Please feel free to comment, argue, or complain.
The 4 Best
1) Trading Scott Gomez to Montreal and Tom Pyatt for Chris Higgins, Ryan McDonough and Pavel Valentenko
Talk about cleaning up your own mess. Sather took one of his worst moves as GM in signing Gomez to a monstrous long-term deal and turned the Gomez signing into a huge plus. People seem to forget that Gomez had a pretty strong first year with the Rangers. Clearly the experiment playing with Jagr didn't work but his line with Shanahan and Avery played a pivotal role in getting the team to the second round of the playoffs. The second year though was pretty bad and obviously not worth what they were paying him.
And SOMEHOW, Sather turned this into a positive. I'm not the first person to point this out but I still have no clue what former Habs GM Bob Gainey was thinking during the Summer of 2009. With players like Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa going on the free agent market among others, Gainey was willing to take Scott Gomez and the cap hit that came with him off of Sather's hands.
And if only Gainey had taken Gomez from the Rangers for a mid-round draftpick it would have been a steal for the Rangers. Yet SOMEHOW Gainey agreed to add former first round pick and now the Rangers number 2 defenseman this year to the trade. WOW.
One more thing, what were the Rangers able to do with the 7 million saved by trading Gomez? They were able to sign Marian Gaborik who without that 7 million saved from the Gomez deal would be playing somewhere else.
There is still no way for Gainey to justify this trade or his thought process in making it. Justification from Gainey or not, this trade had MAJOR postive ramifications for the Rangers and is easily Sather's best since the lockout.
And SOMEHOW, Sather turned this into a positive. I'm not the first person to point this out but I still have no clue what former Habs GM Bob Gainey was thinking during the Summer of 2009. With players like Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa going on the free agent market among others, Gainey was willing to take Scott Gomez and the cap hit that came with him off of Sather's hands.
And if only Gainey had taken Gomez from the Rangers for a mid-round draftpick it would have been a steal for the Rangers. Yet SOMEHOW Gainey agreed to add former first round pick and now the Rangers number 2 defenseman this year to the trade. WOW.
One more thing, what were the Rangers able to do with the 7 million saved by trading Gomez? They were able to sign Marian Gaborik who without that 7 million saved from the Gomez deal would be playing somewhere else.
There is still no way for Gainey to justify this trade or his thought process in making it. Justification from Gainey or not, this trade had MAJOR postive ramifications for the Rangers and is easily Sather's best since the lockout.
2) Signing Dan Girardi
Though he played for the Rangers minor league team during the lockout, Girardi was not signed to an NHL deal until the summer of 2006. Whoever found this guy off the scrap heap that is undrafted free agents, deserves a promotion. Girardi is the epitome of consistency, durability and heart. He may not be the greatest hockey player but he does all the small things right and is as reliable as almost anyone in the league on defense. Even his offense has picked up the last couple of seasons. He has shown this year in Marc Staal's absence that he is the force behind stopping opposing teams top lines. He is the longest tenured Ranger aside from Lundqvist and I wish at some point (it's not going to happen) they take the A off of Staal and give it to Girardi.
3) Signing Marian Gaborik
Many pundits scoffed at the idea of Sather signing the oft-injured Gaborik to a 5 year 35 million dollar deal after the 08-09 season. I liked the move at the time but was wary of Gabby's injury history. He was the best pure scorer on the market so it was worth a shot. Though last season, his second on Broadway, was injury-riddled and inconsistent, the first and third seasons that sandwich season two have proven Gaborik is the real deal and Sather made out outstandingly well in signing him.
Many pundits scoffed at the idea of Sather signing the oft-injured Gaborik to a 5 year 35 million dollar deal after the 08-09 season. I liked the move at the time but was wary of Gabby's injury history. He was the best pure scorer on the market so it was worth a shot. Though last season, his second on Broadway, was injury-riddled and inconsistent, the first and third seasons that sandwich season two have proven Gaborik is the real deal and Sather made out outstandingly well in signing him.
4) Trading Jason Ward, Marc-Andre Cliche and a 3rd round pick to LA for Sean Avery
This one goes back to the earlier post-lockout days. I remember sitting at a Ranger game and my brother texted me that they had made this trade and gotten Avery. It seemed to make sense at the time considering the team at that time lacked much grit with the core players being Jagr, Nylander and Straka. I don't think anyone could have predicted the impact Avery would end up having. When given the opportunity, Avery was able to blossom and given the right care and handling he was able to be a hugely impactful player. Though it's clear that Tom Renney utilized Avery far better than John Tortorella who it can be argued did not give Avery a fair shot, no one can deny the impact this trade had on the organization.
The 4 Worst
1) Signing Wade Redden
Ugh. Even in exile in Connecticut Redden continues to make those of us who are Cablevision subscribers pay higher fees. Sather gave Redden a huge 6 year contract at about 6 million a year after a number of down years with the hope that the new surroundings would rejuvenate Redden and return him to the days when he was a top defenseman. Boy was Sather wrong. The inventor and founder of what we at the Rotenberg house like to call "The Wade Redden School of Defense" ("TWRSD"), Redden floundered with the Rangers (TWRSD teaches that rather than attempting to defend by hitting the opposition or blocking passing or shooting lanes, defenseman should go to their knees or slide across the slot to screen the goalie with the blind hope of blocking a shot or stopping a pass). Not only did Redden not return to his glory days in the league but Redden was actually worse. It makes you question whether or not Glen Sather actually watches players play before signing them. He played a timid defense and much of the time seemed either disinterested or scared. His offensive abilities, if he had any, were for the most part dormant. Had Redden been the Rangers 5th or 6th defenseman signed for 1.5 million then he could have been extremely useful but for the contract Sather gave him this becomes the worst move of Sather's tenure. This kind of move would cost many GMs their jobs but due to Jim Dolan's deep pockets and obvious deep trust of Sather, Sather was allowed to banish his mistake in the minors to avoid a crippling 6 million dollar cap hit for a marginal player.
