Christmas countdown wish #3: Sanity at the deadline

With Christmas just days away, we are doing a five-day countdown of gifts we’d like the New York Rangers to get this holiday season.  We’d be happy to get these gifts from Santa Claus, but it’s better to ask the hockey gods or better yet, the team.  Every day for the next three days, we will unveil another  gift we like to see the New York Rangers receive as this season continues.

We started out list by asked for the NHL to opt out of the Olympics. That was granted in less than 24 hours.  Wish number two was to the hockey gods, asking for a relatively injury free season.

It’s time for wish number three and this one is directed to Chris Drury and the Rangers brain trust. Third on our list?  No trade deadline insanity.

Why we are worried

Anyone who has been a Ranger fan is well aware of how wrong a trade deadline deal can go.  Most recently, Eric Staal is the name that comes up with the Rangers giving up two second round picks and a prospect in 2016 for a player who scored three goals and three assists in 20 games and didn’t get a point in their first round playoff ouster.

Remember Ryane Clowe?  They gave the San Jose Sharks second, third and fourth round picks in 2013 in exchange for a player who was injured for 10 of the Rangers’ 12 playoff games.

Those with longer memories will cringe when reminded of the deadline deal that netted the Rangers an over-the-hill Jari Kurri, an awful Marty McSorley and a moderately useful Shane Churla in exchange for Ray Ferraro, Nathan Lafayette, Ian Laperriere and Mattias Norstrom.   The Rangers got 78 games out of the trio while Norstrom alone played 780 games as a top pair defenseman for the Los Angeles Kings.   As for the playoffs, the Rangers were ousted in the second round.

Sometime deadline deals pay off (see 1994), but for the most part they are busts. Just ask the Boston Bruins about how much the got out of Rick Nash.  All the Rangers got out of that deal are Ryan Strome, Ryan Lindgren and K’Andre Miller.

Why we are really worried

This has been a magical season with the Rangers exceeding all expectations.  Chris Drury took over the team with marching orders to get the team into the playoffs.  The rebuild was over.  It was ownership’s mandate and it has affected every move Drury has made.

You have to believe that the Rangers’ success has taken even Drury by surprise.  If he had known how good the team would be, would he have pulled the trigger on the Pavel Buchnevich deal, no matter how much everyone liked Sammy Blais?

The issue now is that with Ryan Strome headed to unrestricted free agency, this year’s team may be deemed in a better position to succeed in the playoffs.

That may be somewhat true, but there are warning signs.  The Rangers got hammered by the Calgary Flames twice.  They lost badly to the Avalanche and still couldn’t beat Colorado when they were rested and ready for the rematch.  They haven’t beaten Carolina, Washington, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Vegas, Minnesota or St. Louis, all considered the best of the NHL.

If Drury believes that the Rangers can close the gap via trades, he has the young assets to trade. They have five picks in the first four rounds of the 2022 draft.  They have highly regarded prospects on defense including Zac Jones, Matthew Robertson, Braden Schneider, Hunter Skinner and Tarmo Reunanen.  They all cannot play in New York so why not use them as trade bait?  He has Vitali Kravtsov toiling in the KHL and there was reportedly some interest from other teams when he was on the trading block earlier this season.

And that is the danger.  That Drury will use his available cap space and prospect pool on a two month rental in the hopes that the Rangers can pull off the same feat accomplished by the Montreal Canadiens last season.

Ranger fans are impatient.  It’s been four long years since the Blueshirts made a Stanley Cup Playoffs appearance (the qualifier in 2020 doesn’t count).  No one is looking for a first round ouster, a deep run is what we want.  Ownership wants it too.  It’s a well known fact that playoff revenue is all gravy.  The Garden will make a fortune if they can get deep into the playoffs and if anyone thinks that doesn’t matter in these pandemic days, they’re wrong.

Our Christmas wish

Our third wish this Christmas is that Chris Drury and his management cohorts approach the trade deadline with intelligence and patience.  No short term rentals if it means giving up young talent.  Make smart hockey trades that benefit the team in the long run while using assets the Rangers can afford to give up.  Chris Drury, please take “mortgaging the future” out of the Rangers’ vocabulary.

Tomorrow, Christmas wish number four and that one is directed to some our Rangers heroes.