, every year is different, and they all contain extenuating circumstances that don’t apply anywhere else. But if there’s one note of caution, it is this: when you’ve had a reasonably effective formula for success, you put yourself at much greater risk when you decide to abandon that formula and begin anew.

OK, thanks to everyone for joining us for our second live chat. We’ll have a moderator in place right from the start, which should help. Again, the plan is to field questions for the first 30 minutes or so, but I’ll continue to answer until about noon.

One small housecleaning item is the Rangers did finally come to terms with defenseman Brian Fahey, who is expected to begin the season in Hartford. Fahey, 27, had 14 goals and 23 assists for Chicago of the AHL last season.

Back with the real deal in a bit…

I conveniently schedule chats for days when it’s 95 degrees outside and I have to sit in an air-conditioned office rather than mow the lawn.

Again, we’re going to do a better job of getting to more of your questions, but ask them early just in case.

Possible new discussion points: the trade of Ryan Hollweg; the remaining glut of third and fourth-liners;  the merits of the old-style ice cream sandwich versus the Chipwich (OK, maybe that one can wait).

Barring any news before then, we’ll see you later…

Update, 6:19 p.m.: Yes, a double bogey to me (and that should show you where my head is these days) for failing to mention Sean Avery’s return to the Garden on Oct. 20. Do I sense a video montage set to the music of Barbara Streisand?

Earlier: Thanks to sports editor Susie Arth for jumping in literally while I was stuck on a golf course. You can access the full schedule here, but in the meantime, a few highlights:

The NHL schedule comes out today, probably around noon. I remember last year at this time I was mostly interested in how the Rangers’ schedule was going to conflict with the birth of my second son (Will was born Jan. 4, a few hours after the Rangers were losing to Markus Naslund and the Canucks).

This year I don’t have that concern.

Or at least not that I know of…

Mark your calendar. Cancel that vacation (actually, please don’t cancel that vacation. I can’t handle that kind of pressure).  We’re coming back with another live chat here on Friday at 11 a.m. We probably won’t do one every week like this all summer, but there’s enough to go around for this week, and besides, there’s plenty we didn’t even get to last time.

And speaking of which, some of you may recall we had trouble getting to all of your questions in the last go-round. A meeting of the minds ensued at Blog Headquarters and we came up with a quasi-solution: after a certain point, we’ll cut off questions, but I’ll continue to answer those that were already asked.

More details to follow. But consider this your first warning…

Update, 4:50 p.m. Dawes signed a one-year deal worth $587,500. Wow, I’m actually shocked the Rangers got him for so little.

Of course, this is still more than I make.

Earlier: The Rangers have re-signed Nigel Dawes. I’m awaiting word on terms…

The Blackhawks and Red Wings will indeed meet at Wrigley Field on Jan. 1. No truth to the rumor that Steve Bartman will drop the ceremonial first puck.

As for the NHL schedule, you’ll have to wait another day. It comes out tomorrow. And sadly, the Rangers say they don’t yet have information on how to secure Prague tickets.

So basically, I have nothing of note for you with this post.

But keep coming back!

But have the Rangers given up on him?

According to Shanahan’s agent, Rick Curran, the future Hall of Famer is still interested in playing only for the Rangers next year
.

“Brendan still feels he has a job that he wants to finish with the Rangers and he knows he has some good hockey left in him. He fully intends on playing next year and at the moment, his intention is to play with the Rangers.”