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Vote for five worst trades in Rangers' History: 1963-1994 |
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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. The next blog will have you vote on the five worst trades of the 20 identified from 1995 to present. 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.
June 4, 1963:
Montreal acquires Dave Balon, Leon Rochefort, Len Ronson and Lorne Gump Worsley.
Rangers acquire Phil Goyette, Don Marshall and Jacques Plante.
Worsley was part of four Cups in Montreal, starting for two of them while winning the Vezina twice. Plante plays two poor seasons in New York.
November 15, 1972:
Blues acquire Andre Dupont, Jack Egers and Mike Murphy
Rangers acquire Gene Carr, Wayne Connelly and Jim Lorentz
Dupont eventually gets moved to Philadelphia where he goes on to have a solid career. None of the players acquired by New York distinguish themselves on the Rangers, though Carr was dealt to LA on February 14, 1974 for a 1977 first round pick that was used on Ron Duguay (13th overall selection).
May 27, 1974
Penguins acquire Vic Hadfield
Rangers acquire Nick Beverley
Hadfield scores 61 goals the next two seasons in Pittsburgh, Beverley tallies 27 points in 139 games as a Ranger.
November 7, 1975:
Bruins acquire Brad Park, Jean Ratelle and Joe Zanussi
Rangers acquire Phil Esposito and Carol Vadnais
The blockbuster. New York was looking for splash and acquired Esposito, who Boston felt had started to decline. Espo scored 404 points in 422 games in New York, helping lead the team to the 1979 Cup Finals. Vadnais never was a fan favorite, especially at the cost of Park. Vadnais put up 50 points his first year in the Big Apple but his production fell slightly each of the next three seasons before bottoming out his last three years in New York. Park was the Rangers' version of Bobby Orr and remained very productive in Boston, scoring 417 points in 501 games before finishing his career in Detroit. The big loss was Ratelle, whose jersey will finally be retired this season. Ratelle tallied 450 points in 519 games as a Bruin, helping lead Boston to Cup Finals in back-to-back seasons. For me, giving up Ratelle was a killer as he was one of my favorite players as a kid, even though Espo was solid in NY, at least a player not as a GM. The bigger issue is that it led to the next trade.
May 26, 1976
Bruins acquire Rick Middleton
Rangers acquire Ken Hodge, Sr.
Esposito wanted one of his running mates from Boston, so New York went out and got Hodge. The Rangers may have been forced to deal Middleton due to rumored off-ice activity, but the return was horrific. Hodge scored 21 goals and 41 assists in '76-77 but played just 18 games the following year. Middleton went on to score 402 goals and 496 assists in 881 games in Boston, finishing his career 12 points shy of 1,000 for his career. All in all, a typical Rangers' move, trade a young player for a veteran who plays a year or two and then retires.
November 2, 1979
Rockies acquire Lucien DeBlois, Pat Hickey, Mike McEwen, Dean Turner & future considerations
Rangers acquire Barry Beck
New York came out of the '79 Cup Finals thinking they needed a big, physical d-man to take the next step. They got that in Beck, but injuries short-circuited his career after a solid first season. DeBlois had a few good years in Winnipeg as did Hickey when he arrived in Toronto before he actually played another season in New York. McEwen bounced around but won a Cup with the Isles and Turner played in just 35 NHL games. To me, the Rangers acquired what looked to be a cornerstone player for three solid pieces and injuries made Beck a shell of what he was before he was dealt and first year in New York.
June 13, 1983
Red Wings acquire Ron Duguay, Eddie Johnstone and Ed Mio
Rangers acquire Mike Blaisdell, Willie Huber and Mark Osborne
Duguay put up 217 points (90, 127) in 227 games in Detroit while Mio and Johnstone did little as Red Wings. Blaisdell had a cup of coffee with the Rangers while Huber played 4+ years in New York as an average at best d-man. Osborne was the best of the three that came to the Rangers with 61 goals and 74 assists in 253 before he went to Toronto, where he played eight years. Duguay was by far the best player in this transaction.
December 18, 1986:
Philadelphia acquires Kjell Samuelsson & the Rangers second round pick in 1989 (Patrick Juhlin)
Rangers acquire Bob Froese
To show you how bad goaltending was in that era, Froese went 14-11 with a 3.74 GAA and .883 SV% in 28 games with New York and he finished fifth in the Vezina Trophy voting that year. Samuelsson became a solid, d-man, who played until he was 40, spending nine of those seasons with Philadelphia and four with Pittsburgh, where he won a Cup in 91-92.
January 1, 1987
Capitals acquire Bob Crawford, Kelly Miller and Mike Ridley
Rangers acquire Bobby Carpenter and 1989 2nd round pick (#40-Jason Prosofsky)
Carpenter scored 53 goals in 194-85 but slumped to 27 goals the following season. Washington got a king's ransom for Carpenter, who last just a little over two months in NY before he was moved again. Carpenter did score 135 more goals after he left New York, finishing his career with the Devils as a checking line player, but he was never able to capture his 84-85 magic. Miller and Ridley took great pleasure in tormenting the Rangers. Ridley had 547 points in 588 games in Washington while Miller played 940 games in Washington, finishing his career as a solid, third line winger. A nightmare trade. Either Miller or Ridley would have been an overpayment, giving up both made it twice as worse.
