I'm going to go ahead and say that this trade will be the highlight of the Rangers off season. The Rangers may do something else great, like flip Michael Rozsival for a nice return, trade for Dany Heatley or some other in-his-prime premium player but this trade came as a mild surprise and the return went beyond my wildest dreams.
I had gotten word 12 hours before this trade went down that Gomez to Montreal was a legit possibility. I didn't put much stock into it but when I had read that Chris Higgins was on his way to the Rangers, I knew that it had come to fruition. I was elated with this return alone, I think Chris Higgins is going to be a tremendous fit in the Tortorella offense and he may even crack 30 goals next year as long as he stays on the ice and away from the bars. Clearing Gomez salary seemed like a pipe dream, but what happened next really made me wonder what the hell Bob Gainey was smoking out of that pipe...
The Rangers sent prospects Tom Pyatt, who figures to be a 3rd line grinder at best and Michael Busto, an ECHL player in the deal - No big deal, these guys are hardly irreplaceable. Getting Pavel Valentenko in this deal alone would have made it a steal, but Montreal also threw in top prospect Ryan McDonagh which sent the entire hockey world into a mass frenzy, or meltdown if you live in Montreal.
Ryan McDonagh is not a throw in a deal just for the fuck of it type prospect, McDonagh is a legit blue chip defensive prospect. His progression slowed a little bit last year as he had a rough 3/4ths of the season at the University of Wisconsin and a less than spectacular showing for team USA at the World Junior Championships, but he picked up his game the last 1/4th of the season and is going to be the Captain of the Badgers this upcoming season. McDonagh is a great skater who can move the puck, win the physical board battles and has great 2 way upside. if all goes well here, Ryan McDonagh is a true #1 type defensman who will look great playing next to Marc Staal. Even if he doesn't round out his offensive game, hes still a good bet to make the NHL as a reliable 3-4 guy on a contending team.
I know that Montreal has a tough time getting free agents and I'm aware that the market for centers this year outisde of which ever Sedin is a center was pretty much non existent, but throwing McDonagh in this deal just reeks of desperation and will likely come back to bite the Habs in the ass, especially if a guy like PK "twinkle toes" Subban doesn't stick in the NHL. Oh yeah, Pavel Valentenko, according to some scouts, is ready to play in the NHL right now, though he is signed in the KHL for a while. The Rangers have had no problems with drafting Russians and getting them to cross the pond so if they want Valentenko, they'll find a way to get him on the team. Valentenko is a pesky bottom paring guy who infuriates the opposition and also owns a very hard shot from the point.
Landing Gomez allowed the Habs to sign Mike Camalleri and Brian Gionta so all isn't awful in Habs land but was it really worth it to spend a collective 18.4 mill PLUS giving up Higgins, McDonagh and Valentenko to get that done? I don't think so.
Currently the Rangers defensive prospect depth chart looks like this
Michael Del Zotto (high end offensive defenseman)
Ryan McDonagh (strong defensive defensman with good offensive upside)
Bobby Sanguinetti (offensive)
Matt Gilroy (offensive)
Mike Sauer (stay at home)
Nigel Williams (crease clearing)
Tomas Kundratek (All around)
Pavel Valentenko (All around)
Corey Potter (blah)
They've already got a pure shut down type in Marc Staal and a do it all type in Dan Girardi who they've developed and graduated to the NHL. If they were to hold onto both of those guys and if only HALF of that group above makes it to the NHL, they'd be able to ice a full top 6 if they wished to do it that way.
Thank you Bob Gainey for making my year.
Rating (1-5 pucks) 4.5 pucks, with the potential to go to a million pucks.
