COLUMBUS, Ohio — So when Jim Dolan on Tuesday gave Glen Sather yet another unqualified endorsement during a couple of radio interviews, the Garden owner made reference to the Rangers’ general manager’s acumen in the trade market.
“He has pulled off some trades that I still don’t know how he got the other team to agree,” Dolan said.
Before you roll your eyes, you might want to flash back to June 30, 2009, when Sather was not only able to get Montreal to agree to take the remaining five years of Scott Gomez’s contract with a cap hit $7.357 million per season off the Rangers’ hands, but to send the rights to University of Wisconsin defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who had been the 12th overall pick in the 2007 Entry Draft, to New York with Chris Higgins for the right to do so.
Truth is, the Rangers would have been giddy to get anyone — or even no one at all — in order to get out from under Gomez’s deal.
Truth is, even the Native Americans who sold Manhattan Island to Peter Minuit for traded goods worth 60 guilders in 1636 made out about as well as Montreal GM Bob Gainey did 373 years later.
The Canadiens apparently had drafted McDonagh out of Cretin-Derham Hall High School expecting him to be an immediate offensive force. When he was less than that his first two years skating for the Badgers, Montreal’s front office gave up on him. When he was 20 years old.
P.S.: McDonagh will go into Friday night’s showdown here against the Blue Jackets with 12 goals, sixth in the NHL among defensemen, trailing just Dustin Byfuglien (19), Erik Karlsson (17), Shea Weber (16), Zdeno Chara (16) and Torey Krug (14).
Just four Rangers defensemen — Brian Leetch, Sergei Zubov, James Patrick and Michal Rozsival — have matched or exceeded that number of goals in the last 27 years.
“It’s funny you should [ask about him],” coach Alain Vigneault said after practice, chuckling when a reporter mentioned McDonagh. “We were just talking about him before practice, about how Montreal must be shaking their heads.
“I didn’t know him at all before I got here, but having been with him for 70 games, not only is he dependable playing against the top lines, but because of his skating ability and skill set, he has offensive potential and is only going to get better,” Vigneault said. “I think he was at a point in his career where probably he learned the defensive part of the game and had untapped offensive capabilities.
“He’s a real thoroughbred; a real force out there.”
McDonagh, who will turn 25 in mid-June, has been the Rangers’ best and most consistent player. He has emerged as a weapon with the puck, able to gain the zone with his speed and then operate as an option on a four-man attack. He has grown into that role — that includes the assignment on the first-unit power-play point — after three years of dipping his toe into the water.
“In high school, I was a power-play guy who was up the ice a lot, but when I got to Wisconsin, they didn’t have the need to use me that way, so I focused on a more defensive role,” McDonagh told The Post following practice. “Whatever was the best for the team, I was more than willing to do.
“That’s also how I’ve approached it since I’ve been in the NHL, but as I’ve gotten more experience and have learned more about the game and have begun to see the ice a bit better, I’ve wanted to add more of an offensive component to my game. It’s something the coaching staff has encouraged.”
Nevertheless, McDonagh said he is aware of his main job.
“Still, the first priority is defending,” said McDonagh, whose plus-seven leads Blueshirts defensemen. “The only opportunity you get with the puck is off a stop at the defensive end. I love the challenge of going up against the other teams’ top guys and trying to shut them down. That hasn’t changed.”
Neither has the impact of the trade Sather made with Montreal on June 30, 2009. You could even ask Dolan about that.