The Purge at the 2004 Trade Deadline...

With a 2-week lull between the Stanley Cup Finals and the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, it's time to look back on what happened in March of 2004 during the week of the trade deadline. I wanted to post this around this year's deadline, but there was a lot of action going around and it would've gotten lost in the flood.

It seemed every time I looked online, or at ESPNews, or in the newspaper, they made another deal. (Remember, no beat writers had blogs back then, and this delicious website wasn't around for another 4 years.) In total, 7 Ranger trades were made in that week...

March 2, 2004
- Alex Kovalev to Montreal for Jozef Balej and 2004 2nd round pick.
:: A great move to dump Kovalev's high salary before the cap was implemented, as essentially this was a cap-saving move. Balej should've been great. He had a goal and 4 assists in 13 games with NY and 16 points in 16 during the AHL playoffs, but his lockout year was very poor in the AHL. Balej was eventually sent to the Canucks for Fedor Fedorov, who eventually became a punchline and an empty roster spot.

The 2nd rounder became Dane Byers. Byers was hurt much of this year (7 points, 9 games) but his past season stats and scouting reports suggest he'd be a replacement for Blair Betts if Betts doesn't return. He might have a decent NHL career but will never be a superstar. (I have also heard Byers' name as a possible replacement to Colton Orr - a grinder with better hockey skills than Orr - but it was purely speculation.)

March 3, 2004
- Petr Nedved and Jussi Markkanen to Edmonton for Dwight Helminen, Steve Valiquette, and 2nd round pick in 2004.
:: Nedved did good in Edmonton but they didn't make the playoffs and he never played there again. Markkanen played in Game 7 of the Finals in 2005-06.

Valiquette was a throw-in here. He was a big goalie with not much skill but he was re-signed as Henrik Lundqvist's backup because he was cheap. Benoit Allaire also helped a lot with him, and he has become a dedicated Ranger and a solid backup when called upon, especially against the Flyers.

Helminen is now a bubble player with Carolina, being called up when injury strikes. Not a big loss with him not in the Rangers system.

That draft pick became Brandon Dubinsky, one of the bright spots in the Rangers' future, regardless of his inability to hit the back of the net for long stretches at a time.

- Brian Leetch to Toronto for Jarkko Immonen, Maxim Kondratiev, 1st round pick in '04, 2nd round pick in '05.
:: A king's ransom for the greatest American defenseman of all-time that didn't really pan out for either team. Toronto traded their futures for Leetch (and Ron Francis) and lost in the 2nd round of the playoffs.

Immonen was slow and underutilized by Tom Renney, scored 8 points in 20 games (aka Chris Drury numbers, quick, sign Immonen for 5 years!), and now plays overseas.

Kondratiev was a bust and quite frankly not NHL material. He was traded to Anaheim in January of 2006 for Petr Sykora, which was a great move for the Rangers. Sykora went 15-16-31 in 40 games and loved his time as a Ranger. This would have been considered a strong move if he was re-signed, but despite waiting until August to hear from GM Glen Sather, he never wore Rangers blue again.

The 1st round pick in 2004 was Lauri Korpikoski, who shows some good moves sometimes, but is either too slow, too mis-used, or not 1st round material. He could be, and I might be wrong. Next year is a big point for him, as other 1st rounders that year are already materializing. Korpikoski was picked at 19th. Still available at that point: Travis Zajac (20th), Wojtek Wolski (21), and Mike Green (29).

The 2005 2nd rounder was Mike Sauer, a good AHL player who had a cup of coffee with the big club this year. He looks to be trade-bait with a depth of good D-men in the system already (Staal, Girardi, Sanguenetti, Del Zotto, Potter) and two big contracts taking up space in the NHL (Redden, Rozsival).

March 6, 2004
- Chris Simon to Calgary for Blair Betts, Greg Moore, Jamie McLennan
:: The Rangers needed a goalie to play out the season with Markkanen gone, and McLennan played in 4 of those games, going 1-3. After that season, he played 19 more NHL games in 2 years and retired after a season in the Asian Hockey League. Yes, Asian. He went 8-4 in the Orient and decided to hang 'em up.

Moore probably won't get a real shot in the NHL, but he is a good asset to have and has played admirably when called up.

Betts, well, you know Betts. Best penalty killer in the league, good centerman, not terribly offensive, good team player, never complains, took a cheap shot in the playoffs and broke his face.

- Vladimir Malakhov to Philadelphia for Rick Kozak, 2nd round pick in 2005.
:: Malakhov's stats decreased from the Rangers to Flyers to Devils, and he eventually left the NHL. Kozak never did anything in any league, and now plays in England.

That draft pick got moved around a lot and eventually became Marc-Andre Cliche, who was traded to the Kings in March 2007 for Sean Avery.

March 8, 2004
- Matthew Barnaby and a 3rd round pick in '04 for David Liffiton, Chris McAllister, and a 2nd round pick in '04.
:: McAllister was a decent NHL player who played in the NHL for the last time in 03-04. Liffiton is currently playing in Denmark after 3 career NHL games with the Rangers.

The draft pick was traded to Florida and the Rangers eventually drafted Bruce Graham out of it, who is currently in the ECHL after never doing well in Hartford.

March 9, 2004
On the actual day of the deadline, the Rangers only made two moves.

