Kitchener acquired Gabe Landeskog for the rights to Tomas Tatar was a steal
I still really hate the Jack Combs trade. believe we only got a 2nd round pick back but he end up having a 100 point season in the year we hosted the memorial cup in 2008.
Standing pat in 2011-2012 I believe was also a failure. Not sure if that counts.
My mind can only go back to about 98 but these are some of the ones that come to mind
Landeskog was always coming to Kitchener in a cooked deal, the type that often happens in the import draft. It was common knowledge. Mike Vellucci in Plymouth knew this and drafted him ahead of Kitchener knowing he could capitalize big time in dealing him to Kitchener. The Rangers, caught with their pants down, pivoted and drafted Tatar who, it was widely known, had no intention of playing in the CHL.
The trade to Kitchener was Landeskog for the rights to Tatar, a 2nd, a 4th, and a 1st round import pick in 2010.
Note: that import pick in 2010 turned out to be Rickard Rackell. Not too shabby. A good days work for Vellucci.
There’s no argument that the Rangers bringing in Landeskog was a win, but it cost way more than it was supposed to.
I believe that Jack Combs to Saginaw was part two of the two part deal that saw JM Rizk come to Kitchener the previous trade deadline. So when you look at it that way, it’s not so lopsided.
For me, the absolute worst outcome of a trade for the Rangers is the Steve Mason deal. Not so much the deal itself, but the outcome. He was stellar as a Ranger but, mainly due to injury, only played 16 regular season games (13-3 record) plus five playoff games (5-0 record). We all know the players that went the other way (Kadri. Varone. Tarasuk). This was also the opinion of the great Don Cameron as well. And he should know as he was a part of every Ranger season from 1963 to that point.
I’ll go off the board a little bit for one of the best Ranger trades that I can remember:
The above Landeskog fiasco with Plymouth caused the Rangers to not have a first round import pick in 2010. So they completed the following:
To Belleville: Alex Aleardi and a 5th rounder
To Kitchener: Matt Tipoff and Belleville’s 1st round import pick, 5th overall in 2010.
The Ranger’s used that pick to select Tobias Rieder.
Tipoff and Rieder for Aleardi and a 5th?
I’ve been very critical of Steve Spott on here, but there’s no denying this trade as a big win for the Rangers.
Honorable mentions? A couple more Spott trades:
Chris MacKinnon for 2x2nds.
Matt Puempel for 2x2nds.