Rangers Sign NCAA Defenseman

The Rangers signed a college player, but not the one we were looking for.  John Gilmour was an UFA, never signed after being drafted by Calgary in the ninth round of the 2013 draft.  He just concluded his college career at Providence College and signed a two year entry level deal with New York.  Here are his career stats from hockeydb.com:

			Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2011-12	Cedar Rapids RoughRiders	USHL	58	10	14	24	14	0	2	0	1	1	0
2012-13	Providence College	H-East	38	4	9	13	35
2013-14	Providence College	H-East	39	5	13	18	22
2014-15	Providence College	H-East	30	4	7	11	10	2
2015-16	Providence College	H-East	34	9	14	23	18	3

As you can see, he had some decent offensive numbers.  The lefty shooting 23-year old is from Montreal and is not huge at 5'11" and is 180 lbs (to compare, Ryan McDonagh is 6', 215 lbs.).  

At any rate, he will probably end up in Hartford as a depth defenseman with an outside chance of making a stop at MSG.  He's got a good pedigree as he was on the Frozen Four winner in 2015.   Here is what SB Nation College Hockey had to say about him:

In his first three seasons at Providence, Gilmour showed flashed of offensive talent including a heavy shot to go along with very strong skating ability.  But in his final season, Gilmour has been extremely effective on the power play, scoring 16 of his 23 points with the man advantage.  He has the makings of a strong two-way defenseman wt the NHL level as a second or third pairing defenseman that is able to skate with anybody and provide the occasional offensive punch.

On the Jimmy Vesey front, he met with seven teams over the last two days.  The teams were Detroit, Chicago, Boston, Pittsburgh, Toronto,  Islanders and Rangers.  Detroit apparently felt that they were out as it was too far from his home in Boston.  The Isles rolled out John Tavares to make the pitch.  In the Rangers favor is Vesey's relationship with Kevin Hayes and the fact that Vesey's agent is very close with Ranger GM Jeff Gorton.   A number of celebrities have been tweeting in an attempt to woo him to New York.  You may disagree with Susan Sarandon's politics, but she pointed out that a  street is already named for him. 

@SusanSarandon: Come on @19Vesey join the @NYRangers, we already have a street named for you here! #JVtoNYR

Vesey is supposed to reveal his choice as early as Friday.  Once that happens, look for the Rangers to get active again in the trade market in an attempt to fill the void left by the departures of Yandle and Boyle.   

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Vesey Does It

The Jimmy Vesey sweepstakes begins in earnest tomorrow (Tuesday) when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. The Buffalo Sabres own his rights until 12:01 am Tuesday morning. For Ranger fans, there has been a lot of buzz about the team being in the running and the latest stories mention the Rangers,  Devil and Maple Leafs as the front runners.  It has been reported that the Rangers have a meeting scheduled with him, but that is probably not true since NO ONE can approach him until after midnight tonight.  To do so would be tampering. 
So, who is Jimmy Vesey?  He is a 23-year old left wing from the Boston area who is considered to be NHL-ready.    He is the reigning Hobey Baker Award winner as the best collegiate player in the USA.  Here are his stats (from Hockeydb. com): 

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
2011-12	South Shore Kings	EJHL	45	48	43	91	52
2012-13	Harvard University	ECAC	27	11	7	18	25
2013-14	Harvard University	ECAC	31	13	9	22	14
2014-15	Harvard University	ECAC	37	32	26	58	21	23
2015-16	Harvard University	ECAC	33	24	22	46	6	11

 
As you can see, he has been a solid scorer and really improved over the last two years.  He's got good size at 6'1", but could put on some weight (195 lbs).   Here's the analysis from Hockeysfuture.com:
Vesey is a big winger who is a skilled passer and sees the game well. He is more than just an up-and-down player as he possesses skill and smarts that make him a dangerous player in the offensive zone. Vesey does not shy away from the physical game but could be more active in that area. His defensive zone coverage is inconsistent at times.. Vesey is projected to be a strong-two way forward with offensive elements to his game.
  
