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Brassard: Ready to Break Loose in the Big Apple? |
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One of the gutsiest trades made at the trade deadline, not just this year but in quite a few years, was the blockbuster swap between the New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets that sent Marian Gaborik and two minor league defensemen to Columbus in exchange for center Derrick Brassard, right wing Derek Dorsett, defenseman John Moore and a sixth-round pick in the 2014 draft.
I like the trade for BOTH teams. Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen gets fulls marks for showing that he's not just a draft specialist looking to build for the future -- he is also an aggressive general manager trying to bring in front line talent right away. Gaborik was a victim of over-coaching this season by John Tortorella (for all the things Tortorella does well as a coach, he is sometimes guilty of pushing too many buttons), and is certainly capable of regaining the 40-goal form he displayed as recently as last season.
For the Rangers, who acquired Rick Nash from Columbus to bolster the attack and then dealt erstwhile top-liner Gaborik to Columbus less than a year later, the acquisition of Dorsett from Columbus and Ryane Clowe from San Jose restores some of the lost tenacity and snarl that made the 2011-12 Rangers a tougher team to play against than the pre-deadline version of the 2013 Rangers.
Meanwhile, from a skill standpoint, Brassard was the key to the Gaborik trade for the Blueshirts. For the last several years, I have predicted before the season that it would be the year the former high-end first round pick (6th overall in the 2006 Entry Draft) would bust loose and become the type of player who could score 25-30 goals and flirt with a 70-75 point season. It never did happen in Columbus, where he never reached 20 goals or 50 points.
Even so, the upside is still there. At 25, Brassard should be hitting his prime in the next year or two. Honestly, I see no reason why he can't do in New York exactly what Jakub Voracek has done in Philly from the stretch drive of last season onward to a breakout year this season. Going to a bigger, higher-pressure market can be a good thing if the player embraces the challenge.
Brassard exploded for four points (1G, 3A) in his Rangers debut. That's great, but it's only one game. What will be interesting to see is how he follows it up in the games to come. Of course he won't get multi-point games every night, but he needs to be assertive. If he does that, I think he'll close out the season strong for the Blueshirt and potentially be a valuable offensive contributor in the playoffs.
As for the 30-year-old Gaborik, who registered a goal and an assist in his Columbus debut, I think he's landed in what will be a productive environment for him. It remains to be seen if the Blue Jackets have what it takes to get into the playoffs this year, but this is a franchise that's finally moving in the right direction after years of floundering. Gaborik can help accelerate that progress.
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