Kick save and a beauty Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Was thinking about this last night before the game and I am interested to see what other names people come up with. The idea is to name players who were Rangers, who we let get away through trades or via free agency and who ultimately overperformed significantly for other teams. In other words, if we had the ability to do the decision over again, players who we might not have let get away from us at all and/or players who we would have asked for much much more in compensation. In most cases the salary cap ramification of keeping them around were part of the decision but I would would like to leave that part out of it. I am just talking about players who went elsewhere and then blossomed into much higher impact players beyond what we thought was possible at the time. My list. JT Miller - Legit NHL star and team leader. If we knew he would be this good we would have and should have found a way to keep him. Pavel Buchnevich - Yeah I know there was a salary cap crunch coming and we needed to get grittier as a team but man, he has been way way better in St. Louis than I ever thought he would be. The fact that Blais was a complete bust here is salt in the wound. I know there are plenty of others but those are the two that currently stick out in my mind. Who am I missing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 I didn't want them to trade Miller, but to be fair it took him two or three years after he left to really find his game and he's been a perfect fit in Vancouver after kind of being the same with Tampa as he was with us. So, I don't fault them too much for dealing him, even though I didn't want them to anyway. The Buchnevich trade was just a huge bust all around and Drury's worst move by far. GMs make mistakes, it happens, and unfortunately it was a rather costly one. How nice would it be to have him here considering how thin we are in that position? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Vladamir Tarasenko....should've had him from Day 1, and fucked it all up! Old school: Doug Weight/Rick Middleton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuddyInTheMiddle Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 I thought that Zuccarello was going to fall off given age and size, but he seems to have only gotten better. Besides the obvious ones listed above I would add him with the asterisk that hindsight is 20/20. Can't say that about Buchnevich and Miller. I was pissed on Day 1 of the Buch trade(still kind of am), but with Miller even if kept being what he was with us and Tampa is there a need to go out and sign Trocheck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangersIn7 Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 I don’t have a problem with them moving Miller. Hes reputedly a jerk and not good in the locker room. At least not 6 years ago when they were going into a rebuild. I can say any host of names vs Jessiman from 2003 Draft. Tarasenko in 2010 for certain. And I don’t know if this qualifies…. But Alexei Cherepanov. Tragic. And by all accounts he had NHL Star written all over him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooksBurner Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 13 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said: I didn't want them to trade Miller, but to be fair it took him two or three years after he left to really find his game and he's been a perfect fit in Vancouver after kind of being the same with Tampa as he was with us. So, I don't fault them too much for dealing him, even though I didn't want them to anyway. The Buchnevich trade was just a huge bust all around and Drury's worst move by far. GMs make mistakes, it happens, and unfortunately it was a rather costly one. How nice would it be to have him here considering how thin we are in that position? The Tampa point is big. I don't blame the Rangers when Tampa obviously saw the same warts the Rangers did. Then Tampa went on to win 2 Cups right after trading him, so hard to fault the thought process. JT Miller was a pretty one dimensional player with a lot of bad tendencies in my view. Credit to him for finding his stride in his prime w/ Vancouver. I hated the Buchnevich trade since day one. The cap wasn't an issue yet. It was a problem that didn't have to be solved that summer unless the deal was good. The deal wasn't good. Even if Blais actually turned out to be a quality, rugged 35 point player on our 3rd line, you don't trade a two way forward headed into his prime who was already right on the cusp of being a PPG player for that. Giant mistake. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Jesper Fast. Rangers hard balled him over an extra year only to walk him right to free agency where he signed $2M x 3 with CAR. They spent three+ years trying to replace him, and you can draw a direct line from this decision to a number of poor decisions the org made in trying to fill that hole they dug themselves. 1 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siddious Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, Phil said: Jesper Fast. Rangers hard balled him over an extra year only to walk him right to free agency where he signed $2M x 3 with CAR. They spent three+ years trying to replace him, and you can draw a direct line from this decision to a number of poor decisions the org made in trying to fill that hole they dug themselves. False. Didn’t we recently find out Fast got the deal he wanted and still went to the Canes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Just now, siddious said: False. Didn’t we recently find out Fast got the deal he wanted and still went to the Canes? That's news to me, if so. Got a link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kick save and a beauty Posted November 30, 2023 Author Share Posted November 30, 2023 10 minutes ago, Phil said: Jesper Fast. Rangers hard balled him over an extra year only to walk him right to free agency where he signed $2M x 3 with CAR. They spent three+ years trying to replace him, and you can draw a direct line from this decision to a number of poor decisions the org made in trying to fill that hole they dug themselves. Jesper was my favorite Ranger at the time of the trade and if he were still here I would have been hard pressed as to which Jersey to pick. As it stands the choice of getting a Lindgren jersey made up was pretty simple for me. Fast reminded me so much of Jan Erixon, one of my all time favorite Rangers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew a Penalty Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 24 minutes ago, Phil said: Jesper Fast. Rangers hard balled him over an extra year only to walk him right to free agency where he signed $2M x 3 with CAR. They spent three+ years trying to replace him, and you can draw a direct line from this decision to a number of poor decisions the org made in trying to fill that hole they dug themselves. This. This. And This. Fast led them to overspending on Goodrow for the same role which priced Buchnevich out. