Blueshirts Briefs: Ray Sheppard, the $1 bargain

Welcome back to Blueshirts Briefs, a series profiling those who had a short shift with the New York Rangers.

Every week until play resumes, Blue Line Station will feature a player, coach, or general manager who had a brief stint with the New York Rangers. We’ll look at what each contributed to the Blueshirts and why his stay on Broadway was short.

Ray Sheppard

Position: Right Wing

Hometown: Pembroke, Ontario

How the Rangers got him: Acquired from the Buffalo Sabres in July 1990 for cash

Rangers stats: 59 games, 24 goals, 23 assists, 47 points,

Back checking

Neil Smith made plenty of trades during his tenure a general manager of the New York Rangers from 1989 to 2000. His blockbuster, of course, was acquiring Hall of Fame center Mark Messier from the Edmonton Oilers for forwards Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice, and Louie DeBrusk on October 4, 1991.

His most cost-effective deal, however, was getting right wing Ray Sheppard from the Buffalo Sabres for one dollar on July 9, 1990. With hindsight, it’s obvious the deal proved one of the biggest heists for the Rangers in team history, and among the worst in (what has since become) a long list of ill-advised moves by western New York’s franchise.

At that time, however, it was hard to fault the Sabres for selling low on Sheppard. Following a monstrous1987-88 rookie season (38 goals, 65 points, and second in voting for the Calder Trophy) his totals the following season fell to 22 goals and 43 points. In 1989-90, he was limited to four goals in 18 matches before sustaining a severe ankle injury.

In addition to the injury, Buffalo had a new coach in 1989-90, when Rick Dudley replaced Ted Sator (who previously coached the Rangers). Sator and the Sabres essentially looked the other way when it came to Sheppard’s subpar skating and defensive play so long as he kept scoring, which is what got him to the NHL in the first place.

Sheppard’s soft hands and net presence produced 44 goals as a rookie for the Ontario Hockey League’s Cornwall Royals, prompting Buffalo to select him in the third round (60th) overall in the 1984 Entry Draft. Over the next two seasons with Cornwall, he posted 106 goals, including 81 (along with 142 points) in 1985-86.

However, Dudley reportedly didn’t like Sheppard’s style and played him sparingly before he hurt his ankle. Sheppard wound up finishing the season with the American Hockey League’s Rochester Americans. By then, Sheppard was finished in Buffalo. General manager Gerry Meehan reportedly sided with Dudley, and the Sabres were prepared to buy out the right-winger.

Then Neil Smith called.

Born #OTD in 1966 Ray Sheppard, scored 64 goals in 159 games for the 1987-1990 Buffalo Sabres. pic.twitter.com/mUSDmiU4bC

With the Rangers

Sheppard scored in his first game with the Rangers, a power-play marker with six seconds left in a 4-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks at Chicago Stadium. Sheppard would score 23 more times and assist on 23 others. Indeed, Smith’s Dollar General purchase was proving the best buck Smith had ever spent.

“He’s been like a bonus to us,” former and late Rangers head coach Roger Nielson said to reporters that season. “We really weren’t counting on him for anything.”

Unfortunately for Sheppard and the Rangers, the proverbial “other skate” eventually dropped. In a match against the hated New York Islanders in late February, he suffered a sprained knee ligament when he was kneed by Islanders forward Brent Sutter as he cut to the slot. Sheppard missed over a month.

Sheppard returned to action in late March but played just three more games — his last in a Rangers sweater as it turned out.

In yet another battle against the Islanders, Sheppard suffered a separated shoulder when he was checked by the Islanders’ Dean Chynoweth. Sheppard missed the rest of the regular season and all six playoff contests against the Washington Capitals in the Patrick Division Semifinals.

Why he left the Rangers

Sheppard wanted to stay with the Blueshirts, but he was an Unrestricted Free Agent (UFA) because he had signed a one-year termination contract with Buffalo.  In those days, teams had the right to sign a player to a one-year deal at his old salary with the stipulation that the player was a UFA after the contract expired.  As a result, Sheppard was free to sign with any team and his strong season paid off.

Sheppard signed a three-year, $1.8 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings on Aug. 5, 1991.  The Rangers had an opportunity to match, but chose not to. As he did for the Rangers, Sheppard proved a wise pick up. In 274 games with the Red Wings, he recorded 152 goals and 113 assists. He enjoyed the most productive season of his career in 1993-94 with personal bests in goals (52), helpers (41), and points (93).

In all, Sheppard played for six teams over 13 NHL seasons, earning 357 goals and 300 assists for 657 points in 817 games. He scored at least 20 goals in one year with each of his six clubs, which is second all-time to Bill Guerin who did the same with seven.

Quotable

According to one report, Smith was at a card show when he noticed a Sheppard rookie card. When the dealer said the card cost $2, Smith replied: “I’m not spending more for the card than I did for the player!”