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Mark Messier’s Trade Tree Between the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers

By Conor Power

Mark Messier #11, Eric Lindros #88 of the New York Rangers. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images/NHLI)
Mark Messier #11, Eric Lindros #88 of the New York Rangers. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images/NHLI) /
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NEW YORK – CIRCA 1985: Mark Messier #11, of the Edmonton Oilers, skates against the New York Rangers during an NHL Hockey game circa 1985 at Madison Square Garden in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Messier’s playing career went from 1978-2004. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
NEW YORK – CIRCA 1985: Mark Messier #11, of the Edmonton Oilers, skates against the New York Rangers during an NHL Hockey game circa 1985 at Madison Square Garden in the Manhattan borough of New York City. Messier’s playing career went from 1978-2004. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

The Trade

In 1991-92, Messier became a New York Ranger. He and Jeff Beukeboom came to New York in exchange for Louie Debrusk, Bernie Nicholls, Steven Rice, and David Shaw. Edmonton’s then-owner Peter Pocklington has reiterated how difficult it was to sustain the success of the Oilers with the inflated payrolls and the ever-increasing pressure to pay the players more when the team wasn’t making enough money to justify it.

I doubt anyone cares about the reason for the deal, but Messier came to Broadway, and he did it in a big way. During his ten seasons in the Big Apple (albeit across two stints), Messier recorded 250 goals and 441 assists for 691 points in 698 games. He won the Hart Trophy and the Lester B. Pearson in his first season in New York after a 35-goal season in which he added 72 assists for 107 points.

Messier’s most iconic moment in New York, however, was probably away from the ice. During the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Rangers found themselves in a hole down 3-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals to the New Jersey Devils. Messier offered a promise to the New York Rangers. There would be a game seven. In a do-or-die game six, the Ranger captain had a hat trick, making good on his word.

From that point on, it seemed like fate only had one team in mind that could lift that storied trophy. After beating the Devils in game seven, the Rangers went back to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Vancouver Canucks. We all know how it ended, with the Rangers lifting the cup for the first time since 1940. It remains the longest amount of time between Stanley Cups today, but that will be passed if the Maple Leafs ever win the cup again

Messier departed in free agency to the Vancouver Canucks. He would be back a few years later, where the Messier trade tree with San Jose comes from. However, that isn’t part of this, so moving on to Jeff Beukeboom. Beukeboom spent eight years in New York, scoring 18 goals and 72 assists for 90 points, but he was here to fight with 1157 penalty minutes during his time in New York.

Beukeboom won the 1994 Stanley Cup in New York, but he was never traded, retiring as a Ranger at the end of the 1998-99 season. It’s a brisk end to the New York side of this deal, but if you have ever wondered what became of what the Rangers gave up to acquire the Messiah, let’s jump into it.

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