The
New York Rangers have had an excellent offseason to this point in filling their
top line center void with Brad Richards, adding veteran toughness in Mike Rupp,
retaining a glue player in Ruslan Fedotenko and getting three of their five key
restricted free agents re-signed. The
one void they have not truly filled is an offensive defenseman that could run
the power play. That does not mean they did
not try to do so.
According
to Larry Brooks at the New
York Post, the Rangers attempted to trade for Brent Burns before he was
ultimately dealt to the San Jose Sharks on draft night.
The Rangers got their man in Brad Richards , but Brent Burns , the first-pair defenseman who was traded from Minnesota to San Jose, is the one who got away.
While
Brad Richards is a power play quarterback and will help with the man advantage,
acquiring a player like Burns would have added another dimension to the
Rangers. However, seeing that San Jose
had to give up Devin Setoguchi, prized prospect Charlie Coyle and a first round
pick to get Burns, it is a good thing the Rangers did not win the race for
Burns. A comparable package from the
Rangers likely would have included Artem Anisimov, Chris Kreider and a first
round pick, at least. Burns would have
been a very nice addition, but the overall cost to make it happen would not
have been the best thing for the franchise long-term.
