Top Three Worst Completed Trades In New York Rangers Franchise History That Left Fans Stunned
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The New York Rangers have won one Stanley Cup in the last 30 years, and along the way, they've also fouled up trades. Here are three of their worst trades from the 1970s on. One of those includes the trade of Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to Tampa Bay.
The New York Rangers have a lamentable laundry list of bad trades, which coincide with trading away key players for garbage returns.
The 2024-25 season's lack of playoff contention has us examining other fouls up in Rangers history where the team failed to scout the right players, and ultimately lost these trades.
Rick Middleton to the Boston Bruins for Ken Hodge
GM John Ferguson really pulled the trigger on this stinker of a trade. In an effort to reunite Ken Hodge with Phil Esposito after a trade with Boston in 1975. The team thought they would be reuniting one of the best lines in the NHL, and with a team in win-now mode, they thought Hode's 6-foot-2, 210-pound frame and experience would help guide the team to success.
We think we have enough youth on the Rangers,» Ferguson said then. «Certainly Phil Esposito compliments Kenny and Ken will give the Rangers strength, lots of size and a durable hockey player. I think this trade brings us a step closer to the Stanley Cup.»
Hodge would score 41 points (21-20) in 1976-77, and despite his best efforts, the Rangers would still end up at the bottom of the Patrick Division. Middleton, a former 14th overall pick in the 1973 Amateur Draft, was given up on too soon by Fergusion, due to his lifestyle. The former Rangers winger scored 90 points in 124 games.
His love of the nightlife would doom him to success in Beantown, which would lead to his number being lifted to the rafters in 2018.
Sergei Zubov and Peter Nedved to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Luc Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson
In a puzzling trade of which Sergei Zubov was the center of, a former Rangers defenseman who scored 89 points on the team's 1993-94 Stanley Cup run would be shipped to Pittsburgh. The former fifth-round pick of Neil Smith would be a key player on the Blueshirts' power-play, leading the team on 5-v-4 play with 49 points (9-40).
His star would fall after being targeted by the "Legion of Doom" of the Philadelphia Flyers' second-round sweep, and Neil Smith would instead opt to send him to Pittsburgh.
In order to bring more physicality to the Rangers, he brought in Ulf Samuelsson and one of the league's leading scorers in Luc Robitaille. Zubov would be sent to Pittsburgh and would later end up in Dallas due to Smith's dislike of the European style of play, which Zubov touted.
Zubov would score 549 points in 839 games with the Dallas Stars, with a +103, and would continue to quarterback the power-play in Dallas. He'd win a cup during the 1998-99 season and would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019.
Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Libor Hajek, Brett Howden, Vlad Namestnikov, a 2018 1st-round pick, and a 2019 2nd-round pick
GM Jeff Gorton's choice to trade an emerging forward like JT Miller, who was producing at nearly a point per game for the Rangers, to the Tampa Bay Lightning was puzzling.
Miller's end in New York would signify a rebuild, and would send their captain, Ryan McDonagh, to Tampa Bay for an insignificant return of players, along with draft capital. Miller would be included at the request of Steve Yzerman for defenseman Libor Hajek, who'd turn out to be a bust.
Hajek would only score 12 points (4-8) in 110 games with the Rangers. Center Brett Howden would later be traded to the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021 and has found himself a home in the bottom-six.
Namestnikov would score only 13 points in 99 games before becoming a journeyman in the NHL, and finding his new home on the Winnipeg Jets in 2024-25.
The first-round pick would also be traded to Dallas, Nils Lundkvist, and would receive a 2023 second-round pick and a 2025 fourth-round selection.
J.T. Miller would be traded to the Vancouver Canucks and establish himself as a top center in the league. He'd later return to the New York Rangers this March in a surprising trade that included Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a 1st-round pick.
In 2023-24, he scored 103 points (37-66) and would score 402 points in 364 games as a Canuck.
This is one way of undoing the errors of the past, but the transgressions are marked in history forever.
Previously on NYRangersInsider
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