The previous season had been a disappointment for the Rangers. The league-wide lockout had delayed the chance to celebrate their historic Cup victory in 1994, and ended with the Rangers limping into the playoffs. This year would be different, and General Manager Neil Smith was determined to trade his way back into contention.

After a couple of more minor moves he found a deal that he wanted, bringing him former Kings great Luc Robitaille along with rugged defenseman Ulf Samuelsson. The cost was steep though, with New York sending back Sergei Zubov and Petr Nedved to the rival Pittsburgh Penguins.

The late August move caught many by surprise and is now often seen as one of several major missteps that set the Rangers up for mediocrity for much of the next decade.

PROMISING STARTS

With Colin Campbell behind the bench for his first full-length season, the Rangers got off to a strong start first half, going 30-11-10 through the end of January to sit first in the Eastern Conference and second overall. They went the entire month of January without losing a game, finish with a 5-0-4 record.

They were a balanced team, ranking 4th in the league in goals per game, and an equally solid 5th in goals allowed. Then the bottom dropped out.

Over the course of Februray-April, the Ranger compiled an unimpressive 11-16-4 stretch, including just one win in their final seven games of the season. Adam Graves recorded just 4 goals in those 31 games and Robitaille managed 4 in his last 25. Mark Messier and Pat Verbeek meanwhile dealt with injuries. Messier missing the last six games, and Verbeek 13 – spread out over three different spans.

DEAD ON ARRIVAL

With the Rangers plateauing, Smith turned to his favorite hobby – trades. This time he dealt Summer free agent signing Ray Ferraro, rugged forward Ian Laperriere, depth forward Nathan Lafayette and promising defenseman Mattias Norstrom. The return: aging offensive winger Jari Kurri and rugged forwards Marty McSorley and Shane Churla. The trio would play just 78 combined regular season games for the Rangers – Churla accounting for 55 of those. The quartet that went to the Kings: 1666.

Having successfully converted youth to playoff grit in 1993-94, Smith had pillaged much of what remained to take another run in the 1996 playoffs.

NOT ALL THAT CLOSE. AND NO CIGAR.

The playoffs got off to a rocky start, with the Rangers losing their first two games at home to the Montreal in the first round. Fortunately for New York, they found their game. Adam Graves got the Rangers off to a 2-0 lead in Game 3, converting twice on the power play as the visitors dominated the game. They would finish off outshooting the Canadiens 35-17, and winning 2-1.

Games 4 and 5 were also close affairs, with the Rangers holding off Canadien comebacks in both to take a 3-2 lead before finishing out the series with a 5-3 win again in Montreal.

Next up were the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Rangers were no match for Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr who took the series 4-1, ending with a 7-3 blow out to take the series.

INDIVIDUAL STANDOUTS AND PERFORMANCES

While relying on the goaltending as a near-daily safety net, several individual players turned in standout campaigns:

• The Offensive Catalyst: Mark Messier led the way with 47 goals and 99 points, driving the offense despite dealing with several injuries. He would likely have recorded his second 100 point season with New York if not choosing to rest for the playoffs.
• The Defensive Backbone: Brian Leetch anchored the blue line with 70 assists, proving once again why he was among the league’s elite defensemen.
• The Physical Presence: Tough blueliner Jeff Beukeboom paced the team with 220 penalty minutes while pairing with Leetch on the Blueline. It was a career high for him.
• Plus/Minus Stalwarts: Mark Messier and Pat Verbeek both finished with a stellar +29 rating, dominating play whenever they were on the ice.

MOVING DAY

Aside from the big trades, there were a couple of others of note. Defenseman Jay Wells was sent to St. Louis in exchange for Doug Lidster, as was Conference Finals hero Stephane Matteau – albeit five months later. The return on Matteau was the hard-nosed Ian Laperriere who may have been a solid addition if Smith had not traded him less than three months later.

Speaking of hard-nosed, Joey Kocur, who had played parts of six seasons with the Rangers, including 71 games in the Cup winning year, got sent to Vancouver for minor league goaltender Kay Whitmore. He’d go on to win two more Cups with the Detroit Red Wings on the way to closing out his career in the Motor City.

SIGN OF THE TIMES

It was a relatively quiet Summer for Smith with regards to free agents. He inked 30 year old forward Ferraro to a deal that provided some scoring depth to the team before he was later traded. 33 year-old defenseman Bruce Driver also crossed the Hudson after having played his entire career to date for the New Jersey Devils.

FINAL VERDICT

The 1995–96 New York Rangers had potential, and could have served as foundation to build off of. Neil Smith added a few useful pieces in Ferraro, Lidster, Driver and Laperriere, but proceeded to undo it with two outlandish trades that never produced results. The Kurri trade in particular was the worst trade in his tenure, with the Zubov trade not being far behind it.

By chasing what had worked once before, the Rangers GM had instead wore away the depth of the organization, putting them in a precarious position.