The Rangers have done this many times before. The most recent time it worked, one of the players coming over in an all-in trade didn’t wear a helmet.
But that is the history of this franchise, with the curly haired Craig MacTavish and 1994 still meaning more to the fanbase than anything that has happened since. There is an illustrious history littered with underachievement and disappointment. So close, and yet so far.
So if the acquisition of Eric Staal on Sunday from the Hurricanes can be mentioned in the same breath as the ’94 deals that yielded MacTavish, Stephane Matteau, Glenn Anderson and Brian Noonan, well then Staal will not only be joining his brother Marc, but he’ll be joining the heady company of names that remain in franchise lore.