One thing Jack Eichel knew as he approached Tuesday’s game at the Garden against the Rangers is that he won’t be serenaded by 18,000 fans with a “We don’t want you!” scales, as Rick Nash was when he came to town in the blue jackets eight days before the 2011-12 deadline and scored the equalizer with 1:33 remaining in regulation before Derek Stepan won it in overtime for the boys good.
(How would Eichel know that? Well, only 1,800 fans would be in the building for this.)
Once upon a time, Big 61 was the shining apple of the Rangers eye, the wing perceived by then-general manager Glen Sather as the missing link in the Stanley Cup team’s aspirations. It had been title-generating things, with Blueshirts willing to part with a package large enough to add the wing to the first-team squad.
The Rangers, as reported at the time, offered Brandon Dubinsky, JT Miller in the first round in 2011, Tim Erixon, Christian Thomas and the selection in the first round in 2012 in exchange for Nash, who had a ban clause. and therefore could choose his destination after asking to give up the perpetuation of the reconstruction of Columbus.
But Jackets’ general manager at the time, Scott Howson, was greedy. He wanted more. Indeed, he demanded either Ryan McDonagh or Michael Del Zotto, plus Stepan or Carl Hagelin, plus the rights to BC junior Chris Kreider, plus Dubinsky, plus a first-rounder.
It was relatively easy for the Rangers to reject that outrageous request. Fans did not necessarily oppose Nash’s purchase, but did not want any part of the Black-Blue team split that had emerged as the surprise NHL team. (Surprise; then head coach John Tortorella didn’t even want to split the team.)
The Rangers went to the conference finals before being upset in six games of devils. Monday later, of course, Sather took his man (and a third rounder to become Pavel Buchnevich) for the package of Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Erixon and a first-rounder who represented the equivalent of the premature offer.
Advancing rapidly through multiple contusions, a trophy of presidents, a trip to the Cup final and a disappointing playoff production from Nash before the 2018 trading deadline at the Bruins and nine years later, Eichel is the shining apple of the Rangers eye.
The center wants to come out as he and his downed Sabers head to Manhattan amid what is likely to be the tenth consecutive season in the playoffs and the sixth in a row since Eichel was selected second overall behind Connor McDavid in the 2015 draft. GM Buffyn Adams of freshman Buffalo may not be in a hurry to host Eichel.
But when it becomes real, the Rangers will be in front of the contenders, either before the April 12 deadline or during the off-season. It is very Ranger-ish to hunt shiny objects, but there is a difference here. Eichel would not be superfluous. It would not be a luxury item. He is needed. He is also 24 years old. Not Marcel Dionne, here.
Mika Zibanejad’s mysterious death created an urgency for Blueshirts to solve their problems in the middle. It’s not about Ryan Strome’s viability as a second-line center. It is no longer about the tendency to deepen problems through the organization. Rather, it is the front-line place that the hierarchy believed was established with the appearance of Zibanejad in the last two seasons.
Of course, there was a crazy final last year that produced a season of 41 goals, 75 points, in what became a 70-game program in which Zibanejad played 57 contests. This strengthened Zibanejad’s credentials as a top-level center. In the past two years, the 27-year-old Swede has collected 149 points (71-78), the 20th best in the NHL overall.
But this year? Well, as of Monday, 166 strikers were on the ice at least 235:00 to five to five, according to NaturalStattrick.com. Zibanejad was 166 and last in production, with a point (one assist) in 237: 10. Of course, Zibanejad has one more year of contract before he can become a free agent after 2021-22. It would seem impossible for the Rangers to extend it over the summer.
This creates an urgent need for a front-line center. Now, you might notice that Eichel is the 149th most skilled striker in five-to-five production with five points (1-4), but this is largely a product of organizational dysfunction as much as any deficit in the game. or. No one questions his stud status.
The Rangers should pay for Eichel, who has five more years left in a deal that has a fixed cost of $ 10 million on, no doubt. It is almost impossible to evoke a scenario in which Blueshirts could frame the BU product – which played for David Quinn – under the cover, unless Zibanejad (with a movement clause) is part of the package in the opposite direction. But summer is coming and the possibilities will be endless, albeit expensive. Like Nash, expensive.
On Tuesday, 1,800 fans could have even chanted: “Yes, we want you! Yes, we need you! ”