#7 Center Mike Rogers acquired from Hartford along with a 1982 tenth round draft pick for Chris Kotsopoulos, Gerry McDonald and Doug Sulliman.
October 2, 1981
Mike who?
Mike Rogers was a solid offensive player who epitomized the speedy “Smurfs” of the Herb Brooks era. He had a long career in the WHA before blossoming into a big goal scorer for Hartford. He was so highly regarded that Craig Patrick traded three players for Rogers at the start of the 1981-82 season.
This wasn’t a one-sided deal as both defenseman Kotsopolous and former first round right wing Sulliman went on to have solid NHL careers. Chris Kotsopolous played six years as a regular on D for Hartford and Toronto. Sulliman had three pretty good seasons with the New Jersey Devils
Until Mike Rogers came along, the Rangers had only had two 100 point scorers in their history. Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield had topped that mark in 1971-72 as members of the famed “G.A.G. Line.”
In 1981-82, the diminutive Rogers (he was only 5’9″) scored 103 points on 40 goals and 65 assists. Those 65 assists were a team record until it was shattered by Brian Leetch with 72 in 1991.
While he never achieved those heights in his last three years in New York, Rogers was a top scorer for the team. As a post-script, he was dealt to Edmonton in 1985 for Larry Melnyk who played three seasons as a regular defenseman in New York, while Rogers played only eight games for the Oilers.