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Stralman for Boyle "stands as the worst personnel decision" of Sather's GM Tenure


Phil

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Why did the Rangers walk away from Anton Stralman after the 2014 Stanley Cup (finals) run? I firmly believe Stralman being in Tampa and (Mats) Zuccarello being injured were the difference in Tampa beating the Rangers in 7 to advance to the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals. ? Jason Abraham

 

Glen Sather, then the GM, had lusted after Dan Boyle for years and had tried to get him numerous times from Tampa Bay before he was dealt to San Jose after 2007-08. He became a free agent following 2013-14. Stralman, who had emerged as a top-four staple the previous three seasons, also hit free agency at the same time. But Sather zoned in on Boyle while essentially eschewing negotiations with Stralman.

 

Hence, Boyle, who rejected a higher offer from the Islanders, signed a two-year deal worth $4.5 million per while Stralman signed a four-year deal with the Lightning for the same $4.5 million per.

 

Boyle, who liked to carry the puck, was a poor fit for Alain Vigneault?s system in which defensemen were instructed to make the quick first pass. He complained about it through his two seasons in New York in which he produced mixed results on the third pair while Stralman ascended in Tampa Bay.

 

Exchanging Stralman for Boyle stands as the worst personnel decision of Sather?s tenure as Rangers GM.

 

https://nypost.com/2020/06/16/glen-sathers-big-mistake-may-have-cost-rangers-another-cup-run/?utm_campaign=iosapp&utm_source=twitter_app

 

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Brooks has every reason to continue digging at Boyle given the personal animosity between the parties, but wow ? what a statement. Sather gave Wade Redden ? who didn't even make it through two full seasons as a Ranger ? $39 million dollars. But two years of Boyle was worse? In what universe?

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It was a terrible move, but no worse than the Redden, Gomez, and, frankly, Holik and Richards signings.

 

The 2014 team was a young team. Cap issues notwithstanding, Slats hastened the decline and the chance for more cups after that.

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It was a terrible move, but no worse than the Redden, Gomez, and, frankly, Holik and Richards signings.

 

The 2014 team was a young team. Cap issues notwithstanding, Slats hastened the decline and the chance for more cups after that.

 

I would argue it's worse than those simply because of the timing. We were a top 5 Cup contender, so the importance and weight of the decision was far greater. You have less room for a mistake.

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I firmly believe that if we have Stralman instead of Boyle we win a cup.

 

That may well be right. Irrespective of that, they probably would have won if they had not been decimated by injuries in the TB series (similar to the Flyers series in 1997). I will also add that not finding a way to keep Haglin really changed the character of the team and hastened the decline. We were never really a speed team after that.

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The Eric Staal signing always comes to mind when talking of failures to help win games. Whatta flop he was.

 

You mean the trade? He was bad, but they ?only? gave up 2 2nd rounders and Saarela (has 9 NHL games since the trade) for him, so not really that bad.

 

Not signing Stralman and instead signing Boyle was kinda the start of the blue line nightmare Rangers have had the last years. Struggled to replace Stralman as a top 6 D and Boyle was just horrible. Staal?s last good season was with Stralman aswell.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Blueshirts Brotherhood mobile app powered by Tapatalk

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One thing Boyle showed some potential at was limited duty up front on power plays (6 on 5 goal in TB series comes to mind). Overall, a tremendous bust who, at age 36, was already clearly in decline in SJ when we got him. If you took a poll of knowledgeable front office hockey people at the time of that signing, I think a large majority would have given that signing a thumbs down.

 

Speaking of Boyles, not signing Brian was another big mistake. Should have just told him he could have a shot playing center. He was so important in protecting leads in all of for a team that was fairly low scoring and Hank dependent.

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