BUFFALO – During the middle of the season, we suggested to John Muckler that the Rangers needed three more Todd Harveys on the team.
“Three?” the coach fairly exclaimed, leaving little doubt that he believed three the minimum number of additional Harveys his team required.
Now, though, not only won’t the Rangers not have three more Harveys in their lineup, they won’t even have Harvey, himself.
It’s difficult to criticize the acquisition of Zigmund Palffy, a pure goal-scorer in a league where such commodities are at a historical premium. It’s even more difficult for us to do so because for years, we ourselves have campaigned long and loud for the Rangers to get a sniper such as Palffy.
But to be honest, we’re not quite sold on the trade between the Rangers and Islanders that will bring Palffy and Rich Pilon to Broadway in exchange for Harvey, Niklas Sundstrom, a first-round draft choice, a minor-league player, cash, and who knows what other promises between owners.
The threat of entangling alliances involving owners is a real one, but not unique to this circumstance. There was a conflict of interest involving Fox during the Joe Sakic offer sheet match period. There will be a conflict if Cablevision and the Devils unite to build a new arena in New Jersey. But there’s precedent for this in NHL history. Throughout the 50’s, the Norris family had interest in all four U.S. teams to the extent that NHL was said to be an acronym for, “Norris House League.”
Further, it didn’t take the trafficking of Palffy to Manhattan of all places to prove the unfitness of Howard Milstein and Steven Gluckstern as team owners and executives. Their betrayal of public trust rates notice on the Walter O’Malley scale.
With both the means and opportunity to raise the NHL’s Shipwreck Franchise off the league floor, Milstein and Gluckstern instead willfully destroyed whatever was worth saving, leaving only a hull in its watery grave. Their actions have been shameless and shameful. It is to our eternal regret that Gary Bettman has been unable to find any legal or league authority to take the team out of their hands.
Our colleague Marc Berman is absolutely correct: The team must be boycotted. Any fan giving his or her money to Milstein and Gluckstern will see a fool when looking into the mirror.
But as for the Rangers, we understand the temptation to get Palffy, a marquee name, even if not of the magnitude of Theo Fleury, Pavel Bure or Sergei Fedorov, let alone in the category of Jaromir Jagr. But adding Palffy and Pilon at the expense of the 24-year-old Harvey, the 24-year-old Sundstrom and the 11th-overall pick in this year’s draft sounds an alarm bell or two regarding what was a supposed and well-advertised commitment to building with youth.
As of this moment, the Rangers have two returning skaters younger than 27 – Manny Malhotra, 19, who is not going to command very much ice time, and Marc Savard, 22, who has not proven he belongs as the No. 2 pivot behind Petr Nedved. Think of it: two skaters younger than 27.
The Rangers are convinced they will be able to sign Valeri Kamensky as an unrestricted free agent. Once they do, they will have 33-year-old Kamensky, 31-year-old Adam Graves and 34-year-old Kevin Stevens as their three top left wings. On the right side they will have 27-year-old Palffy, 34-year-old John MacLean and 27-year-old Mike Knuble, more suspect than prospect.
The addition of the 31-year-old Pilon, a man with a big heart and creaky knees that limit his mobility and availability (Pilon has played more than 52 games once in the last seven years), eats up a space on defense that should have been made available for a prospect. The Rangers are almost certain to sign either Sylvain Lefebvre, 32 in October, or Stephane Quintal, 31 in October, following July 1. If they do, they will not have a top six defenseman younger than Chris Tamer, 29 in November. Brian Leetch is 31 and so is Peter Popovic, Mathieu Schneider is 30.
Question: How is it that powerful teams such as the Sabres, Devils, Senators and Avalanche can roll in kids, but the Rangers can’t? Question: How can management justify a development system that doesn’t develop players who skate for the Rangers? Question: What happened to the youth movement? Please, just no one reply Malhotra and Dan Cloutier.
Yes, the Rangers needed a goal scorer; desperately. But just as critically, they needed an infusion of youth and energy to pick up an old and predominantly inwardly directed group of veterans. They needed to add an edge, to add a jagged edge. They needed to supplement Harvey, unique among Rangers in his personality on and off the ice, not subtract him.
Who is going to be difficult for the opposition to play against? What forward on the Rangers is going to cause any opponent to keep his head up? Who is going to detonate the explosion of excitement that’s been missing for years?
We agree: There is a question about Harvey’s ability to stay whole. But there is also a question about Palffy’s ability to score an important goal, as he’s never recorded one in an important game in his NHL career. Let’s face it, the man has never played in a playoff game. Who knows?
We don’t. And we don’t know about this deal, either. We’d like to love it, but we don’t. Not today, at least. For the team that needed three more Todd Harveys now won’t even have Todd Harvey, himself.