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Vote for five worst Rangers' trades from 1995-present |
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To help frame up this blog and the next two that will come, here is what I wrote before posting the first blog:
The next series of blogs will have you the reader help decide which was the worst trade in Rangers' history. I have identified 36 trades that to me fall under the header trades in which New York got the worst end of the deal, and if many cases, the far worst end of it. Free agent signings are not part of this equation or we might be here forever. Instead, I have broken the trades into two groupings - 1963-1994 and then 1995 to present.
Here is how the voting will work. You will vote for the five worst trades of the 16 identified from 1963-1994 (done, see below for the voting). The next blog will have you vote on the five worst trades of the 20 identified from 1995 to present (this blog). Of the 10 remaining, you will then vote for the five worst. Finally, from those five, you will vote for the worst of the lot and what should be the worst trade in Rangers history.
Final standings for voting of five worst trades from 1963-1994
Here are the top-seven from the voting in order:
BOS acquires Rick Middleton. NYR acquire Ken Hodge, Sr. - 184 votes
EDM acquires Doug Weight. NYR acquire Esa Tikkanen - 108 votes
BOS acquires Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi. NYR acquire Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais - 86 votes
CHI acquires Tony Amonte and rights to Matt Oates. NYR acquire Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan - 81 votes
TOR acquires Mike Gartner. NYR acquire Glenn Anderson, pick and player - 66 votes
WAS acquire Bob Crawford, Kelly Miller & Mike Ridley. NYR acquire Bobby Carpenter - 66 votes
LA acquires Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom. NYR acquire Bernie Nicholls - 60 votes
802 votes
Both parts of the Esposito deal make the list while three trades that directly impacted the '94 Cup win round out the top five. Absolutely shocked that the Miller/Ridley for Carpenter deal was not in the top-five. To me, it should be #2 and it was one of the worst trades ever made by the franchise. Since that trade and the Gartner one ended up tied for fifth. each will be carried forward to the semi-finals. You could make an argument for the Dave Gagner deal also making the top five.
Now onto the deals from 1995-present
August 31, 1995:
Penguins acquire Petr Nedved and Sergei Zubov
Rangers acquire Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson
Nedved came to the Rangers as compensation for the Blues signing Mike Keenan to be their coach. He struggled his first season in the Big Apple and was moved to the Penguins, where he blossomed for two years before returning back to New York. Zubov was brilliant in 94-95, pairing with Brian Leetch to power the power play for the cup winners. He tailed off the following season and with the team looking to get bigger and tougher to face the Flyers, the Rangers stupidly traded Zubie to Pittsburgh. He played a year there before on to Dallas to add a Cup there in 98-99. New York still hasn't replaced Zubov, who should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Robitaillle actually two solid years in NY with 47 goals and 70 assists in 146 games but he was never a game-breaker, despite getting to play with Messier and Gretzky. He had several more solid seasons on the West Coast after going back to the Kings and then won a Cup with the Red Wings. Ulfie had four solid seasons in NY, bringing some toughness, before finishing his career with four games in 98-99 with Detroit and a full year in Philadelphia the following season. He brought a physical presence but to me this deal is lopsided because it included Zubov, who became a true start elsewhere.
March 14, 1996
Kings acquire Ray Ferraro, Nathan Lafayette, Ian Laperriere, Mattias Norstrom and 1997 4th round pick (#99-Sean Blanchard)
Rangers acquire Shane Churla, Jari Kurri and Marty McSorley
Kurri lasted all of 14 games in New York while Churla and McSorley did little to distinguish themselves as well, though Churla at least gave effort. This was another example of chasing an ex-Edmonton player and a veteran to try and fill a gap. Ferraro was on the downside of his career, but he did go on to play six more seasons, adding 106 more goals after scoring 54 points in 65 games with the Rangers. Nordstrom was the big loss, as he went to play 860 more games in the NHL, mostly with LA, where as pointed out to me by TommyG in a blog comment, he became the youngest captain in Kings' history. He would have been a nice second-pair d-man in NY.