Winning the Award is no guarantee that you will have success in the NHL.  As a matter of fact, the Rangers have had four Hobey Baker Award winners wearing the uniform. Can you name them? (answers after this article).   The best include Paul Kariya, Ryan Miller and Neal Broten.  The worst include Jack Connolly and Peter Sejna (who?).   The last few years has seen an uptick in success for award winners with Jack Eichel and Johnny Gaudreau the last two.  But the winners in the four years before that have played a total of 77 games in the NHL. 

Apparently, Vesey has spent some time with Kevin Hayes who has been selling the idea of playing in  New York.  Money is not an issue as he can only be paid the standard entry level salary, along with substantial bonuses.  The Rangers have the money and can offer a top nine position on the left wing.  Vesey is not dumb.  He went to Harvard.  He was drafted by Nashville and didn't sign with them.  Buffalo traded a draft pick to get an early shot at him and he didn't bite.  He wants to see what teams have to offer.  

This is just like the signing of Kevin Hayes.  In essence, though they've traded away their high draft choices, the team has made up for it by signing a highly regard collegiate UFA.   They've done the same with undrafted Europeans like Mats Zuccarello and most recently Malte Stromwell.  If the Rangers can win the contest for Vesey and if he plays more like Hobey Baker Award winner Johnny Hockey (Gaudreau)  and less like Blake Geoffrion (2010 Nashville 2nd round draft pick) then this is a win-win for New York.  

The six teams in the running are New York (the obvious choice), New Jersey (why?), Toronto (his dad is a Toronto scout), Chicago (just a good team to play for), Boston (he's from the area) and Buffalo (Jack Eichel is a good friend).  A decision is expected by the end of the weekend.  Stay tuned. 

And if the Rangers don't sign him....you should read this article from Yahoo Sports and feel much better:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/what-we-learned-a-statistical-look-at-jimmy-vesey-140622045.html

Ranger Hobey Baker Award Winners

1982 - George McPhee (the best thing he did for the Rangers was trading Jaromir Jagr to NY while he was the Capital's GM)
1998 - Chris Drury (had his best years before he signed with NY)
2000 - Mike Mottau (solid third pair d-man)
2009 - Matt Gilroy  (never lived up to the hype)

What If

Pandemonium reigned at the Garden.   Carl Hagelin’s shorthanded empty net goal had sealed the victory for the home team and the 2015 Stanley Cup for the embattled Rangers and with only seconds left in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals, the trophy was finally headed back to the Big Apple.  As the Chicago Blackhawks desperately tried to get to the puck, the crowd chanted “1940” for the first time with joy instead of bitterness, elation at the end of a 75 year drought, one of the longest in the history of professional sports. 

Gary Bettman handed the Stanley Cup to Captain Ryan McDonagh who did a wide circle around the Garden ice…. The crowd buzzed as they wondered who would get the chance to hold it next…and erupted with cheers as he handed it to Martin St. Louis who kissed the Cup as tears streamed down his cheeks.   The King was next as the Conn Smythe Trophy winner hoisted the silver chalice high above his head….Dan Girardi handed to Cup to Keith Yandle….the late season acquisition whose power play goal had put the Rangers ahead in the first period, to stay. 

Gone was 75 years of frustration and near misses.  Gone was the bitterness over the disaster of 1994 when a last minute goal in game seven of the Conference Finals had given the Devils the tie and the chance to win the game in triple overtime, sending them to the Stanley Cup Finals and their first championship against the Vancouver Canucks.  Somewhere in the Garden was Neil Smith who had been vilified for trading away a future all-star team in a desperate attempt to end the 54 year long drought.   He had indeed mortgaged the future and they had come so close, but when Bernie Nicholls’ tip-in had eluded a sprawled Mike Richter, all of those deadline acquisitions had been for naught.

Ranger fans had protested similarly when Ryan Callahan and two first round draft picks had gone to Tampa for Martin St. Louis, only to see the Rangers fall to the Kings.  Then, when they swapped a rising star in Anthony Duclair and draft choices for Yandle, the same fans had risen to protest.  But it was all forgotten as they watch the Rangers pass the cup from one to another, with the architect of this triumph, Glen Sather, beaming from the bench with an unlit cigar in his mouth.  Behind him, in the stands, a fan stood holding a sign that said “Now I Can Die in Peace.”

