Could the Penguins Have Been the Rangers?

Despite the notable absence of our Penguins, I confess I’ve really enjoyed watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs this week. There’s nothing quite like the passion, intensity and skill on display as foes battle tooth-and-nail in pursuit of Lord Stanley’s coveted chalice.

For my money, by far the most impressive team thus far has been the Rangers. Locking horns with a fast and talented young Devils squad that recorded the third-most points in the league during the regular season, the New Yorkers have been more than a match for their callow Metro rivals to the tune of a pair of resounding 5-1 victories.

The Rangers boast a near-perfect blend of virtually every quality you need to win a Cup. They feature a varied and dynamic veteran core in Mika Zibanejad, Artemi Panarin, Pittsburgh native Vincent Trocheck, net-front horse Chris Kreider and marquee late-season additions Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko. They’re loaded with young up-and-comers, including quarterback extraordinaire Adam Fox, fellow defensemen K’Andre Miller, Ryan Lindgren and Braden Schneider, not to mention the emerging “Kid Line” of Alexis Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil.

Hard rock captain Jacob Trouba, Barclay Goodrow and Niko Mikkola provide toughness and grit. Worker bee Tyler Motte and Jimmy Vesey provide valuable depth.

Between the pipes? Last season’s Vezina Trophy winner Igor Shesterkin protects the fort, with veteran Jaroslav Halak serving as backup.

In short, they’re a complete team. The total package.

The Rangers are also the poster team for rebuilding on the fly.

Starting in 2013-14, the Blueshirts put together an impressive four-season run under coach Alain Vigneault. They made it to the Final in 2015, only to fall in five games to the Kings. The following spring they lost in the Eastern Conference Final to Tampa Bay. In ’16 they were derailed in the first-round by our Cup-winning Pens.

After the Rangers bowed out in the second round in ’17, then-GM Jeff Gorton made a courageous decision. His team as constituted was good enough to make the playoffs, but it wasn’t Cup worthy. Facing cap issues as well, Gorton initiated a controlled teardown.

During the summer he bought out stay-at-home defender Dan Girardi (the Broadway version of Rob Scuderi) and traded Derek Stepan, the team’s third-leading scorer, along with 1A goalie Antti Raanta to Arizona for defenseman Tony DeAngelo and the seventh overall pick in the ’17 draft.

Although the player selected, Swedish center Lias Andersson, proved to be a bust, it was one of Gorton’s few swings and misses. With the 21^st overall pick he chose Chytil, who blossomed into a 22-goal scorer this season.

Gorton continued to stockpile draft picks at the 2018 trade deadline, shipping Michael Grabner to the Devils for a second-rounder in ’19 before sending J.T. Miller and Ryan McDonagh to the Lightning in a blockbuster that netted a first-round pick (28^th overall) in ’18 and a second-rounder in ’19.

Fading sniper Rick Nash fetched the rugged Lindgren from Boston along with a first-round pick in ’18. Gorton flipped that pick to Ottawa, ironically, for the pick the Pens sent to the Sens in the Derick Brassard trade and parlayed it into Miller, a towering 6’5” defenseman.

Speaking of Brassard, in a deal that bordered on grand larceny, Gorton shipped the future Pen to Ottawa in July of 2016 for Zibanejad and a second-round pick in ’18.

At the 2019 trade deadline, Kevin Hayes was dealt to the Jets for a first-rounder in ’19 and scrapper Brendan Lemieux. Mats Zuccarello went to the Stars for second and third-round choices.

The additional selections afforded the Rangers the flexibility to peddle their own picks, including the second and third rounders shipped to Carolina for Fox in April of 2019. Another steal of a deal.

The Rangers didn’t do too badly with the picks they kept, either. Thanks to a sub-.500 season and some good fortune at the pre-draft lottery, the Blueshirts took Kakko with the second overall pick in ’19. The following season they hit the jackpot and earned the right to pick Lafreniere first overall. With the 19^th overall pick, gleaned from Calgary and tied to a trade that sent Brady Skjei to the ‘Canes, they took Schneider.

It came as a bit of a surprise when Gorton and team president John Davidson were fired on May 5, 2021, following the Rangers’ third non-playoff season in four years. However, the foundation for a winner was firmly in place. Gorton’s able assistant, Chris Drury, took the reins and moved decisively to fill in the missing pieces.

Now the Rangers are poised for a run at the Cup.

It begs the question. Could this be our Pens?

To my eye, we were ripe for a Rangers-style retool in the summer of 2020. Having endured an embarrassing first-round sweep at the hands of the Islanders the year before, we were shoved (literally) out of the qualifying round by the 24^th seed Canadiens.

In fact, then GM Jim Rutherford did perform a significant overhaul during the offseason. Veterans Justin Schultz, Patrick Marleau and Jack Johnson were released (or in Johnson’s case, bought out), as were foot soldiers Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon.

In a big offseason blockbuster, Rutherford shipped aging and pricey warrior winger Patric Hornqvist to the Panthers for mobile d-man Mike Matheson and journeyman forward Colton Sceviour.

While the deal proved to be a good one, it didn’t offer cap relief or assets in the form of draft picks. JR did manage to glean a second-rounder from Ottawa in return for fading Cup hero Matt Murray, which was used to select goaltending prospect Joel Blomqvist. However, Rutherford also sent a first-round pick to Toronto for Kasperi Kapanen.

Indeed, for the most part acquiring draft picks has been the exception rather than the rule…and where we completely diverge from the Rangers’ approach. While New York was willing to endure a few down years to restock their prospect cupboard with affordable young talent, we’ve clung stubbornly to our win-now approach.

Indeed, thanks to Gorton’s shrewd trades and foresight, the Rangers had eight first-round picks over a four-year span from 2017 through 2020. Our Pens had one.

Small wonder we’re facing severe cap issues, a largely barren farm system, a paucity of picks and the oldest roster in the league.

As the saying goes, you can pay me now or pay me later.

The piper’s knockin’ on our door. And he’s about to present us with a very large tab.

A last bit of irony. Back in the early 2000s, then-Pens GM Craig Patrick executed a Rangers-style controlled burn to a tee, swapping out established stars such as Jaromir Jagr, Alex Kovalev and Martin Straka while stockpiling draft picks and a stable-full of good young talent. Talent that served as the foundation for our three Cup winners and four trips to the Final, not to mention our 16-year postseason run.

PenguinPoop Curse is Alive and Well

No sooner did I anoint the Stars and Oilers as two of my favorites to win the Cup, then both suffered Game 3 defeats and now trail their respective series, 2-games-to-1.

I can’t make this stuff up…lol.