You would remember the Purge of 2004 a little bit differently if the Rangers had emerged with a haul featuring their first- or second-line center for the next dozen years. It not only could have been that way, but it should have been that way.
The Blueshirts should have had Travis Zajac as part of the return for Brian Leetch.
Let’s rewind to the Dark Ages. Fourteen seasons ago, the collection of mercenaries the Ranger$ had bribed to come to New York were about to miss the playoffs for the seventh straight season, the organization was in a deep state of disrepair, and general manager Glen Sather used the deadline to auction off every spare part that wasn’t nailed down to the deck of his sinking ship.
Other than Leetch, who turned 36 on the very day his 17-season Broadway run ended with his trade to Toronto, the Blueshirts had little of value on hand. Alex Kovalev, whose Act II in New York was a worse sequel than “Grease 2,” went to Montreal; Petr Nedved and Jussi Markkanen went to Edmonton; Chris Simon to Calgary; Matt Barnaby to Colorado; Vladimir Malakhov to Philadelphia; Greg de Vries to Ottawa; and Martin Rucinsky to Vancouver.
The Blueshirts came away with seven draft picks plus a raft of forgettable throw-ins (no offense, Steve Valiquette). One draft pick was used on Brandon Dubinsky, another was used on Michael Sauer, who was embarking on a very promising career before it was ended 19 games into his second season by a concussion-inducing check from Dion Phaneuf, and another was used in a trade to move up and select Marc Staal.
So, Staal, Dubinsky, Sauer.
Not terrible.
Leetch was completing the third season of a four-year deal, but his value was diminished by the looming lockout that threatened (and claimed) 2004-05 and turned No. 2 into a virtual rental property. There just weren’t all that many bidders. The Bruins expressed interest in dealing for Leetch and Eric Lindros, who had been cleared to return from the concussion he had suffered weeks earlier on the hit from Jason Doig, but fate intervened.
Lindros suffered a season-ending shoulder injury shooting pucks before practice. (No, really). Boston, wanting more than just a blue-line rental, acquired Sergei Gonchar instead of Leetch, and Sather then turned to Toronto, who sent a No. 1, a No. 2, young defenseman Maxim Kondratiev (rather than the more renowned Carlo Colaiacovo, and who was traded for Petr Sykora) and a prospect/suspect in the middle named Jarkko Immonen, who was not be confused with Dwight Helminen. Or maybe he was.
The Rangers then dealt the first-rounder (No. 24) from Toronto, plus the No. 46 selection, a compensatory pick they’d gained by renouncing the rights to R.J. Umberger they’d obtained in exchange for Rucinsky, to Calgary for the 19th pick in the draft.
Where Zajac was available.
But the Rangers selected Lauri Korpikoski.
Immediately before the Devils took Zajac.
“We got the sleeper in the draft,” said then-assistant general manager Don Maloney.
Unfortunately, the Rangers, who previously had come away with Al Montoya at No. 6 in perhaps the weakest Nos. 6-12 in entry-draft history, woke up to reality a little too late.
Again: If you trade a quasi-rental Leetch plus spare parts and come away with Zajac, Staal, Dubinsky and Sauer, you haven’t done badly at all.
When you come away with Korpikoski instead, you haven’t done great.
Which brings us to the moral of this story, which is: It isn’t merely what the Rangers come back with this time while divesting inventory of a much higher quality, it is what they do with the return that will determine the success of this sell-off.
Anyone can collect draft choices. The trick is use them wisely.
If Al Arbour could routinely pull Mike Bossy from third-period defensive-zone faceoffs in tight games, as the coach did through the first two years of No. 22’s career, then you’ll excuse me if I don’t obsess over Doug Weight sitting Mat Barzal for the final few minutes of a February game against Calgary.
Which reminds me. You have never seen a death stare if you didn’t see the one John MacLean trained on Jacques Lemaire when the Devils coach pulled the winger from a D-zone draw late in a one-goal game in the 1994-95 first Cup season. I mean, from the circle to the bench.
With Patrik Elias’ No. 26 going up in its glory next Saturday in Newark, Johnny Mac’s 15 is the one that is — and likely forevermore will be — missing from the rafters.
So Taylor Hall brought a 16-game point-scoring streak (11-13=24) into Saturday’s match at Tampa Bay, except no he didn’t, because the NHL is the only one of the four major pro sports leagues to allow achievement streaks to be interrupted by injury or missed contests.
And as Hall — who may well be the Metropolitan Division’s MVP — missed the three games leading into the All-Star break with a hand issue, No. 9 is recognized as on a nine-game streak, because of course, of course, nothing sells like putting obstacles in the way of setting offense-oriented records.
Who was that threat to Conor McDavid’s speed-skating crown racing up and down the ice at the Rangers’ practice rink? Why, it was Chris Kreider, who mentioned that he’d lost 25 pounds in the aftermath of his blood clot.
“I feel like the young Chris Kreider,” No. 20 said Friday. “Lightest since my freshman year at Boston College. I’m fast.”
Wonder how receptive the Candy Canes would be to an offer built around J.T. Miller for Justin Faulk or Noah Hanifin?
The Rangers, of course, have already had the Other Justin Falk. No one ever had more of the Others than the Devils of the early years, as in Aaron (not Neal) Broten; Jeff (not Steve) Larmer; and, of course, Rocky (not Bryan) Trottier.
Other than that, no problem.
This just in. The Oscars will have Garth Snow announce the Best Picture nomination for “Three Billboards.”