Over two years later, I think we know who won the Ryan Strome trade

How Ryan Strome got to the New York Rangers

Ryan Strome was drafted fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.  After he was drafted, Strome started the 2012-13 season with the Islanders AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, before being called up to the NHL on December 11th, 2013.  At the time, Strome was the AHL’s league leader in points through the first 23 games of the season.

The Islanders traded Strome to the Edmonton Oilers in June of 2017 in exchange for Jordan Eberle.  Strome finished his first season with the Oilers with 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists.  Strome signed a two-year, $2.6 million contract with Edmonton that off-season.

In November of 2018, the Edmonton Oilers traded Ryan Strome to the New York Rangers in exchange for Ryan Spooner.  Spooner was acquired by the Rangers through a trade with the Bruins that sent Rick Nash to Boston.  Nash ended up retiring at the end of the 2018-19 season.  So, Nash turned into Spooner, who turned into Strome for the New York Rangers.  Not a bad sequence of trades for the Blueshirts, considering all it really costed was 34-year old Rick Nash, who was forced into retirement by concussions.  To sweeten the deal, the Rangers also received Ryan Lindgren and a first round pick from Boston in the Nash deal.  That pick turned into top prospect K’Andre Miller.

Ryan Strome vs. Ryan Spooner

Ryan Spooner didn’t last too long with Edmonton after the trade.  Spooner was placed on waivers in January of 2019, after only putting up two goals in 24 games played.  Spooner cleared waivers, and was assigned to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors and he was then traded to the Vancouver Canucks, where he would remain on their NHL roster for the remainder of the season.  Spooner played 52 games in 2018-19, scoring three goals and six assists for nine points.  On the flip side of things, Ryan Strome played 81 games, scoring 19 goals and 16 assists for 35 points with the New York Rangers.

After that season, Ryan Spooner was bought out by the Vancouver Canucks, a buyout that the Rangers were forced to help eat financially for a couple of years.  Spooner signed a contract  with the Swiss National League (NL) team, HC Lugano.  After playing in only two of their first 14 regular season games, he went on to join HC Dinamo Minsk of the KHL for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

Ryan Strome, on the other hand, had a bit more stability during his 2019-20 campaign.  In 70 games played, Strome scored 18 goals and 41 assists for 59 points, with a plus/minus rating of +21.  It also might be worth mentioning that Strome played on the same line as Hart Memorial finalist, Artemi Panarin, which might be a big reason for Strome’s inflated assists total.  Strome also helped the New York Rangers reach the Stanley Cup qualifying round.

Verdict

Ryan Spooner is still playing with Dinamo Minsk in the KHL, and has 23 points in 20 games.  As a point-a-game player in the KHL, I’m sure Spooner has dreams of making his NHL comeback one day.  It’s hard to imagine Spooner making a comeback and putting up the same numbers Strome has.  If he could, it would be the ultimate Cinderella story.

Ryan Strome signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the New York Rangers during the off-season, and is a pivotal piece of this young Rangers team’s future success.  Considering how little the Rangers had to give up for Strome, this might be one of the best deals in New York Rangers’ history.  I think it’s safe to say that Jeff Gorton and the Rangers won this deal.