From Rags to Brad Richards

Perhaps above all else, New York Rangers General Manager and occasional Coach Glen Sather has proven that first impressions aren’t always the most important. We have arrived at a point where, almost unbelievably, Sather’s tenure with the organization may very well be remembered fondly by Rangers fans.

This was not a conclusion that Blueshirts' followers would have ever thought possible, and yet here we are, 11 years removed from his arrival, 7 years removed from his blasphemous trade of fan favorite and Hall of Fame Defenseman Brian Leetch; and Glen Sather has built a program that has the opportunity to produce a winning tradition for many years to come.

From the outside looking in, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of evidence to support this contention. The team has not seen the second round of the playoffs for the past three seasons, and 2011 saw them leave the playoffs after just five games.

If these were the only barometers of success then Sather’s chances of being remembered fondly would be dubious at best of course. However, there are other measurements, very significant measurements, that must be taken into account as well.

Thanks to solid, sometimes spectacular drafting, as well as some very shrewd transactions, the Rangers will be both young and talented on each side of the puck heading into the 2011-2012 season. Offensively, they will enter the season with an average age of their forwards being in the range of 27 years old, and that’s after adding 31 year-olds Brad Richards (more to come on him soon) and Mike Rupp.

Should some of their younger offensive prospects crack the lineup, such as Christian Thomas, Mats Zuccarello, or even Carl Hagelin, then the team will see that average drop. In the years to come these youngsters, and the remaining veterans as well, will face stiff competition from projected first-liners currently in the system; players like Chris Kreider, JT Miller, Ryan Bourque, Jesper Fasth, and Oscar Lindberg.

All of these prospects are generally recognized by independent evaluators to be legitimate, to varying degrees. Furthermore, standouts such as Kreider and Thomas have proven on both the international and domestic stages that they have the goods to be considered future impact players. Time will tell, of course, but it has been quite some time since the Rangers have boasted such a deep pool of future snipers and playmakers.

Defensively, the organization is positively stacked. At the NHL level they have a truly talented and extremely young (average age of 24) core four in Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Michael Sauer, and Ryan McDonagh. Despite being Rookies in 2010-2011, both Sauer and McDonagh proved conclusively that they can thrive at the NHL level.

Staal and Girardi, with more years under their belts, clearly demonstrated that they are a formidable number one pair as they consistently shut down top opposing lines and players throughout the season and into the playoffs as well. In addition, all of these players have shown signs of being sufficiently productive offensively, with Staal, Girardi, and McDonagh all being capable point men on the power play.

As impressive as these 4 young defensemen have proven themselves to be, the Rangers have to also feel very good about a number of D-men in the system that could very easily step in this year or next. Again, as a result of some very good drafting and some shrewd transactions, Sather and his staff have amassed a group of young defensemen that could either make a mark at the pro level with the Rangers or serve as valuable trade chips down the road.

These include Michael Del Zotto, already with a full year of NHL experience under his belt, Tim Erixon, Tomas Kundratek, the bruising Dylan McIlrath, and hard hitters Mikhail Pashnin and Pavel Valentenko. At the very least, the Rangers can deal from strength should they need to supplement their roster at the trade deadline next Spring.

Finally, speaking of supplements, the addition of Brad Richards must be addressed. Longtime Rangers fans will remember back to just before the start of the 1991-1992 season. The Rangers had demonstrated in prior seasons that they were on the rise, that they were perhaps just a few pieces removed from being legitimate players in the race for the Stanley Cup. Neil Smith, the General Manager of the Rangers at the time, dealt four players for the legend that was, and remains, Mark Messier. The 30 year old Messier was an instant infusion of legitimacy and credibility, and this acquisition put the Rangers on a path that led to one of the more thrilling Stanley Cup runs in recent history just two seasons later.

Looking back on that 1991-1992 Rangers roster, one cannot help but see the parallels to this present Rangers team. They had the good core of young defensemen (Leetch, Jeff Beukeboom), young scorers in Adam Graves, Tony Amonte, and Doug Weight, and a proven sniper in Mike Gartner. They had a young goaltender in Mike Richter that would go on to play a Hall of Fame career, and they had a number of other internally developed players that filled out a solid crew.

Brad Richards, the former Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning, while not quite the player that Mark Messier was, comes to the Rangers at a very similar organizational stage. The Rangers of 2011-2012 are on the rise, they have developed talent internally on both offense and defense, brought in a proven sniper in Marion Gaborik and they very well may have a future Hall of Fame goaltender in Henrik Lundqvist.

In Richards, they now have that 30-something year old proven winner and leader as well, just like those '91-'92 Rangers were given the 30-something year old proven winner and leader in Mark Messier. The parallels are a bit eerie, but eerie in a potentially wonderful way for New York Rangers fans. Maybe lightning, in more ways than one, can indeed be captured twice.