The Rangers, by and large, always buy, with the rare exception of 2004, when they had to get rid of contracts because of the upcoming salary cap. That year, they dumped Petr Nedved, Greg de Vries, Vladimir Malakhov, Brian Leetch, Chris Simon, Jussi Markkanen, Matthew Barnaby, and Martin Rucinsky for prospects, picks, Blair Betts, and Steve Valiquette. (I will have a post on this later in the week).
In 2006, they traded Ville Nieminen for a draft pick, then used that pick to get Sandis Ozolinsh, who, during the first round against New Jersey, did more damage to the Rangers than Jaromir Jagr's shoulder or Henrik Lundqvist's teeth-grinding-induced headaches did.
In 2007, Aaron Ward got shipped off for Paul Mara. They also traded Pascal Dupuis (formerlly Adam Hall) to Atlanta for Alex Bourret (since traded away). A pick also exchanged hands in the Atlanta trade, but I don't know who received it. I think it was a 3rd rounder.
Last year, Christian Backman came to the club for a 4th-round pick. No, he wasn't good, but he did add depth and it was cheap.
This year, the team needs more than a mediocre defenseman. They already have Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival, Eric Reitz, and Dmitri Kalinin playing that role.
Yet, what they do need will be expensive, and to be honest, won't work.
With the exception of Carolina picking up Doug Weight and Mark Recchi in the months leading up to the 2006 playoffs, trade deadline deals don't always equal a sip from the Cup. (Carolina also never should've won the Cup. They got lucky against Buffalo, who was tired from a grueling series against Ottawa, and if Dwayne Roloson didn't go down in Game 1 vs. Edmonton, the Oilers would have won easily.)
What the Rangers SHOULD do is more like what they did in 2007. Trade money-for-money, as in ditching Aaron Voros for someone cheaper (maybe even an expiring contract), or trading a big name player like Redden for someone young and cheap. Of course, Redden won't be going anywhere. Other GMs aren't going to fall for him like Glen Sather unfortunately did.
I like Nigel Dawes, but he is going to be a RFA, so maybe he can be moved to a team looking for forward depth for a pick or a young prospect, like Dupuis was.
The Rangers probably will try to make a big splash, maybe moving pieces around to try to get Jay Bouwmeester. Bad move. Don't trade the future to have him for a month. Trade the present to try to get him in the summer for nothing but money.
I hope the Rangers don't deplete themselves like they did in the late-90s until 2003 at the deadline. Reason says they will not win the Cup this year. They might make the playoffs (probably will), may even eek out a win in the first round and be competitive in the 2nd, but their collection of 2nd line centers and 2nd pairing defensemen won't win them any silver in June.
Glen Sather doesn't read this blog, that's for sure. If he did, we wouldn't be suffering with Wade "I scored a goal!" Redden for the next 5 years. But let's hope he uses common sense, realizes the reasonable expectations for this team he assembled, and looks towards the future.
Hockey's Future ranks the Rangers' system as 24th in the NHL. That said, they have a couple of prospects they probably could trade. This would leave them completely screwed in the future, but when has that stopped the Rangers in the past? My gut feeling is they're going to try and buy - they could easily get hot in the playoffs thanks to Lundqvist and find themselves in the third round. And if they get a sniper, it very well could happen. Or at least, that's what the Rangers will convince themselves is possible.
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