The Rangers had just had their best season in 15 years when they pulled the trigger. It was July and Rick Nash was on his way to New York from Columbus, the offensive game-changer needed so that 1994 didn’t have to last a lifetime.
And though Nash got the Rangers back to the playoffs, scoring a team-high 21 goals in the regular season, it was the team’s late-season acquisition of three Columbus castoffs that has kept them in the playoffs.
While Nash struggled, held without a goal in the opening round against Washington, Derick Brassard, John Moore and Derek Dorsett — the trio acquired for Marian Gaborik on April 3 — provided stability when a season of heightened expectations looked ready to disintegrate.
Even when things were bad, Brassard believed. His confidence is enviable. He doesn’t guarantee wins, but slips statements of fact into sentences, explaining why the Rangers will win a Game 6 and 7.
After six underwhelming and often injury-marred seasons the 25-year-old center has cited a renewed passion and is having more fun than ever while playing in his first playoffs. His vision and initiative translated into a series-high nine points (two goals, seven assists), all coming after the Rangers fell behind 2-0 in the series.
“He’s grabbed a hold of it,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “I think he’s stepped in here to try and make a difference and he’s made some big plays for us. I’m not afraid to put him in a lot of different situations and a lot of different positions.”
While Brassard’s creativity provided opportunities to a Rangers offense that often looked hopeless, Moore earned Tortorella’s trust enough to run a power play for the first time in his NHL career.
The 22-year-old assisted Brassard on the only goal of Game 6 and most importantly provided defensive depth in Marc Staal’s absence, which included five blocked shots in Game 5.
Tortorella admitted he didn’t know much about Moore when he arrived and Staal didn’t even know who he was, but the former first-round pick who played in 17 games with Columbus before being traded, just needed opportunity.
“I was hoping they’d give him a chance because I was seeing all his talent in Columbus, but he wasn’t playing a lot,” Brassard said. “He’s got all the tools.”
Dorsett would have to wait to make his impact. Out with a broken clavicle, Dorsett didn’t debut with the Rangers until Game 2, but he fit right in with the team’s grinding, physical play.
The 26-year-old wing recorded seven hits in his first game, provided inspired checking — most notably in Game 6 — and had an assist in Game 7.
Dorsett had previously played in three postseason games, but Brassard and Moore had played none. Still, after Game 3, Brassard called the playoffs “old hat,” confident he grasped in less than a week what others can’t comprehend in a career.
“This is how you hopefully become a playoff savvy team, is going through these experiences,” said Tortorella. “We have some of that going through it last year, but I think some guys don’t have a clue what they’re doing, they don’t have a clue about the pressure and sometimes that’s good.”