A trade with the Boston Bruins becomes a real steal for Jeff Gorton

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Jeff Drouin
June 8, 2022 (8:17)

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Currently, the New York Rangers are in a great position to reach the Stanley Cup Final, they are 2 wins away.

Yet a few years ago, the Rangers were in a so-called rebuild and the organization even asked the team's fans to be patient. Let's just say that patience paid off a little sooner than expected because of the excellent work of the team's former general manager, Jeff Gorton.

He made a few high-paying personnel moves, including one in particular at the trade deadline in February 2018.

As reported by my colleagues at Fanadiens.com, the Rangers had traded forward Rick Nash to the Boston Bruins in return for defenseman Ryan Lindgren, a 2018 first-round pick as well as center Ryan Spooner and let's just say that four years later, that deal is paying off rather well for the Blue Shirts.

Ryan Lindgren, the brother of former Habs goalie Charlie Lindgren, is a regular defenseman for the Rangers averaging about 21 minutes per game.

But where Gorton looks like a true genius with this trade is that Ryan Spooner will have only passed through New York as he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for Ryan Strome, one of the pillars of the Rangers' offense during the current playoffs.

Not to mention that the first round pick acquired for Nash became K'Andre Miller, another New York regular.

So if you boil it down, it's like Rick Nash was traded for Ryan Lindgren, Ryan Strome and K'Andre Miller. Not bad in return for a rental player: three Rangers impact players, a 2nd center and two top-4 defenseman..

As for Nash, he will have only passed through Boston, having announced his retirement the following season. Let's just say that if the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final, they'll owe the Canadiens' Executive VP of Hockey Operations a big one.