Okay…we KNOW this didn’t happen, but what if it had?  The fact is that the New York Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup, but the price that they paid was enormous.  Take a look at the chart below.  It shows the statistics for the players the Rangers traded away AFTER they left Broadway.  Right below that are the Ranger career statistics for the players acquired in those deals.

  Let’s look at the deals:

Tony Amonte to Chicago for Brian Noonan and Stephane Matteau.

Amonte played almost three seasons for the Rangers.   He scored 35 goals in his rookie season, 33 in his sophomore season.  He slumped to 16 in 72 games before being traded to the Black Hawks.   He went on to score 416 career goals including 268 goals for Chicago over nine years.

Brian Noonan played the entire strike-shortened following season for the Rangers, scoring 14 goals before being traded to St. Louis.  He later returned to NY for a half season.  His totals?  24 goals in 101 games as a Rangers.

Stephane Matteau played less than two full seasons in New York, scoring 11 goals. 

So….Amonte after Rangerhood….332 goals.   Matteau and Noonan scored a combined 35 goals as Blueshirts.

Todd Marchant to Edmonton for Craig MacTavish

Todd Marchant’s Ranger career lasted all of one game (no points) in 1993-94.  He went on to play ten years in Edmonton, 136 goals/136 assists/207 points.  He actually played 19 years in the NHL, retiring in 2011.  He scored 186 goals and had 312 assists in his career. 

Although he won the most famous face-off in Ranger history, Craig MacTavish played all of 12 games for the team, scoring four goals.  He then signed with the Flyers and hung around for four more years. 

So…Marchant after Rangerhood….186 goals.    MacTavish scored four goals as a Blueshirt.

Doug Weight to Edmonton for Esa Tikkanen

Doug Weight was a highly regarded prospect for the Rangers.  He played almost two full seasons for the Rangers, scoring eight goals as a rookie and 15 in his sophomore year.   He went on to play 19 more years in the NHL, scoring 278 goals and 1,033 points.  

Esa Tikkanen played parts of two seasons in New York, scoring 24 goals before being traded to St. Louis for Petr Nedved.   He came back to NY at the end of the 1997 season and scored one goal in 14 games.

So, Weight after Rangerhood…. 255 goals.  Tikkanen scored 25 goals for the Rangers.

Mike Gartner to Toronto for Glenn Anderson

Gartner was one of the most prolific scorers in NHL history, but never hoisted the Cup.  In his almost four full seasons in New York he AVERAGED 40.5 goals per season.   After he left the Rangers he played four more seasons and scored 91 goals. 

Glenn Anderson played 12 games for the Rangers and scored four goals.  He signed with St. Louis as a free agent the next season and played two more seasons in the NHL scoring 18 goals. 

So, Gartner after Rangerhood….91 goals.   Anderson scored four goals for New York.

Darren Turcotte and James Patrick to Hartford for Steve Larmer & Nick Kypreos

Darren Turcotte was a young center who had a knack for scoring.  In four full seasons he scored  113 goals with a high of 30 in 1992.   His best years were in New York as he played six more seasons in the NHL, scoring 73 goals.   James Patrick was a stalwart on defense who had been a top pair D-man for ten years in New York.   After the trade, he went on to play ten more years in the NHL. 

Steve Larmer played two full seasons in New York before retiring…scoring 35 goals.   Nick Kypreos played parts of two seasons with the Rangers before being traded.  He scored seven goals as a physical fourth line forward. 

So, Turcotte after Rangerhood…73 goals.  Patrick after Rangerhood…ten more seasons.   Kypreos scored seven goals in two seasons…Larmer scored 35 goals in two seasons before retiring.

To recap…by 1996 this is where it stood. NONE of the players acquired in the trades were still with the team.  Petr Nedved had been acquired for Tikkanen and Doug Lidster.   Gone and still playing elsewhere were Tony Amonte, Darren Turcotte, James Patrick, Mike Gartner, Doug Weight and Todd Marchant.  When you look at what Neil Smith gave up to win the Stanley Cup and compare it to the long term return it is absolutely mindboggling.  Over 4,000 games vs. 600.  Almost 1,000 goals to 110. Ten times as many points!   But would anyone give up the 1994 Stanley Cup Championship to keep those players for the next ten years?  And would the Rangers have won the Cup with Amonte, Gartner, Turcotte, Weight, Marchant and Patrick?   There is no way to know.

