New York Rangers forgotten players A-Z: The D’s
In our last piece of the forgotten New York Rangers series, we looked at a handful of players with last names that start with C. Now, it’s time to focus our attention on the D’s.
This list certainly has some interesting players on it. First, we will be taking a look at a former first overall pick who briefly was a member of the Blueshirts. We then will take a gander at an underrated defenseman who would have a lengthy NHL career, but his stay in New York was also short. From here, the next player is a Hockey Hall of Famer who would end his career with the Original Six franchise. Lastly, we will conclude with a player who would end up being very good with a division rival until the end of his career.
Now, without further delay, let’s take a dive into each player’s time with the Rangers.
Alexandre Daigle LW
That’s right. Alexandre Daigle, the first overall pick of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft, briefly played for the New York Rangers. During the 1999 off-season, the Blueshirts acquired Daigle from the Tampa Bay Lightning in hopes that he would find his once massive potential. In his lone season with the Rangers, he scored eight goals and recorded 26 points in 58 games. He also played 16 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack and had 19 points.
From here, he would be out of the league for two seasons, as he lost his passion for the game and teams were not interested in his services. Yet, he did return for the 2002-03 season when he joined the Penguins. After a seven-point campaign there in 33 games, he played his last two NHL seasons with the Minnesota Wild.
Daigle is often regarded as a bust, especially with seeing as how the Senators drafted him over Hall of Famers like Chris Pronger and Paul Kariya. The Quebec Nordiques also reportedly offered Peter Forsberg, Owen Nolan, Ron Hextall and a handful of picks at the draft for the first overall pick, but Ottawa rejected because Daigle was supposed to be the league’s next superstar.
Daigle did have some success in the league, though. He had three seasons with at least 20 goals, as well as three 51-point campaigns. He never was able to become that star everyone predicted he would, but he had moments of solid production. In 616 career games with the Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Rangers, Penguins and Wild, Daigle had 129 goals, 198 assists and 327 points.
Greg de Vries D
Greg de Vries was on the move pretty often over his career, as he played for six teams in 13 total seasons. During the 2003-04 season, he was a member of the Rangers. In 53 games with the team, he scored three goals and recorded 15 points. Yet, this would complete his time with the Rangers, as he would be dealt to the Ottawa Senators at the deadline for Alexandre Giroux and the late Karel Rachůnek.
During his career, de Vries had most of his success with the Avalanche. In 379 games with them, he scored 22 goals and had 82 points. This also resulted in him winning a Stanley Cup in 2001. After being traded to the Senators from the Rangers, he played just 13 games with the former and joined the Atlanta Thrashers after the 2005 NHL lockout. He would play two seasons there before finishing out his career with the Nashville Predators.
In 878 career NHL games, de Vries had 48 goals, 146 assists and 194 points.
Marcel Dionne C
Marcel Dionne is remembered most for his days of pure dominance with the Los Angeles Kings. In 921 games with them, he had 550 goals, 757 assists and 1,307 points. He would have seven 100+ point seasons with them to go along with six 50+ goal campaigns. In 1992, he was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame primarily because of all the success he had with the Kings.
However, during the 1986-87 season, Dionne’s time with the Kings ended because of his desire to play for a contending team and for a chance to win the Stanley Cup. The Rangers of course would be the team who acquired him. He played 14 games with the team to finish off that season, where had four goals and 10 points. He then followed that up with a 65 points in 67 games the next year. In his final NHL season that following year with the team, he had 23 points in 37 games.
Although Dionne was no longer the superstar he once was during his time with the Blueshirts, he still produced well offensively. In 118 total games with the Rangers, he scored 42 goals and had 98 points. Still, it would have been far better if they had him during his best days in the league.
Pascal Dupuis RW/LW
Pascal Dupuis will forever be known for his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins as Sidney Crosby’s linemate. Although he was never a star in Pittsburgh, he worked extremely well with the team and of course became a big part of their Stanley Cup run in 2009. However, before finding a permanent home in this league with the Penguins, Dupuis actually briefly played for the Rangers.
During the 2006-07 season, the Rangers acquired Dupuis from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Adam Hall. Dupuis would play a whopping six games with the Blueshirts and scored a goal. From here, the Rangers quickly traded him to the Atlanta Thrashers for 2005 first-round pick Alex Bourret, who would never end up playing a game in the NHL.
Dupuis would only have 20 points in 79 games with the Thrashers, so realistically, he was not a significant loss for the Rangers. Yet, he would become an effective player for a division rival later down the line, so it was pretty interesting to see how everything turned out with him. In 871 career games, Dupuis had 190 goals, 219 assists and 409 points.
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