Derick Brassard came to New York in a 2013 trade deadline-day swap that sent Marian Gaborik to Columbus. In his six seasons with the Blue Jackets, Brassard’s offense had hovered close to league average. The new levels of offense he reached with the Rangers roared to life about five hours after the trade. After arriving at MSG 15 minutes before warmups, Brassard put up four points in an upset of Pittsburgh. “I didn’t have time to be nervous,” Brassard said after the game. The team was on the playoffs bubble on deadline day, and won nine of the remaining 13 games to lock up a trip to the postseason.
It was the first of four straight playoffs appearances Brassard made with the Rangers, and his 44 playoffs points in that stretch led the team. His impressive ability to contribute to postseason scoring in that span gives him a big boost on this list—I give only five players in Rangers history more postseason offensive credit than Brassard.
Brassard’s three full regular seasons with New York were the best of his long career, and his yearly adjusted goals jumped from 21 to 23 to 33. He had Mats Zuccarello on his wing just about every shift, and the two contributed to much of the team’s scoring in both even-strength and power-play situations.
His finest game as a Ranger might have come in the 2015 playoffs when he tallied three goals and two assists while facing elimination in game six of the Conference Finals.
It is rarely easy to move on from such a key player, but GM Jeff Gorton pulled the trigger on a 2016 off-season deal that sent Brassard to Ottawa in exchange for Mika Zibanejad, who is six years younger than Brassard. (The trade has obviously turned out quite well for the Blueshirts).
Larry Brooks said of Brassard, “He was one of the last of an evaporating breed, loved to talk hockey at his locker after practice, loved to talk about last night’s games, loved to gossip.”
Leave a Reply