Will the Adam Fox trade be the best ever?

The trade for Mika Zibanejad will go down as one of the best in the history of the New York Rangers.  There is a chance that another trade may be just as as good, the acquisition of Adam Fox.

It was July 18, 2016. Mika Zibanejad and a second round pick from Ottawa in exchange for Derick Brassard and a seventh round draft pick. When New York Rangers’ General Manager Jeff Gorton pulled the trigger on that deal, believe it or not, the reaction was pretty negative from the fanbase.  Brassard was a fan favorite and a playoff stalwart while Zibanejad was an unknown. There’s no doubt how that trade has worked out.   How will the Adam Fox deal compare?

When the Rangers swapped two second round picks to the Carolina Hurricanes for the rights to Adam Fox, there was a slight risk.  Fox had just finished his junior year at Harvard and if he decided to return for his senior year he would be an unrestricted free agent the following August.  He could follow in the footsteps of Jimmy Vesey and have his pick of NHL destinations.

Luckily for the Rangers, Fox had grown up in Jericho, New York as a Blueshirts fan.  Despite growing up in the shadow of the Nassau Coliseum, he was a Ranger fan, like the rest of his family.  It’s probably fortunate that as a kid he watched the Ranger teams that were an annual playoff performer, led by a young Henrik Lundqvist as opposed to a lousy Islanders squad that missed the postseason six years out of seven.

After he was drafted by the Calgary Flames in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, it was believed that he would eventually sign with them.  After a couple years, the Flames saw enough warning signs to believe that he would not sign and they traded him to Carolina as part of the deal that saw the Canes get Dougie Hamilton and Micheal Ferland in exchange for Noah Hanafin and Elias Lindholm.   Carolina also thought they would be able to sign him, but when it became apparent that he would be returning to Harvard they traded him to the Rangers.