October 8, 1987:
Minesota acquires Dave Gagner and Jay Caulfield
New York acquires Paul Boultiler and Jari Gronstrand
Gagner became a scorer in Minnesota/Dallas, tallying 247 goals and 287 assists in 609 games. Neither player acquired by New York amounted to much of anything. A give-away trade by the Rangers.
August 1, 1988:
Quebec acquires Walt Poddubny with Jari Gronstad, Bruce Bell and the NY Rangers' 4th round choice (Eric Dubois) in 1989 Entry Draft
Rangers acquire Jason Lafrieniere and Normand Rochefort
Poddubny only played one year in Quebec and it was his best for the remainder of his career, as he potted 38 goals while adding 75 assists, Rochefort was the best of the two players NY acquired and neither one was particularly good.
January 20, 1990
Kings acquire Tony Granato and Tomas Sandstrom
Rangers acquire Bernie Nicholls
New York lost grit and firepower when they dealt Granato and Sandstrom in their continual search for a #1 center. Nicholls played just 104 games in New York before he was included in the Mark Messier deal. It's that inclusion that makes the deal look better, because Granato and Sandstrom both were productive in LA, helping them to the Cup Finals in 92-93. Nicholls played against Messier in the '94 Cup Finals as a Devil.
March 17, 1993
Edmonton acquires Doug Weight
Rangers acquire Esa Tikkanen
Tikkanen played a key role in the '94 Cup win but Neil Smith got fleeced on this deal. Weight played 17 more seasons in the NHL, including the Cup Finals with Carolina in 2005-06, finishing with 1,033 points. Tikkanen, whose best years were well behind him, had three separate stints with the Rangers, leaving after the 94 Cup winner to play for the Blues and Mike Keenan. I was a big Tikkanen fan in Edmonton and liked him in New York but seeing what Weight was then and what he became, that deal is even more painful.
March 21, 1994
Blackhawks acquire Tony Amonte and rights to Matt Oates
Rangers acquire Stephane Matteau and Brian Noonan
The first of three major deals that ultimately netted the Rangers a Cup but at a healthy price. The story of Amonte getting dealt has been well-documented. GM Neil Smith wasn't making the deal if it was a 1:1 but getting Matteau and Noonan, so a 2-for-1, was viewed by him as sufficient. Matteau had the two overtime goals against New Jersey. Other than those two games, Matteau didn't do much and he had some success after going to San Jose. Brian Noonan was also a key member of the Cup winning team, playing in 22 of the 23 games in the run. But he was pretty much a third-line winger. Amonte was a true sniper but wasn't a fave of Mike Keenan. He scored 268 goals and added 273 assists in 627 games as a Black Hawk before moving on to Phoenix, Philly and Calgary. Amonte was rumored to be on the verge at one point of coming to the Rangers but that never transpired. He finished his career with 416 goals and 484 assists, and if Weight leaving annoyed me, this one really angered me, despite the end result. Yes, the Cup was worth it but I was a huge Amonte and wonder what he would have done had he remained a Blueshirt.
March 21, 1994
Maple Leafs acquire Mike Gartner
Rangers acquire Glenn Anderson, 1994 4th round pick (#100-Alexander Korobolin) and rights to Scott Malone
Gartner was stolen form Minnesota on March 6, 1990 for Ulf Dahlen and a fourth round pick. Keenan viewed him as soft and couldn't wait to trade him, especially for a proven playoff vet in Anderson. Gartner scored 11 points in 18 playoff games that year for the Maple Leafs while Anderson...He tallied 67 goals his next two full seasons before finishing his career in 1996-97 with 12 goals in Phoenix to end up 708 lamplighters overall. Anderson did little in the playoffs for New York, then moved to St. Louis to play for Keenan in 94-95 and playing his final year in '95-96 with Edmonton and St. Louis. I was a huge Anderson fan in Edmonton when he was a key member of those Cup winning teams but he was a shell of his former self when he arrived in New York to complete Edmonton East.
March 21, 1994
Oilers acquire Todd Marchant
Rangers acquire Craig MacTavish
The final deal of the day saw a fourth-line faceoff specialist and center come over from Edmonton. MacTavish, the helmetless one, played 12 games with New York before moving to the Flyers and Blues for the last three seasons of his career. He is best known for taking the final draw with 1.6 seconds in Game 7 of the Cup winning victory. All Marchant did was go on to play 16 more solid seasons in the NHL, mostly with Edmonton and Anaheim, winning a Cup with the Ducks in 2005-06. Does the end justify the means with Anderson?
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