Player Discussion What If: Jagr gets traded to NYR back in 2001

[One Winged Angel]

The Joe Sakic one inspired me to make this thread. The summer of 2001 was a fun one for me in general. One of the things I distinctly remember was checking out websites online trying to see what the Rangers were going to do next and watching ESPN for rumor updates.

The big one that had me going was when it was reported that the Rangers had a deal in place with the Penguins to send Jaromir Jagr to Broadway for Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson and Label Brendl. Yes, the same package that ended up being sent to Philly for Eric Lindros. Reports were that the deal was about to go down and Patrick for whatever reason had backed out at the last second and then turned around and dealt him to Washington for a package that was significantly worse (Frantisek Kucera, Ross Lupashuk and Kris Beech) instead.

Although Jagr came for peanuts 2 seasons later, I can only imagine what a motivated Jagr in NY would have done then and the chain of events that would have occurred in the following seasons.

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[Beacon]

Jagr for Beech was one of the worst trades in history. It wasn't even hindsight that made it horrible: everyone knew it was awful the second it was made.

 

[mrhockey193195]

I thought the deal breaker for Jagr was Pittsburgh wanted both Brendl and Lundmark? In hindsight, an inconsequential detail. but at the time Ranger fans were already up in arms over Smith/Sather mortgaging the future (Nordstrom, Savard, etc). Not that it mattered, Sather turned around and shipped Brendl and Jonsson (and Hlavac) for Lindros

 

[Ghost of jas]

Supposedly, Sather's arrogance angered Patrick, so to spite Sather, Patrick took a lesser deal from the Caps. Sather essentially told Patrick, 'this is my best offer' and you have no one else to trade him to'. So, the deal was essentially an 'FU' to Sather. It was a disaster all around. Jagr wanted the Rangers, Sather gambled on Lindros and Patrick got an awful deal.

 

[Bluenote13]

Nobody wanted Jagr's salary back then. Plus he had baggage, with the gambling and what not.

 

[ReggieDunlop68]

Nobody wanted Jagr's salary back then. Plus he had baggage, with the gambling and what not.

The online gambling issue was true, but he paid off his debts. It's not as if he leaned on the Penguins for money.

The main point is the Penguins didn't want his salary because the franchise was about to go or was already broke. The former owners wanted to "pay" Jagr is an ownership + etc. deal as they did with Lemieux, but Jagr and his agent weren't biting. There was no clear indication that Bettman was going to go all out to save that franchise as well as ensure a completely fair and balanced closed door draft in which the Penguins got the best prospect since Eric Lindros.

Furthermore, Ted Leonis, the owner of the Capitals, was one of the richest men in the world at that time. I believe he was in the business of distributing trial CDs for some internet service.

Anyway, most of the Jagr baggage talk has to do with a hogwash by the Penguins because he was "too stubborn" to take an ownership deal in a team that was going to fold without massive intervention.

Jagr is one of my favorite players of all time, but I still think had the 2001 trade worked for us, it would not have changed our fortune nearly as much as we hoped. The Rangers would still have put those ******** "all-star" rosters together, the league would have still allowed the clutch-n-grab as well as virtual pylons become regular players, and the NHL would still have been on the verge of collapse.

Long story short, the Rangers just really needed a house cleaning.

 

[Cyclones21]

jas - I recall remembering the same thing about Sather with his arrogance. On an unrelated incident, I believe younger GMs like George McPhee were annoyed by, what may have been, a condescending attitude.

I forget what Lindros' position was in 2001-02. I know he played Center and Wing. When he was on the line with York and Fleury, didn't he play the W more?

I remember that summer, refreshing hockey sites for the latest. This was the same summer that the Islanders traded for Mike Peca and Alexi Yashin. I had the feeling that this move was reactionary. They had to bring in one of the available big ticket items. mrhockey - I forgot that they asked for both Brendl and Lundmark. Those were the 2 prospects I bought into. I thought Brendl was going to be our Pavel Bure and Lundmark our Yzerman. (We wound up getting the ACTUAL Bure later that year).

Lindros was pretty dominant in the start of his Ranger career. I think they even found themselves a top the division mid season? I think the chemistry on this Ranger team was terrible. Just like the Sakic scenario, I am not sure if contending for a Stanley Cup would have resulted.

As ReggieDunlop68 - states, I think the franchise was doomed.

There were some significant trades that followed

Would these trades have occurred?
-traded Ciger for Matt Barnaby
-traded Malhotra and Heisten for Ruscinsky and Lyanshenko
-traded Ulanov, highly regarded D prospect Filip Novak and picks for Pavel Bure
-traded York plus pick(s) for Tom Poti and Rem Murray

 

[Draft Guru]

The online gambling issue was true, but he paid off his debts. It's not as if he leaned on the Penguins for money.

The main point is the Penguins didn't want his salary because the franchise was about to go or was already broke. The former owners wanted to "pay" Jagr is an ownership + etc. deal as they did with Lemieux, but Jagr and his agent weren't biting. There was no clear indication that Bettman was going to go all out to save that franchise as well as ensure a completely fair and balanced closed door draft in which the Penguins got the best prospect since Eric Lindros.

Furthermore, Ted Leonis, the owner of the Capitals, was one of the richest men in the world at that time. I believe he was in the business of distributing trial CDs for some internet service.

Anyway, most of the Jagr baggage talk has to do with a hogwash by the Penguins because he was "too stubborn" to take an ownership deal in a team that was going to fold without massive intervention.

Jagr is one of my favorite players of all time, but I still think had the 2001 trade worked for us, it would not have changed our fortune nearly as much as we hoped. The Rangers would still have put those ******** "all-star" rosters together, the league would have still allowed the clutch-n-grab as well as virtual pylons become regular players, and the NHL would still have been on the verge of collapse.

Long story short, the Rangers just really needed a house cleaning.

Believe he was the owner/founder/CEO/something with AOL. Which in the mid-to-late 90s was THE internet.

 

[Son of Steinbrenner]

I have no idea what happens. Actually I do, nothing really changes. Rangers continue to miss playoffs until purge of 2004. The thing of it is, Jagr would probably be one of the pieces that is moved. No Czech revolution after the lockout. I don't know if that's good or bad. 10 years later and the 2005-2006 season is still one of the most important seasons in this teams history. After the lockout, especially in October, the Garden was not selling out. Lundqvist first shutout against the Panthers, I was at that game. I sat in section 326 and we had the whole section to ourselves. If the Rangers don't have a successful season in 2005-2006 I'm not sure the fans return as quickly as they did.