August 28, 1997
Kings acquire Luc Robitaille
Rangers acquire Kevin Stevens
In the category of let's compound one error to make another, New York doubled down on bad Robitaille trades. The first one, as noted above, was because it included Sergei Zubov going the other way. In this one, Kevin Stevens came back for Robitaille. Stevens' production had already tailed off when he arrived in NY, and as a Ranger, he scored 40 goals with 52 assists in 199 games. Robitaille went on to have several more productive years back in LA and a Cup in Detroit, scoring 206 of his 708 career goals.
November 28, 1998
Penguins acquire Alexei Kovalev, Harry York and future considerations
Rangers acquire Petr Nedved, Sean Pronger and Chris Tamer
Don't trade with Pittsburgh. Kovalev could drive you mad but the talent was there. New York basically gave him away for a meh return. It didn't take Kovy look to fit in Pittsburgh, due to the talent around him. He played 14 more seasons, including a year-and-half with the Rangers, scoring 311 goals to finish his solid career with 430 markers. Nedved was actually much better in his second stint with New York but he was never Kovalev, nor did he do much to make the team around him better. That said, he was a solid second center behind Wayne Gretzky but the team missed the playoffs each of the seasons he was in New York.
June 26, 1999
Lightning acquire Dan Cloutier, Niklas Sundstrom, 2000 1st round pick (#8-Nikita Alexeev)
2000 3rd round pick (#74-Igor Radulov)
Rangers acquire #4 pick in 1999, used to select Pavel Brendl
June 26, 1999
Flames acquire Marc Savard, 1999 1st round pick (#11-Oleg Saprykin)
2000 3rd round pick (#74-Igor Radulov)
Rangers acquire #9 pick in 1999 (Jamie Lundmark), 1999 3rd round pick (#77-Craig Anderson)
rights to Jan Hlavac
Two deals that have to be viewed together because the goal was to obtain a pair of high picks and select Lundmark and Brendl. We know that both were huge busts and the best player NY got back in the two trades was Hlavac, who was extremely good his two years in New York prior to getting included in the Eric Lindros trade. Cloutier never met the burden of his high selection, but he was the full-time starter for three seasons in Vancouver, winning 97 games in that stretch. I have a warm spot for Sundstrom, as I still think if he, Potsie etc. were healthy in '98, New York beats Philly in the playoffs. Sundstrom was dealt fairly quickly to San Jose, where he played three-plus solid seasons before moving on to Montreal. In the second deal, Savard went from Calgary to Atlanta to Boston, scoring at each stop before a series of concussions ended his career. He finished with 706 points in 807 games, including four tremendous seasons from 2005-06 to 2008-09 and into the following season before he was injured, first on a brutal blind side hit by Pittsburgh's Matt Cooke on March 7, 2010, resulting in a concussion, and then a clean check by Colorado's Matt Hunwick on January 22, 2011 that ended his career.
August 20, 2001
Flyers acquire Pavel Brendl, Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson, 2003 3rd round pick (#81-Stefan Ruzicka)
Rangers acquire 2003 conditional 1st round pick (not exercised), rights to Eric Lindros
This trade makes the list not so much for what was surrendered compared to the return but because it was another ill-fated attempt to bring in a big name rather than build steadily. Lindros looked like he was a Ranger in 1992 but the arbitrator ruled that the Flyers' trade was the one that would be final. Injuries plagued Lindros throughout his career. After playing seven years in Philly, he missed entire 2000-01 due to a concussion suffered vs. New Jersey and contract dispute with Philadelphia. The Flyers dealt him to New York after that season. Lindros had a solid first year but saw his production fall off in year two and crater in year three. Brendl and Hlavac produced little in Philly but Johnsson had three straight solid seasons as a Flyer, leading their power play, which is a role he could have played in New York. It wasn't until the lockout and cap went into effect that these types of deals ended.