I bring this up as a response to the steady parade of conversations bemoaning the “trading away the future” transactions of the last three years.    Glen Sather rolled the dice and went for it.  He traded away future assets for a chance to win it all and it just didn’t work.  The deals for Nash, Yandle and St. Louis got the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals once and to the Conference Finals twice in the last five years.    What other Eastern Conference team can make that statement?  None.  The only other teams to equal that feat were the Chicago Blackhawks and the Los Angeles Kings. 

What exactly is the price we’ve paid for the Rangers to go deep in the playoffs three year of the last four years?  Here are the deals the Rangers made:

             1.  2013 & 2014 2^nd Round Pick, 2013 3^rd Round Pick for Ryan Clowe.

             2.  2013 1^st Round Pick, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov & Tim Erixon for Rick Nash & 2013 3^rd Round Pick.

             3.  2014 & 2015 1^st Round Pick, Ryan Callahan for Martin St. Louis, 2015 2^nd Round Pick

             4.  2015 2^nd Round Pick, 2016 1^st Round Pick, Anthony Duclair & John Moore for Keith Yandle, Chris Summers and 2015 4^th Round Pick.

             5.  2016 4^th Round Pick for James Sheppard.

So, the 2015-16 New York Rangers had exactly Rick Nash and Keith Yandle to show for four first round picks, one second round pick, two fourth round picks, Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon, Ryan Callahan, Anthony Duclair and John Moore.   I  think everyone would agree that these deals were awful for one simple reason.  THE RANGERS HAVE NOT WON THE STANLEY CUP.  If they had, no one would say boo. 

You can actually argue that the 1990’s trades were worse than the recent deals, since all of the players traded were proven major leaguers whereas draft picks are a crap shoot.   Also, the Rangers compounded the errors by trying to build a team around Wayne Gretzky in 1996-97 when they had already bankrupted their farm system.  They made horrible deals for Jari Kurri, Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson.  What that resulted in was a seven year playoff drought from 1997 to 2005. 

But Neil Smith gets a pass because Stephane Matteau scored 2 huge OT goals vs.the Devils.  Because Esa Tikkanen was a playoff monster.  Because Glenn Anderson and Steve Larmer were clutch playoff performers.  And because Craig MacTavish won the final draw of the 1994 playoffs in the Rangers zone with 1.6 seconds remaining.

How would we feel if we hadn’t rolled the dice the last few years?  Isn’t it better to have an aggressive management that at least tries to win it all every year?   Glen Sather’s only mistake was that the Rangers didn’t win the Cup.  You may disagree, but the Finals vs. Los Angeles could have gone either way, but for some dicey calls (oh, for the video replay rule in 2014!).   And last year if they had Mats Zuccarello, Ryan McDonagh without a broken foot and the rest of the defensive corps in good health, is there any doubt the Rangers would have made a return to the Finals instead of losing a game seven to Tampa?   Yup, we gave up Anisimov and Dubinsky and Duclair and Callahan (who was gone anyway) and a slew of high draft picks, but we almost got to the pinnacle. 

The 2015-16 Rangers were due to have a bad post-season.   Don’t forget that the Kings MISSED the playoffs after winning the Cup in 2012 and like the Rangers, the Blackhawks were bounced in round one this year (and NOT by the eventual Stanley Cup champions). 

With a full off-season there has to be a hope that 2016-17 will be a bounce back season.    I would argue that no contending team in the Metropolitan Division has actually improved this off-season.    The Rangers had the ninth most points in the NHL this season and they will have virtually the same team next year.  Jeff Gorton is probably not done with his wheeling and dealing.   The Jimmy Vesey sweepstake starts in a week.  It’s a long season and the Rangers are tied for first and haven’t lost a game yet.  Call me an optimist or a fool…better yet, call me a Ranger fan. Stay tuned.

Later….