Game 19, ’26-27: Rangers at Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers and New York Rangers have made some interesting trades over the years. Some bring eternally devastating memories flooding back to fans, while others could reasonably considered theft in broad daylight. Please read this.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN NOVEMBER

On the road: NYR, NJD (Expected 1-1-0) 1-0-1
At home to: ANA, VAN, NYR, PHI (Expected 3-1-0) 1-1-0
On the road to: TOR, PHI, FLA, TBAY, CAR, STL (2-3-1)
At home to: VEG, SEA (1-0-1)
On the road to: SEA (1-0-0)
Expected Record: 8-5-2, 18 points in 15 games (actual 2-1-1)
Actual Record: 12-3-3, 27 points in 18 games

The Oilers took full advantage of the soft early schedule, hammering the weaklings and remaining competitive against the few good teams along the way. The opposition is getting more difficult, and that means Mike Babcock has to find lines and pairings that work.

Hold on to your ass, because Connor Murphy, Alex Fornenton, Jake Walman and Owen Michaels all need to be better if the team plans on deploying them in important situations.

OILERS-RANGERS

The two most valuable assets lost to the Rangers by the Oilers were Mark Messier and Glen Sather. The Messier trade, made by Sather, effectively ended the glory Oilers and we all knew it. By 2000, when Slats left for Manhattan, the organization was not only far from its glory days, there had been relocation in the air (Les Alexander and the city of Houston, 1997 and 1998). Watching the 1994 Rangers win Stanley with an “Oilers east” roster was a damned unusual feeling, I’ll tell you that much.

The first major trade the two teams made came in 1981, when Slats sent power forward Cam Connor and a third-round selection to the Rangers for scoring winger Donny Murdoch. who was exactly the kind of player Sather loved to acquire. High skill, during a downbeat period, plenty of opportunity for a rebound. Sather acquired Rick Chartraw from the Rangers for the 1984 Cup run (for a ninth-round pick), Reijo Ruotsalainen (a wonderful player) for the 1987 Stanley run.

The Messier trade came in October 1991. You can look it up, I’m not going to talk about it. Kevin Lowe went the other way in late 1992. In March of 1993, Sather sent one of the most unique wingers in the game’s history (Esa Tikkanen) to the Rangers for young play-making center Doug Weight. It was a brilliant trade for both sides. Weight emerged as a leader and was key in the late 1980’s playoff successes against the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche. In March of 1994, Craig MacTavish was dealt to the Rangers for speedy forward Todd Marchant.

Those trades, plus a mega-deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, ended the glory years for the Edmonton Oilers.

Kevin Lowe made a good trade in March 2003, picking up two-way winger Radek Dvorak (who would play splendidly in the 2006 run) for socring winger Anson Carter. In March 2004, Lowe acquired Petr Nedved (I loved watching him play, no matter what team he was on).

Peter Chiarelli acquired Cam Talbot from the Rangers at the 2015 draft, gifted New York Ryan Strome (for Ryan Spooner) in 2018 and Ken Holland acquired Jayden Grubbe in 2023.

I think we’re due for another trade between these two teams. Maybe someone like Sean Durzi?

On the Lowdown today, our feature guest will be Jason Gregor and I’m working to get an old friend to drop by as well. We’ll talk Oilers-Rangers, Grey Cup weekend and more. Noon to 2pm, Sports 1440 and You Tube.