One thing Jack Eichel knew as he approached Tuesday’s game in the garden against the Rangers is that he wouldn’t be serenaded by 18,000 fans with a “We don’t want you!”. The singing, the way Rick Nash was when he arrived in town with the Blue Jackets eight days before the 2011-12 deadline and scored the equalizer with 1:33 left for regulation before that Derek Stepan beat him in overtime for the bonds.
(How would Eichel know? Well, there would only be 1,800 fans in the building for this one).
At the time, Big 61 was the shining apple in the eyes of the Rangers, the end perceived by then-general manager Glen Sather as the missing link to the team’s Stanley Cup aspirations. It had been a title-generating theme, with the Blueshirts ready to part ways from a fairly extensive package to add the edge to first-team training.
The Rangers, as reported at the time, offered Brandon Dubinsky, JT Miller the first round of 2011, Tim Erixon, Christian Thomas and the selection of the first round of 2012 in exchange for Nash, who owned a clause of no exchange and therefore could choose his destination after having asked Columbus for perennial reconstruction.
But Jackets GM at the time, Scott Howson, was greedy. I wanted more. In fact, he asked for Ryan McDonagh or Michael Del Zotto, plus Stepan or Carl Hagelin, plus the rights to Chris Kreider, a young BC player, plus Dubinsky, plus a first-team player.
It was relatively easy for the Rangers to turn down that outrageous lawsuit. Fans didn’t necessarily oppose Nash’s acquisition, on their own, but they didn’t want any part of the Black and Blues ’rupture of the squad that had become the NHL’s surprise team. (Surprise; head coach John Tortorella didn’t want to break the team either)
The Rangers advanced to the conference finals before the Devils bothered them in six games. Months later, of course, Sather got her husband (and a third rounder who would become Pavel Buchnevich) for the package of Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Erixon, and a first round that represented the equivalent of the pre-date offer. limit.
He is moving fast through multiple brain commissions, a Presidents Trophy, a trip to the Cup final and a disappointing Nash playoff production before his deadline to switch 2018 to the Bruins, and nine years later, Eichel is the bright apple of the Rangers.
The center wants to get out, as he and his Sabers, who are always run over, enter Manhattan amid what is surely his tenth consecutive season out of the playoffs and the sixth in a row since Eichel was selected second overall behind Connor McDavid in the 2015 draft. Buffalo GM first-year Kevyn Adams may not be in a hurry to host Eichel.
But when it becomes real, the Rangers will be at the forefront of the line of suitors, either before the April 12 deadline or during the off-season. It’s very ranger to hunt shiny objects, but here’s a difference. Eichel would not be superfluous. It would not be a luxury item. It is necessary. He is also 24 years old. No Marcel Dionne, here.
The mysterious disappearance of Mika Zibanejad has created urgency for the Blueshirts to address their problems around the center. It’s no longer about Ryan Strome’s viability as a long-term second-line center. It is no longer a matter of tending to delve deeper into problems across the organization. Rather, it is the front-line spot that the hierarchy believed was resolved with the appearance of Zibanejad the last two seasons.
Of course, there was a crazy finish last year that produced a season of 41 goals and 75 points in what became a 70-game schedule in which Zibanejad played 57 competitions. This strengthened Zibanejad’s credentials as a top-level center. Over the past two years, the 27-year-old Swede has scored 149 points (71-78), the 20th best in the NHL overall.
But this year? Well, as of Monday, 166 strikers had been on the ice for at least 235:00 at 5 p.m., according to NaturalStattrick.com. Zibanejad was 166th and last in production, with a point (one assist) at 237: 10. Zibanejad, of course, has one more year of contract before becoming a free agent after 2021-22. It seems impossible for the Rangers to extend it during the summer.
This creates the urgent need for a front-line center. Now, you may notice that Eichel is number 149 among the qualified strikers in producing five-on-five with five points (1-4), but this is largely a product of organizational dysfunction as much as any deficit in his game. No one questions his condition of study.
The Rangers would have to pay Eichel, who has five years left on a deal that has a fixed cost of $ 10 million per dollar, no doubt. It’s almost impossible to conjure up a scenario where the Blueshirts could fit the BU product (which played for David Quinn) under the cover, unless Zibanejad (with a no-move clause) is part of the package to the other. direction. But summer is coming and the possibilities will be endless, albeit costly. Similar to Nash car.
On Tuesday, even 1,800 fans could have sung, “Yes, we want you!” Yes, we need you! “