What Other Teams Were Interested in Mark Messier in '91?

[Rangers1994]

In 1991, what other teams, besides the Rangers, were trying to trade for Mark Messier?

[RangersIn7]

https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/all-time-mark-messier-trade-got-rangers-right-player-at-right-time/amp/

 

Mess asked to come to NY.

Didn’t want to really go anywhere else. He was due a big deal at that point, Edmonton wasn’t going to give it to him, and he asked Slats to move him to the Rangers.

 

I know of not other teams involved. 

[Rangers1994]

2 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

https://nypost.com/2020/06/09/all-time-mark-messier-trade-got-rangers-right-player-at-right-time/amp/

 

Mess asked to come to NY.

Didn’t want to really go anywhere else. He was due a big deal at that point, Edmonton wasn’t going to give it to him, and he asked Slats to move him to the Rangers.

 

I know of not other teams involved. 

 

That's not what I asked.  I asked what other teams were interested in trading for Mess back in 1991?

[RangersIn7]

Only 22 teams in the league that fall. 
How many would and could pay him the deal he was seeking?

Probably not more than 4-5. 

Those are really the only

logical places. Cause he wasn’t going anywhere without a big extension. And the whole league knew it. 

 

Toronto probably.

Montreal.

Boston maybe. 
Philly.

And another 1-2 places

 

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by RangersIn7

[The Dude]

25 minutes ago, Rangers1994 said:

 

That's not what I asked.  I asked what other teams were interested in trading for Mess back in 1991?

 

I'd have to think LA probably poked around, with Gretzky arriving there in 88, with hopes of getting the Kings a championship.  

Edited August 14, 2023 by The Dude

[RangersIn7]

Spoiler

5 minutes ago, The Dude said:

 

I'd have to think LA probably poked around, with Gretzky arriving there in 88, with hopes of getting the Kings a championship.  

 

That’s possible I guess. But would they have paid him as well as Gretz?

And would they trade him in Conference???

 

Edited August 14, 2023 by RangersIn7

[Rangers1994]

8 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

Only 22 teams in the league that fall. 
How many would and could pay him the deal he was seeking?

Probably not more than 4-5. 

Those are really the only

logical places. Cause he wasn’t going anywhere without a big extension. And the whole league knew it. 

 

Toronto probably.

Montreal.

Boston maybe. 
Philly.

And another 1-2 places

 

 

 

I think the Blackhawks may have been interested too.

[RangersIn7]

1 minute ago, Rangers1994 said:

 

I think the Blackhawks may have been interested too.

No way “Dollar” Bill Wirtz would have paid him.

 

[RangersIn7]

The whole situation with Mess had to do with Edmonton cutting costs big, all right at that time, and Mess being foremost in that group. 
I don’t recall his full status, so don’t fully quote me, but as best I can recall he was essentially on an expiring contract and was looking for the kind of deal he eventually got, which was 5 years and like $12-15 million. 
There were only about 15-20 guys in the league making over $1 million at the time. Messier wanted more than double that and to be top 3 to 5 highest paid in the league. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by RangersIn7

[Rangers1994]

21 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

No way “Dollar” Bill Wirtz would have paid him.

 

 

Keenan would have moved Heaven and Earth together to bring Mess to Chicago.

[RangersIn7]

6 minutes ago, Rangers1994 said:

 

Keenan would have moved Heaven and Earth together to bring Mess to Chicago.

Wirtz got into a dispute over substantially less money with Steve Larmer just 18 or so months later, so I doubt it.

 

And would Mess have gone there, given Wirtz reputation? 

 

You asked the question in terms of interest or teams trying to trade for him.

Really, the trade went down in reverse.

They weren’t doing to extend Mess, cause they couldn’t really afford to. He wasn’t going to stay without an extension so they asked him where he wanted to go. And he told them, but it was going to be a hand picked destination with a new contract on the other end no matter what. 
 

There are only a handful of places he could’ve logically ended up. 

Edited August 14, 2023 by RangersIn7

[The Dude]

I want to say Philly was trying to get him too. Might have been mentioned in one of the 94 highlight videos. I'll check back tomorrow.  

[The Dude]

49 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

That’s possible I guess. But would they have paid him as well as Gretz?

And would they trade him in Conference???

 

They traded Gretzky and Mcsorley within conference.  Why not Messier?

 

I don't think money was an object at that time. They really wanted to get the West coast rolling with hockey.  

[RangersIn7]

2 minutes ago, The Dude said:

They traded Gretzky and Mcsorley within conference.  Why not Messier?

 

I don't think money was an object at that time. They really wanted to get the West coast rolling with hockey.  

Yes. I know.

As said, possibly LA. I certainly think you were pretty much only looking at a handful of big markets. And that’s it.

 

Would they have done it again though within the Division and Conference?

IDK. 

 

[RichieNextel305]

2 hours ago, Rangers1994 said:

 

That's not what I asked.  I asked what other teams were interested in trading for Mess back in 1991?

I’m sure any team. But the fact of the matter is Messier basically called the shots and told Sather he wanted to come to New York and Sather made it happen. It wasn’t like an auction. It was more or less Messier asking for the Rangers, and Sather and Smith working out the compensation. I really don’t remember ever hearing of other teams being in talks with Edmonton about him.

