In other major sports, the best college player usually gets drafted extremely high, and if he's not signed less than a month before training camp begins, it's relatively big news.

Not so in the world of hockey.

Defenseman Mike Mottau won the Hobey Baker award as the best U.S. college player after a point-a-game, 37-assist senior season for Boston College in 1999-2000. He's young, talented and ready to go. Yet, as of this week, the New York Rangers' 1997 seventh-round draft pick remains unsigned.

Maloney on Mottau

ESPN.com caught up with Rangers assistant general manager Don Maloney, who has been handling the bulk of the Mottau negotiations. Here's what he had to say: "We're still having differences regarding his value. I thought we made a very lucrative offer to get him to Hartford (AHL affiliate) last spring. Our position has stayed the same, as has theirs. We have invited him to come to camp and show us his value. We'd like to see him there, but the initial reaction from his agent was, 'No'. "We really like him as a player and think a deal will get done. Whether that be August, September or November, remains to be seen. We made a vigorous attempt to sign him in April, and quite frankly, we have all the leverage. Hartford won a championship, and he could have played 20 playoff games. "I have a good relationship with Bob Murray (Mottau's representative). But they feel he's worth more; we think he's worth less. He's a great prospect, but we also want him to come in and prove he's an NHL player." -- Rangers Asst. GM Don Maloney

In fact, negotiations aren't even that active.

"It all makes sense that a deal should get done," said Jerry Buckley, who, along with Bob Murray, represents Mottau. "But we're not even in the midst of negotiations at all."

But in hockey, it's not such a big deal. Mottau wants to play, and the Rangers want him to play. From all accounts, there will be a happy ending, and in the meantime, Mottau works out and assumes he'll be in camp.

"I'm working out with a bunch of guys at BC -- Jeff Farkas, Blake Bellefeuille, Brendan Buckley, Marty Reasoner," said Mottau, who is more worried about the rigors of his pending professional career, rather than his contract impasse. "I've talked to a lot of guys, and they all say the 82-game schedule is a lot different than college, so I need to be ready.

"We're not too far off on the money, but it's the structuring. But I'm confident it's going to get done in a couple of weeks. If they're not going to give me what is market value, there's always a possibility (of a holdout), but I don't see it happening. The conversations that both sides have had make it seem like a deal will get done."

It's true the Rangers have had some larger items to deal with such as Mark Messier's return, Vladimir Malakhov's signing, and various issues facing a new coaching staff and front office.

	Mike Mottau is trading in his college jersey in for a blue Rangers sweater.

But now, it makes sense to get Mottau locked up because if GM Glen Sather and coach Ron Low plan on implementing the up-tempo style of the Edmonton Oilers, Mottau could be a great addition if he makes the big club. At 6-foot, 198 pounds, the 22-year-old Mottau is an excellent skater with superb playmaking skills, not too unlike one of his boyhood heroes, Brian Leetch, who could well be a teammate or linemate next season.

Still, the Rangers don't appear in much of a hurry.

"There really isn't an update," Sather said recently. "We're obviously a long way apart, or we would have had a deal done by now. His agent would like to have a deal that we don't feel is right at the moment."

A lot of times, a college player will sign a contract soon after the last college game, like Mottau's college teammate Farkas, who came to terms with Toronto and saw time in the playoffs this past season, scoring a goal with a plus-2 in three games. Mottau himself came close to inking a deal and reporting to Hartford of the AHL to get some pro seasoning and help the team in the Calder Cup playoffs.

But there was no agreement, and there has been little activity since.

"I would have loved to go to Hartford," Mottau said. "But the deal wasn't right. (But) we're not on bad terms."

"Things were fine," Buckley reiterated. "They've got one view; we've got another. Mike's a hockey player and should be playing hockey. Both sides know it's best that he's playing."

Meet Mike Mottau

Last movie: "Scary Movie" His Siskel and Ebert: "Definite rental; maybe even wait for cable." Last book: "Hannibal" by Thomas Harris His N.Y. Times Book Review: "I liked it a lot and want to see what they do with the movie." Toughest guy he's faced: Chris Drury. "He was such a competitor, just like he is now. I look at his example. We were matched up in a couple of games in college. One game, he lit us up for four goals. After that game, coach matched me up against him." Hockey heroes: Ray Bourque when he was young, and Brian Leetch as he got older. "I would watch him (Leetch) and just pick things up."

Meanwhile, Mottau works on his game ... and what he'll do when he finally inks a lucrative deal. The first order of business is a satellite dish for his mother -- "That's all she wants." -- so she can watch him play and an upgrade in the car department for Mike. "I have a Chrysler Concorde, which I just upgraded from a Neon," said Mottau, who acknowledged that it's difficult to act tough in the NHL while driving a Dodge Neon.

Ultimately, it's not quite panic time for the Rangers and Mottau. There's leverage on both sides: Training camp is crucial to his growth as a player -- regardless of where he plays this season -- yet winning the Hobey Baker is never a guarantee of success in the NHL. The hope is that sometime late in August, when Mottau is ready to report for a rookie camp in Kitchener, Ont., things come together because Mottau's development would be hindered by a holdout.

And the Rangers' fresh start might be lacking a nice boost to an aging blue line -- which currently averages a little more than 30-years-old.

Brian A. Shactman is the NHL Editor for ESPN.com.