Revisiting those trade deadline deals

When the New York Rangers were a Stanley Cup contender, they made a series of trade deadline deals in an attempt to win the holy grail of hockey.  Enough time has passed for us to judge those deals and figure out who really won.

For five straight years the team was involved in major deadline transactions, only to fall short in the playoffs.  They acquired ten players and three draft picks while giving up seven players and 11 draft picks.  The common perception is that the New York Rangers mortgaged their future in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup.

With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, enough time has passed that we can look back on these deals and see how bad (or good) they really were.  You may be surprised by how these deals turned out.

Before 2013, the Rangers had dabbled in trade deadline deals, but mostly for minor additions like Jody Shelley in 2010 and Bryan McCabe in 2011.  At the deadline in 2012, the team’s sole addition was winger John Scott.  When the Blueshirts lost in in six games in the Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils,  Glen Sather must have decided that in the future, they would be all in at the trade deadline in order to get the pieces that they would need to win it all.

That started the string of five years of deadline deals, beginning in 2012-13.  We’ve assigned a letter grade on these deals based on the longterm impact.  One thing to note is that the grades are based on the return for the Rangers and the team that they traded with and that includes subsequent trades of assets acquired.

2012-13:  “Big Game Brass” arrives

The Rangers made two deals at the deadline in April, 2013.  The late date was due to the lockout that shortened the season to 48 game with the season starting on January 19.

On April 3, 2013, Sather pulled the trigger on a blockbuster deal with long-term ramifications.  The Ranger gave up sniper Marian Gaborik and two prospects.  In return the Blueshirts got Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett and John Moore as well as a sixth round draft pick.

This deal has to be seen as highway robbery for several reasons. Gaborik was never a favorite of coach John Tortorella and had been called out for bad play in the playoffs the year before. It was later learned that Gaborik had been playing with a torn labrum in his shoulder. That’s the cartilage that keeps the shoulder in place and he was playing with that.  A MLB player would be out for six months with that injury.

At any rate Tortorella ran one of the most gifted goal scorers ever to wear a Rangers jersey out of town along with two prospects who never made it to the NHL.   Gaborik suffered through a single injury plagued season in Columbus and was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings a year later.

In return, the Blueshirts got Derick Brassard who would prove to be a clutch playoff performer for four years in New York.  Add in Derek Dorsett who was a key member of the fourth line that helped the Blueshirts to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014 as well as John Moore, who also contributed to that Finals run.  The Rangers traded away the draft pick to Minnesota.

The Rangers win this trade hands down, but there’s more.  Jeff Gorton flipped Brassard to the Ottawa Senators for Mika Zibanejad in 2016 and John Moore was part of the deal that netted Keith Yandle.  When you define a good deadline ldeal, this is one of the best.

Trade Grade: A ++++

Sather made another deal that April and this one didn’t turn out so well.  The Rangers acquired physical forward Ryan Clowe from the San Jose Sharks. Clowe was seen as a replacement for Brandon Prust and was expected to provide muscle in the playoff run.

Clowe got off to a great start in New York with three goals and eight points in 11 games.  He then suffered two concussions that ended his season, though he made it back for one playoff game.  With his concussion history, the team chose to not re-sign him and he left via free agency.

The three draft picks the Rangers gave up were used on three players how have played a total of 12 games in the NHL.  While that isn’t to say that the Blueshirts would have drafted better, but on the surface, what they gave up hasn’t hurt them.

Trade grade: C