I always go back to what if they never traded Amonte and Weight.
I'm with you, 25 years later I still go back to this one.
Personally, I think the Rangers not only still win in 1994, they potential win a few more times.
The trade of Weight left the Rangers a lot thinner down the middle, especially as Turcotte's body began to break down and Nemchinov's offense slid.
People point to Matteau's OT winner, and I always felt that we wouldn't even be in that spot had we not lost quite so much firepower.
I always felt that the Rangers really decimated their dangerous side at that 1994 deadline and the series against the Devils and Canucks reflected that. Of course it's all theoretical.
The greatest what-if from that era for me was Shanahan. Both with St. Louis and later with Hartford. There was a time the Rangers could've had him close to straight-up for Kovalev. Later, with Hartford, the price went up, but nothing that would've killed this team long-term.
Can you imagine a forward core that had Graves-Messier-Amonte, Shanahan-Weight-(Verbeek?), you also wouldn't have had the trade with Pitts. which means Nedved is moved for a different piece. Add to the scenario if the Rangers held onto Zubov.
The Rangers VERY easily could've had a run similar to Red Wings. The difference was that the Wings made the better moves. They kept the right guys, and brought in the right guys. The Rangers were a lot more spotty with that.
A couple of different bounces against the Devs and Canucks and this is probably a much hotter topic. Because the desperation of 1940 made for some downright scary deals.