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrooksBurner Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 2 minutes ago, Phil said: Jesper Fast. Rangers hard balled him over an extra year only to walk him right to free agency where he signed $2M x 3 with CAR. They spent three+ years trying to replace him, and you can draw a direct line from this decision to a number of poor decisions the org made in trying to fill that hole they dug themselves. It still makes me shake my head. When you talk about a guy who embodies being the hardest worker on a team, setting an example for the rest of the guys, and being in that Jimmy Vesey mold in terms of being talented enough to slot up if you need it and it won't kill you...you're talking about Jesper Fast. The great thing about guys like Fast is that it doesn't matter if you are rebuilding or competing for a Stanley Cup, they are excellent to have on the roster. The only time you should be dumping it is if 1) they cost too much for too long (see: Goodrow), or 2) you're rebuilding and a return via trade is too good. The time you absolutely don't dump that kind of player is when he costs $2 million a season for 4 years or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 7 minutes ago, Drew a Penalty said: This. This. And This. Fast led them to overspending on Goodrow for the same role which priced Buchnevich out. Overspending on someone who's probably inferior anyway. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albatrosss Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Buch trade definitely hurts in recent memory. But how about Zubov trade? Pretty sure that trade did Smith in as a GM in this league. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Just now, Albatrosss said: Buch trade definitely hurts in recent memory. But how about Zubov trade? Pretty sure that trade did Smith in as a GM in this league. Well, we're talking more current, but that Zubov trade is a top two or three worst trade in Rangers history, and up there in NHL history too. lol 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbob Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 There's been plenty of bad moves in our history but for me it is the McDonagh and Miller deal as the biggest bust and hated it at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 3 minutes ago, mbob said: There's been plenty of bad moves in our history but for me it is the McDonagh and Miller deal as the biggest bust and hated it at the time. Yeah, I hated trading McDonagh. I know they were wanting to 'rebuild', but McDongh was a pillar you just don't get rid of, in my opinion. I was okay with everyone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuddyInTheMiddle Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 11 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said: Yeah, I hated trading McDonagh. I know they were wanting to 'rebuild', but McDongh was a pillar you just don't get rid of, in my opinion. I was okay with everyone else. I did not have an issue with the McDonaugh side of that trade. He was a dininishing asset that you were going to have to overpay for what he had done, instead of what he was going to do for the next 6 years. Tampa happily paid him for that diminishing production during their Cup window, and then had no issue exerting their control over him by getting him to waive his NMC as soon as they had someone in place who could do what he did for much less money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valriera Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 The Buchnevich and Fast situations are the ones that come to mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 8 minutes ago, MuddyInTheMiddle said: I did not have an issue with the McDonaugh side of that trade. He was a dininishing asset that you were going to have to overpay for what he had done, instead of what he was going to do for the next 6 years. Tampa happily paid him for that diminishing production during their Cup window, and then had no issue exerting their control over him by getting him to waive his NMC as soon as they had someone in place who could do what he did for much less money. Fair enough. Maybe my fandom clouds the better judgement with him, although still not a fan of it. The worst of it was definitely the return, though. Holy crap was it bad. Yzerman took Gorton to town on that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuc Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Only one answer here... 2 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuddyInTheMiddle Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 1 minute ago, Sharpshooter said: Fair enough. Maybe my fandom clouds the better judgement with him, although still not a fan of it. The worst of it was definitely the return, though. Holy crap was it bad. Yzerman took Gorton to town on that one. Exactly. The return I think is what everyone should get caught up on. They really needed to get Sergachev back(even if that involved taking less assets back) or not make the trade in the first place. I know that it was a fire sale at the time and but with still a year on his contract left, they had time to look for a much better deal than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Just now, MuddyInTheMiddle said: Exactly. The return I think is what everyone should get caught up on. They really needed to get Sergachev back(even if that involved taking less assets back) or not make the trade in the first place. I know that it was a fire sale at the time and but with still a year on his contract left, they had time to look for a much better deal than that. Even someone a bit lesser than a Sergachev would have been great compared to what they got back. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phillyb Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 Mats Zuccarello should have been a lifelong Ranger. God, I fucking miss honey badger. This is such an interesting topic cause there are so many players that this organization "gives up on" that end up playing well for other franchises. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpshooter Posted November 30, 2023 Share Posted November 30, 2023 I didn't have an issue with them letting Zuc go. I loved him, but I wouldn't have given him that contract at the time. To his credit he's become an excellent player, but we didn't have a guy like Kaprisov either, which has certainly helped him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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