New York Rangers Stock Market: risers and fallers 2/18-2/24

Up: Jeff Gorton

Jeff Gorton has impressed me immensely this week.

For a while, I really wasn’t sure of how I felt about Jeff Gorton. It seemed as if he was refusing to better the roster and take away the players who coach Vigneault chronically misused. Then he sent Brendan Smith down to the Hartford Wolf Pack due to his poor play, and traded Vigneault’s biggest “toy” in Nick Holden.

To me, the most impressive mode he made this week was trading Holden. I think everyone reached such a point of frustration with his play they were hoping for a seventh round pick at most. However, Gorton managed to get a fairly high draft pick and a prospect in O’ Gara. He was able to convince the Boston Bruins that Holden’s issues stemmed from improper deployment and would be more suited to a depth role. Could he be? I don’t know. He was utilized poorly and therefore played poorly in New York, so that is all I can go off of. Maybe he’ll work for them, maybe he won’t. But Gorton was able to gain great assets for a not-so-great player.

Additionally, I did not expect multiple pieces in a Michael Grabner trade. Contrary to Holden, Grabner was fantastic in New York. He turned his game around and turned into an offensive juggernaut, almost hitting 30 goals twice. My concern with trading him was that other teams would try to give less than what was being asked for him due to concerns of him just thriving in New York’s system. However, the Rangers managed to get a strong defensive prospect and a second round pick. I am quite pleased with the return, especially if Grabner resigns with the Rangers in the summer.