Rangers General Manager Glen Sather has done it again…he’s upset many fans by trading two of the best young forwards in the system for a dubious return.  After alienating many over the summer when he acquired Eric Lindros, Sather today sent Manny Malhotra and Barrett Heisten to Dallas for Roman Lyashenko and Martin Rucinsky.

For Malhotra it was a move that had been expected for some time.  From almost day one, Malhotra has been much maligned and mistreated by the Rangers and will perhaps finally get a real chance to prove he can play in the NHL.  His team mate Barrett Heisten will also get a chance with a new team just as it appeared he was getting over his early season failure at the NHL level.

Coming back to the Rangers are former Oiler draft pick Martin Rucinsky and defensive forward Roman Lyashenko.  Rucinksy, whom Sather drafted 20th overall in 1991, finds himself on his third team this season after an earlier trade sent him from Montreal to Dallas.  The 31 year old Left Winger has struggled this season with only 8 goals and 24 points in 59 games, but will no doubt be given every opportunity on one of the Rangers top two lines.

Lyashenko is more of a defensive forward and was once classed as the best Russian defensive forward not playing in the NHL.  He has however, struggled to live up to the hype and has managed just 4 NHL games this season with Dallas without registering a point.  The slight centerman at 6’0″ and 174lbs has questionable size for the NHL, but has proven on occasion that he has some offensive talent as well as being able to shut down the likes of Jaromir Jagr.

In this fan’s opinion this looks to be a dubious move to attain some scoring at the expense of a couple of young hard working players.  So much for Younger, Faster, Bigger…

Statistics:

Manny Malhotra
Birthdate: 5/18/1980
Height: 6-2
Weight: 217
Salary: $1,072,500
Career: 206GP 19G 22A 41Pts 90PIM
2001-02: 56GP 7G 6A 13Pts 42PIM

Barrett Heisten
Birthdate: 3/19/1980
Height: 6-1
Weight: 198
Salary: $1,050,000
Career: 10GP 0G 0A 0Pts 2PIM

Roman Lyashenko
Birthdate: 5/2/1979
Height: 6-0
Weight: 174
Salary: $800,000
Career: 122GP 12G 9A 21Pts 55PIM
2001-02: 4GP 0G 0A 0Pts 0PIM

Martin Rucinsky
Birthdate: 3/11/1971
Height: 6-1
Weight: 205
Salary: $3,000,000
Career: 658GP 175G 244A 419Pts 561PIM
2001-02: 59GP 8G 16A 24Pts 36PIM