Edited August 14, 2023 by RichieNextel305

[RangersIn7]

8 hours ago, RichieNextel305 said:

I’m sure any team. But the fact of the matter is Messier basically called the shots and told Sather he wanted to come to New York and Sather made it happen. It wasn’t like an auction. It was more or less Messier asking for the Rangers, and Sather and Smith working out the compensation. I really don’t remember ever hearing of other teams being in talks with Edmonton about him.

Yup. I don’t at all remember any other team being mentioned or having any involvement.

Im sure other teams would’ve had interest had the deal with the Rangers fallen through. But it never got near that.
Mess was in full control from the beginning. 

Had the circumstances changed, it still would’ve been a handpicked destination by Mess. And there were only a small number of teams that could and would pay him. 

[RichieNextel305]

12 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

Yup. I don’t at all remember any other team being mentioned or having any involvement.

Im sure other teams would’ve had interest had the deal with the Rangers fallen through. But it never got near that.
Mess was in full control from the beginning. 

Had the circumstances changed, it still would’ve been a handpicked destination by Mess. And there were only a small number of teams that could and would pay him. 

Yeah. Like, it was different in 1997. When he was a free agent and eventually left for Vancouver, I remember there were rumors heavily linking him to the Flyers, which would have been a nightmare. He was angry with Ranger ownership so the thought of him being stubborn enough to head to Philly was real enough. I remember rumors about Lindros reaching out to him and whatnot. That would have really sucked.

 

And then, I remember during his final year in Vancouver, the Canucks and Devils basically had a trade worked out to ship him to the Meadowlands. The thought of him wearing a Devils jersey can still make me gag but I remember it well. And I basically came to terms with accepting it. I remember Brendan Morrison being part of the rumored package. Imagine that? Mark Messier as a New Jersey Devil? Woof.

Edited August 14, 2023 by RichieNextel305

[RangersIn7]

50 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said:

Yeah. Like, it was different in 1997. When he was a free agent and eventually left for Vancouver, I remember there were rumors heavily linking him to the Flyers, which would have been a nightmare. He was angry with Ranger ownership so the thought of him being stubborn enough to head to Philly was real enough. I remember rumors about Lindros reaching out to him and whatnot. That would have really sucked.

 

And then, I remember during his final year in Vancouver, the Canucks and Devils basically had a trade worked out to ship him to the Meadowlands. The thought of him wearing a Devils jersey can still make me gag but I remember it well. And I basically came to terms with accepting it. I remember Brendan Morrison being part of the rumored package. Imagine that? Mark Messier as a New Jersey Devil? Woof.

I never bought that narrative that he was pissed at Dolan or the organization, honestly. The contract he signed when they traded for him in 91 ran through the 95-96 season and he got a big bump on a 1 year deal for 96-97, IIRC, and they weren’t going to give him the kind of deal he got from Vancouver. If he was pissed, it was because they weren’t going to pay him and made that known to him. 
He was looking for the biggest payday possible in a desirable destination in 1997. And he knew he wasn’t getting that here. Plain and simple. That was his last top dollar payday. And he knew that too. He did well when he came back to the Rangers. But not as much as he’d gotten from Vancouver. 
 

[RichieNextel305]

23 minutes ago, RangersIn7 said:

I never bought that narrative that he was pissed at Dolan or the organization, honestly. The contract he signed when they traded for him in 91 ran through the 95-96 season and he got a big bump on a 1 year deal for 96-97, IIRC, and they weren’t going to give him the kind of deal he got from Vancouver. If he was pissed, it was because they weren’t going to pay him and made that known to him. 
He was looking for the biggest payday possible in a desirable destination in 1997. And he knew he wasn’t getting that here. Plain and simple. That was his last top dollar payday. And he knew that too. He did well when he came back to the Rangers. But not as much as he’d gotten from Vancouver. 
 

There was definitely a disconnect between him and the higher ups, notably Checketts. He felt slighted in 1995 after we won the Cup and those negotiations rolled on long enough that he nearly missed the first game of that shortened season and there were rumblings that a deal with STL for Hull was on the table. It got messy. He didn’t appreciate the way the Rangers handled it. And neither did the pillars on the team, like Leetch.

 

You can watch a lot of it and hear quotes here:

 

[RangersIn7]

33 minutes ago, RichieNextel305 said:

There was definitely a disconnect between him and the higher ups, notably Checketts. He felt slighted in 1995 after we won the Cup and those negotiations rolled on long enough that he nearly missed the first game of that shortened season and there were rumblings that a deal with STL for Hull was on the table. It got messy. He didn’t appreciate the way the Rangers handled it. And neither did the pillars on the team, like Leetch.

 

You can watch a lot of it and hear quotes here:

 

No, I do remember that.

Just saying that it was only ever over money. He wanted something like $20 million over 3 years at age 36-37. 

[BrooksBurner]

What's with all the threads about the early 90s?

[RangersIn7]

46 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

What's with all the threads about the early 90s?

It’s August and nothing is going on. 

[LindG1000]

49 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

What's with all the threads about the early 90s?

A concerted effort to remind you of the last time you were a good beatwriter.

 

[BrooksBurner]

4 minutes ago, LindG1000 said:

A concerted effort to remind you of the last time you were a good beatwriter.

 

 

I've got underwear from the early 90s that know more about hockey than you do.

[LindG1000]

2 minutes ago, BrooksBurner said:

 

I've got underwear from the early 90s that know more about hockey than you do.

 

Well that's an image I'll need to drink to blackout if I'm ever going to forget.