NHL Trade Deadline; Rangers trade away the farm

The Rangers most certainly had a fire…….sale this past trade deadline.  They started their fire sale on Feb. 6th with their trade of Cody McLeod for a 7th round pick.  They made a couple of minor league loves over the next few days then the big pieces of Rangers’ past started to fall.

Mats Zuccarello was the first big piece to go, being shipped off to Dallas for a 2019 conditional second round pick and a 2020 conditional third round pick.  Zucc was the biggest name being shipped off, as he was an integral part of the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals run and a fan favorite.  One of his favorite teammates Henrik Lundqvist couldn’t even answer questions when asked about his former Scandinavian friend;

After Zucc was dealt, the Rangers made two other large trades.  One was the most obvious, shipping off pending UFA Kevin Hayes to the Winnipeg Jets for Brendan Lemieux, a 2019 first round pick and a 2022 conditional fourth round pick.  The other was sending Adam McQuaid to Columbus for Julius Bergman, a 2019 fourth round pick and a 2019 seventh round pick.

It was a somber day in Rangers country.  After last season’s letter to the fans from GM Jeff Gorton, it was clear that a lot of the familiar faces over the Rangers past five seasons would be traded or let go.  This team is completely different from what it was just a few years ago and they’re moving in a new direction.  New Head Coach David Quinn is trying to instill a hard-nosed mentality on a young team and so far the Rangers have had mixed success.  It’s sad to see some of those faces go, but it’s time to move on.