- Greg de Vries traded to Ottawa for Karel Rachunek and Alex Giroux.
:: It was obvious that de Vries wasn't going to be back after the lockout, and he had horrible numbers (15 points in 53 games, which by the 08-09 standards would've been phenomenal), so he was shipped for a roster player and a prospect. Rachunek played in Russia during 05-06, but came back in 06-07, and most Rangers fans agree he should've stayed. He had 20 assists but was absolutely atrocious defensively.

Giroux, however, was let go during the summer of 2006 and signed with Washington. He then went to Atlanta and was traded back to Washington, and he has lit it up in the AHL. He had 28 points in 22 games in Hershey's march to the AHL title, and he had 60 goals in 69 games during the regular season. The Rangers probably should've held on to this guy instead of signing "talent" such as Mitch Fritz. Giroux broke Brett Hull's record for most consecutive games with a goal when he scored in 15 straight games. He won the AHL MVP as well.

- Martin Rucinsky traded to Vancouver for R.J. Umberger and Martin Grenier.
:: Rucinsky was a true rental for Vancouver as he returned to Broadway after the lockout and had great numbers in an injury-riddled season (55 points in 52 games). He did nothing in the playoffs (2 in 7) for the Canucks. Grenier played in Hartford, Charlotte, and 3 games for the Flyers, and now is in the KHL.

Umberger, however, was another prospect who went away. In 07-08, he had 50 points in Philadelphia in 74 games before falling to 46 in a full season with Columbus this year. Still, he would've been good to have on board as a center and maybe the Rangers wouldn't have gone out on 7/1/07 and spent $14M on 2 overrated centers.

Overall
Isn't that how it always works with the Rangers? The crappy players stay and the good talent is let go. That explains why Marc Savard is now in Boston (he was traded for Jan Hlavac and the pick that became Jamie Freakin' Lundmark). It also explains why, at one point, Dale Purinton was the most-tenured Ranger.

The best trades for the Rangers were getting Brandon Dubinsky and Steve Valiquette for Nedved/Markkanen, and ditching the dead weight of Simon for Blair Betts, who has helped offensively-challenged teams by keeping the other teams from scoring. Besides Henrik Lundqvist, Betts is the one most responsible for those 2-1 wins.

The worst was sending Barnaby away for Liffiton, McAllister, and Graham. Not that losing Barnaby was a huge disadvantage, but they basically got nothing for him - 2 mid-level prospects and a retiring veteran to play out the season.

I have no interesting way to end this, because it's late and I've been working all day, so I will just like to remind everyone that the Rangers actually traded Brian Leetch for Maxim Kondratiev. Hell, I wouldn't even trade a retired Leetch for Kondratiev!

Don't Buy!...

As we all know, the NHL Deadline will be here Wednesday at 3, formerly Tuesday at 3 p.m. but since there was a big slate of games on Tuesday, they pushed it back to a more open day.

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.

Who Are These Guys?...

ISLANDERS and RANGERS Blog by ZACH

Tell me if these names sound familiar...

Joel Bouchard, Jozef Balej, Josh Green, Mike Green, Chad Wiseman, Cory Larose, Chris McAllister, Mike Siklenka, Richard Scott, Jamie Pushor, Ken Gernander, Ben Dusablon, Layne Ulmer.

If you are an Islanders fan, of course not. If you are a Rangers fan, they probably bring back horrific memories that you thought you forgot. I apologize.

Now, how about these names...

Steve Regier, Rob Davison, Matthew Spiller, Joey MacDonald, Tim Jackman.

The first group of names is who the Rangers finished off the 2003-04 season with, after the Lindros Concussion against Washington and the Great Purge saw names like Leetch, Nedved, Kovalev, Rucinsky, de Vries, Barnaby, Malakhov, and yes, Simon, traded away. A group of no-names (as well as Jaromir Jagr and then-rookies Fedor Tyutin, Jed Ortmeyer, and Dominic Moore) just took up places on a roster so that the Rangers could put a group on ice so they could sell $5.50 hot dogs and $8.25 Labatt Blues.

This year, the Islanders are doing basically the same thing, mostly due to injuries. Reading the morning papers and seeing unfamiliar names reminds me of the darkest days of the Rangers, from March 3, 2004 until October 5, 2005, when Jamie Lundmark, Marcel Hossa, and Jason Strudwick scored on opening night.

Did the Rangers get through it? Yes, but only after Mark Messier's final game was played with Sandy McCarthy and Dale Purinton on the ice congratulating him.

Will the Islanders? Eventually, yes. Kyle Okposo has a bright future. But next year should be a rebuilding year as well. Just like Miro Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko, and Josef Vasicek should have been shipped at the deadline for some picks in a deep draft, next year's deadline should see Mike Comrie, Bill Guerin, Mike Sillinger, and Brendan Witt traded.

A few more years of them looking like competitor's until Christmas until they fade away will do nothing for the fan base. Who would support building a new arena or going to it if they haven't cared about the team in years? Who would support the inevitable price increase in delicious pretzel twists or crappy cheesesteaks if there is no one there to buy them?

The Rangers got through it, and the Isles can as well. They just need time to rebuild. Next season they should have already decided on doing that, and maybe the season after they could be last year's Penguins - young, hungry, and surprisingly good.