March 18, 2002
Panthers acquire Filip Novak, Igor Ulanov, 2002 1st round pick (#10-Eric Nystrom), 2002 2nd round pick (#40-Rob Globke) and 2003 4th round pick (#116-Guillaume Desbiens)
Rangers acquire Pavel Bure and 2002 2nd round pick (#33-Lee Falardeau)
What could have been. The Rocket Rocket was grounded most of the time on the launch pad due to knee woes. Like the Lindros deal, this trade made sense on paper, but also failed due to injuries. Bure scored 31 goals and added 19 assists in 51 games as a Ranger, but that's all he was able to play in a year-and-a-half. Florida didn't do much with whom they acquired. but the missed opportunity for trading those picks and what it symbolized is why this deal is here.
March 19, 2002
Oilers acquire Mike York and 2002 4th round pick (#106 Ivan Koltsov)
Rangers acquire Rem Murray and Tom Poti
Poti was to be their power-play captain, but he wasn't up to the task. New York had a d-man who could have filled that role, but Kim Johnsson went to Philly in the Eric Lindros deal. York was just coming into his own as a Ranger, with 57 points in 69 games after a down season the year before. But GM Glen Sather decided to include him in a deal for Poti, who became an MSG whipping boy. Poti had 48 points in 80 games in 2002-03 but saw his game regress mightily the next two seasons. He rebounded nicely on the Island in 2006-07 but saw his game go south while in Washington the next five seasons. York had two solid years in Edmonton and one on the Island before his game regressed. He should have been on the Rangers for that stretch of time.
March 2, 2004
Canadiens acquire Alexei Kovalev
Rangers acquire Josef Balej and 2004 2nd round pick (#51-Bruce Graham)
Let's start the tear down and trade veterans that look to be on their last legs for young assets. the only problem with that is what the veteran lasts longer and is more productive than the kid. Kovalev had five reasonably productive years in Montreal, which is more than can be said about Bale or Graham.
March 3, 2004
Maple Leafs acquire Brian Leetch and conditional draft pick (2004 #113-Roman Kukumberg)
Rangers acquire Jarkko Immonen, Maxim Kondratiev, 2004 1st round pick (#24-Kris Chucko) and
2005 2nd round pick (#40-Michael Sauer)
I understand why it was done, but to see Leetch in another jersey was jarring. First, it was Toronto after the trade and then Boston to finish his career. If Michael Sauer's promising career hadn't been ended by a concussion following a Dion Phaneuf hit, this deal would have been more palatable, due to our expectations for Sauer. But because that didn't happen and Leetch's last game on the ice was with another team, this deal cuts right to the heart of the Rangers faithful.
July 17, 2007
Hurricanes acquire Matt Cullen
Rangers acquire Andrew Hutchinson and 2008 3rd round pick (#75-Evgeny Grachev)
Not at the same level as the other deals. But considering that Cullen is still playing and just won two Cups with Pittsburgh while neither Hutchinson or Grachev amounted to anything, this deal is woefully one-sided.
July 2, 2008
Blue Jackets acquire Christian Backman and Fedor Tyutin
Rangers acquire Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev
Zherdev lasted one year with the Rangers, scoring 23 goals and adding 35 assists in 81 games. He won his arb award of $3.9 million, which New York walked away from and he went back to Russia. I was a big Zherdev fan, but he was not suited to playing in North America, despite his talent. He came back a year later, playing 56 games with Philly before going back to Russia. Tyutin developed into a fairly solid d-man, playing eight years in Columbus, running their power play for at least the first four of those campaigns, and one in Colorado.
July 23, 2012
Blue Jackets acquire Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and 2013 1st round pick (Kerby Rychel)
Rangers acquire Rick Nash, Steven Delisle and 2013 3rd round pick (Pavel Buchnevich)
New York felt they were one more sniper away from truly contending for the Cup. Enter Rick Nash, whose acquisition had been rumored for months. Nash has been a solid player in New York, but other than his 41 goal season, he has failed to deliver on what is stock and trade, scoring goals. That has been especially magnified in the playoffs, where his struggles are well-documented. This ignores everything else he does on the ice, but when you making a $7.8 million per year to score goals and don't, all the other aspects of your game that you do so well matter little. Dubinsky slumped the year before he was dealt but he has developed into a solid 2/3 center, one whose physical play is his main trade mark. AA really took off when got to Chicago while Erixon never panned out to be much of anything despite the hype. Rychel has yet to pan out and the deal may end up swaying even more towards the Rangers if Buchnevich becomes the player many of us think he will be.
