New York Rangers: Ranking the success of the past five trade deadlines

The Veteran center of the Carolina Hurricanes was traded to the Rangers and never made a mark during his brief tenure.

This was the case of Jeff Gorton trying to force a square peg in a round hole. The move seemed impulsive when it was made and looks even worse when held up under closer inspection. The veteran center cost the Rangers Aleksi Saarela and two second-round picks. That price tag for a player who was in the midst of one of the worst seasons of his career was absurd.

Even worse for the Rangers was the fact that once Staal arrived in New York, Head Coach Alain Vigneault did not know where to play him. Although he had been a center for the entirety of his NHL career to that point, Vigneault insisted on playing him as a wing on the third line. It is no wonder that Staal failed to accomplish anything of note in his twenty games as a Ranger.

With two Staal brothers in the Rangers’ lineup, the only thing they accomplished was a first-round exit against the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. In that series, Staal was a minus-seven with only seven shots in five games.

This trade was an absolute failure for the Rangers and that’s before knowing what Saarela and Luke Martin, the one second-round pick the Hurricanes kept develop into. Should either Saarela or Martin develop into solid NHL talent, the Rangers will look back on this trade with shame.