This is part two of a two-part series looking back at two blockbuster trades between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the New York Rangers in the 2012-2013 season. Part one was Blue Jackets trading Rick Nash to the Rangers. This second part also takes into account the subsequent transactions with players involved in the exchange and presents a balance of the trades and their ramifications.
On April 3rd 2013, New York Rangers traded Marian Gaborik, Steven Delisle and Blake Parlett to the Blue Jackets for Derick Brassard, Derek Dorsett, John Moore and a 2014 6th-rounder draft pick.
Later transactions:
- On June 30th 2013, New York Rangers traded the 6th-rounder acquired from Columbus and Benn Ferriero to the Minnesota Wild for Justin Falk.
- On February 7th 2014, Columbus Blue Jackets traded Blake Parlett to the Boston Bruins for Carter Camper.
- On April 5th 2014, Columbus Blue Jackets traded Marian Gaborik to the Los Angeles Kings for Matt Frattin (traded on July 1st 2014 to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Jerry D’Amigo and a conditional 7th-rounder), a 2nd-round draft pick in 2015 and a 3rd-rounder in 2014 (traded to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for a 3rd-rounder in 2014 – Elvis Merzlikins – and a 3rd-rounder in 2015).
- On June 27th 2014, New York Rangers traded Derek Dorsett to the Vancouver Canucks for a 3rd-rounder in 2014 (Keegan Iverson)
NHL contracts involved
Marian Gaborik, 1+rest of season (of 5) years remaining at $7.5 million; Derick Brassard, 1+rest of season (of 4) years as a RFA remaining at $3.2 million; Derek Dorsett, 2+rest of season (of 3) years remaining at $1,633,333 million; John Moore, 1+rest of season (3) years at entry-level remaining at $840,000 million (two-way).
Looking back on New York
Marian Gaborik’s departure from the Rangers was not altogether unexpected. He had appeared at times to be in the doghouse and during the 2013 season, sometimes playing on the third line. For him, the Rangers got two-way forward Derick Brassard, who had not matched expectations of being the top center in Columbus, abrasive Derek Dorsett, injured at the time of the trade, and young defenseman John Moore.
Brassard turned out to be a reliable force for the Rangers. Even better, for the remainder of the 2013 season and especially in the playoffs, his offensive production peaked with 23 points in 25 games. His output in 2013-2014 was solid but less impressive – above 0.5 points per game – as he was often having defensive duties, especially during the Rangers’ cup run. He signed a substantive five-year contract and has started as the team’s second-line center.
Dorsett only came back from injury for the 2013 playoffs and also missed 24 games in 2013-2014. Overall, he produced considerably less with the Rangers than in Columbus serving as a role player. He found himself being out of the lineup at times. The Rangers shipped him to Vancouver this offseason in exchange for a third-round pick, which they used on forward Keegan Iverson.
Moore has installed himself as a third-pairing defenseman for the Rangers, and is now on a one-year one-way contract. Last season, he withstood the challenge by Justin Falk, whom the Rangers ironically acquired by packaging Columbus’ 6th-rounder in 2014.
Looking back on Columbus
The goal with trading for Gaborik was to put the Jackets over the top and enter the postseason. It almost worked in 2013, as the team came agonizingly close to a playoff spot following an impressive run after acquiring Gaborik. His numbers however were not extraordinary: 3 goals and 5 assists in 12 games. Things got worse in 2013-2014, as the Slovakian missed no less than 40 games. While not as clearly out of place as Jeff Carter before, Gaborik never seemed to fully match with his partners and in 22 games had 6 goals and 8 assists. Since he was to become an UFA and was certain not to stay, the Jackets traded yet another mismatched superstar, after Carter, to Los Angeles – and like Carter, Gaborik blossomed and won a Stanley Cup with the Kings. The Kings re-signed him to a seven-year contract with a $4.875 million salary cap hit.
Columbus received Matt Frattin, whom they hardly used and now have exchanged for Jerry D’Amigo, a bubble player who might be called up at some point, and a conditional seventh-rounder. They gained a second-rounder they will use in 2015, and a third-rounder that was flipped to Detroit in exchange for two similar picks, one used on Latvian goaltender Elvis Merzlikins, who currently plays in Switzerland, and another to come in 2015.
As for the depth players involved in the Gaborik trade and its ramifications, big blueliner Steven Delisle left last offseason for the Flyers’ organization and plays in the AHL without much prospect of being called up.
Fellow defenseman Blake Parlett was qualified by the Jackets but got traded in early 2014 to the Bruins for Carter Camper, and has since signed with the Panthers.
Little playmaker Camper did not move up from the AHL either and left for the Senators this offseason.
Winner so far: New York
The Rangers succeeded in shipping out a star player who was not playing to his full potential and gained strength and depth for their playoff runs by receiving three roster players, one able two-way center who started with an offensive outburst in Brassard, a role player who provided toughness if required in Dorsett, and a promising blueliner in Moore. They also were able to exchange a lesser-used Dorsett for a third-rounder.
Gaborik contributed to Columbus, first coming close to and then actually having postseason games. The was he was not the factor he was expected to be, and it was unlikely that he would have been re-signed.
Regarding fringe players, the Rangers have another edge, as they packaged a Columbus pick for Falk who played 21 games, while the Jackets hardly used Frattin and D’Amigo has yet to be called up.
Projected winner over time: New York
Currently, both the Rangers and the Jackets have gained a third-rounder from the ramifications of the Gaborik trade. In Columbus’ system, goaltending prospect Merzlikins has to compete with the higher-ranked likes of Oscar Dansk and Anton Forsberg. For the Rangers, Iverson’s chances of cracking the NHL seem unclear as well so far. The Jackets might benefit in the long run from having gained two picks in the 2015 draft, which is forecasted to be deep. That however is none of the Rangers’ doing, so they will not come to “lose” the trade.
Wrapping up the Rick Nash and the Marian Gaborik trade together: A win for the Rangers
Current returns for Columbus:
- Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Tim Erixon and Jerry D’Amigo
- Prospects Kerby Rychel and Elvis Merzlikins
- A 2nd-rounder, a 3rd-rounder and a conditional 7th-rounder in 2015
- Further return: 34 games (from 74 possible) and 9 goals and 22 points by Gaborik; 4 games by Frattin
Current returns for the Rangers:
- Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, John Moore
- Prospects Pavel Buchnevich and Keegan Iverson
- Further return: 51 regular-season and 35 playoff games by Dorsett; (partly) 21 games by Falk
Columbus lost the Gaborik gamble, and the Rangers have so far come out on top. Last season, the outcome was leveled by Nash not having a good year and Dubinsky healthy and on top of his game. The current situation of the former being on fire and the latter injured, as also occurred during parts of the 2013 season, suggests however that this might have been the exception more than the rule. Brassard has been more consistent and productive than Anisimov, and Moore has installed himself durably in the NHL, to the contrary of Erixon for now.
Regarding the prospects, for the Jackets, Rychel looks a lock to make the team and might become their power forward. Next years’ second-rounder and third-rounder will give Columbus another shot at NHL potential.
For the Rangers, Buchnevich has the most upside, but remains a question mark. So the Jackets have ended up with more prospects but it would be a stretch to forecast that in five-six years, when Brassard’s, Dubinsky’s and Nash’s contracts all will have expired, they will have gained more from the trades than the Rangers.
Written by Niels Lachmann
Derick Brassard
Derek Dorsett
John Moore
Marian Gaborik
Steven Delisle
Blake Parlett