April 2, 2013
Sharks acquire 2014 conditional 2nd round pick (not exercised), 2013 3rd round pick (ended up in Phoenix, Yan-Pavel Laplante) and 2013 2nd round pick (Gabryel Paquin-Boudreau)
Rangers acquire Ryane Clowe
All you can say is what a waste of picks
March 5, 2014
Lightning acquire 2014 conditional 2nd round pick, 2015 1st round pick and Ryan Callahan Rangers acquire Martin St. Louis
Tampa Bay seemed to be over a barrel as St. Louis said he only wanted to go to the Rangers. But Stevie Y was able to extract a first in 2014, what turned to be a first in 2015, in exchange for a second that year, and Ryan Callahan for St. Louis. MSL helped lead the Rangers to the Cup Finals while thank god the Callahan (who was a heart and soul captain) contract is not on the Rangers' books due to his history injury. The 2014 first rounder ended up with the Isles and they took Josh Ho-Seng. The 2015 pick also ended up with the Isles and they took Anthony Beauvillier. The second round pick ended up with Calgary, who took Oliver Kylington. St. Louis did what he was brought into to do and he was fairly good in 2014-15 but he struggled in the playoffs. The question is did GM Glen Sather overpay given that Tampa appeared to have little leverage.
March 1, 2015
Coyotes acquire Anthony Duclair, John Moore, 2015 2nd round pick and 2016 1st round pick
Rangers acquire Keith Yandle, Chris Summers and 2016 4th round pick
Yandle was high risk, high reward. Coach Alain Vigneault didn't use him properly, especially on the power play. But if New York had beaten Tampa in the 2015 ECF, it would have been because of Yandle, as he was brilliant the last two rounds the Rangers played. The deal will look worse if Duclair reverts back to the form he showed as a rookie, rather than how he played last season. The second round pick ended up with Calgary, who took Oliver Kylington. The first round pick ended up with Detroit, who took Dennis Cholowski. Getting Yandle for a year-plus cost a large return, but it could have been worth it, if he was used properly and to his strengths. New York used the fourth round pick on Tarmo Reunanen.
June 27, 2015
Ducks acquire Carl Hagelin, 2015 2nd round pick and 2015 6th round pick
Rangers acquire Emerson Etem and 2015 2nd round pick (Ryan Gropp)
An underwhelming return for Hagelin, who didn't do much in Anaheim but who helped Pittsburgh win a Cup in 2015-16. If Gropp pans out, that will reduce the impact of this trade a bit. New York felt they had to move Hags due to the future cap hit, which proved correct as he is making $4 mil per season. But they could have kept him one more season and then worried about it.
June 27, 2015
Oilers acquire Cam Talbot and 2015 7th round pick
Rangers acquire 2015 2nd round pick, 2015 3rd round pick (Sergei Zborovskiy) and 2015 7th round pick (Adam Huska)
Based on the rumors of what New York was to acquire - 9th pick overall - and what Talbot has become, the return is also underwhelming here. That could change a little if either Huska or Zbirovskiy become regulars in New York, but even if so, Talbot has shown that he is a #1 and should have brought more back.
February 28, 2016
Hurricanes acquire Aleksei Saarela, 2017 2nd round pick (Luke Martin), 2016 2nd round pick Rangers acquire Eric Staal
Misused by coach Alain Vigneault. Staal didn't provide much, save for one game, after the trade. I only wanted to give up one #2, not two, let alone both and Saarela. The jury is still out on this trade as it depends on what Saarela and Martin become, but based on return compared to cost, New York didn't get much from this trade.
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