Ugh. Even in exile in Connecticut Redden continues to make those of us who are Cablevision subscribers pay higher fees. Sather gave Redden a huge 6 year contract at about 6 million a year after a number of down years with the hope that the new surroundings would rejuvenate Redden and return him to the days when he was a top defenseman. Boy was Sather wrong. The inventor and founder of what we at the Rotenberg house like to call "The Wade Redden School of Defense" ("TWRSD"), Redden floundered with the Rangers (TWRSD teaches that rather than attempting to defend by hitting the opposition or blocking passing or shooting lanes, defenseman should go to their knees or slide across the slot to screen the goalie with the blind hope of blocking a shot or stopping a pass). Not only did Redden not return to his glory days in the league but Redden was actually worse. It makes you question whether or not Glen Sather actually watches players play before signing them. He played a timid defense and much of the time seemed either disinterested or scared. His offensive abilities, if he had any, were for the most part dormant. Had Redden been the Rangers 5th or 6th defenseman signed for 1.5 million then he could have been extremely useful but for the contract Sather gave him this becomes the worst move of Sather's tenure. This kind of move would cost many GMs their jobs but due to Jim Dolan's deep pockets and obvious deep trust of Sather, Sather was allowed to banish his mistake in the minors to avoid a crippling 6 million dollar cap hit for a marginal player.
2) Signing Chris Drury/Scott Gomez
As these deals happened the same day and were done in conjunction with one another I'm taking the liberty of considering them one move for my purposes. It seems everyone is a second-guesser when it comes to these deals as I don't really remember anyone complaining after Sather managed to sign both these guys on that ill-fated July 1st, 2007 day. These horrendous signings are compunded with the fact that they meant the de facto departure of Michael Nylander and disruption of what had been a highly effective couple of years on the Rangers for Jaromir Jagr. These moves are not ranked number 1 for the sole reason that Sather managed to get out from under these deals before their terms were over. He managed to turn the Gomez signing into a positive (as seen above) and benefited from buying out Drury before his contract expired. Without that help, there would likely be no Brad Richards of Marian Gaborik on the Rangers and the makeup of the team would not be promising. Imagine if Gomez and Drury were still on the team. Over 14 million dollars, over 14 million dollars, over 14 million dollars. Over 14 million is the combined cap hit of the Drury and Gomez contracts. That's about 1/4 of the entire salary cap. Disaster was averted but even so these deals did set the organization back a couple of years and hurt their ability to be true contenders for a number of seasons.
3) Signing Michael Roszival to a 4 year 20 million dollar deal
Does Glen Sather actually watch his team play? For probably two years prior to Rozsival signing this deal his play had slowly deteriorated. His confidence with the puck had become non-existent and he seemed be afraid to actually pull the trigger on shots. Roszival is clearly a nice guy and was integral part of the post-lockout team defense but re-signing him to such a deal the same offseason Sather gave Redden his contract was absurd. What did Sather get out of this deal? Wojtek Wolski, aka Phoenix's overpriced equivalent of Roszival.
Does Glen Sather actually watch his team play? For probably two years prior to Rozsival signing this deal his play had slowly deteriorated. His confidence with the puck had become non-existent and he seemed be afraid to actually pull the trigger on shots. Roszival is clearly a nice guy and was integral part of the post-lockout team defense but re-signing him to such a deal the same offseason Sather gave Redden his contract was absurd. What did Sather get out of this deal? Wojtek Wolski, aka Phoenix's overpriced equivalent of Roszival.
4) Signing Donald Brashear to a 2 year deal
Really? Forget the fiscal impact this deal had or didn't have. If you don't remember game 6 against the Caps in the playoffs the spring before the Rangers signed him, Brashear laid out Blair Betts on a what appeared to be a late hit that went unpenalized and surely played a role in the Rangers blowing a 3-1 series lead over the Caps. Sather then essentially invited Rangers public enemy number 1 to join the team. Thankfully, this marriage did not last very long and Brashear's relationship with the coaching staff quickly soured. He was sent packing for long-forgotten Todd White. Either way, the Brashear signing left pretty much everyone shaking their head.
Really? Forget the fiscal impact this deal had or didn't have. If you don't remember game 6 against the Caps in the playoffs the spring before the Rangers signed him, Brashear laid out Blair Betts on a what appeared to be a late hit that went unpenalized and surely played a role in the Rangers blowing a 3-1 series lead over the Caps. Sather then essentially invited Rangers public enemy number 1 to join the team. Thankfully, this marriage did not last very long and Brashear's relationship with the coaching staff quickly soured. He was sent packing for long-forgotten Todd White. Either way, the Brashear signing left pretty much everyone shaking their head.
Again, feel free to comment as I'm sure eveyone has their own opinion on this topic.
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