It's a strong statement, and I respect the demonstrative confidence - but it's absolutely false.
Certainly Jagr. Gaborik's offensive run was elite for two years. (So was Nylander for that matter). McDonagh comes first as well. Zuccarello is up there. I'd put Callahan in Stepan's boat. Not a Callahan fan. Thank him for his services, big time overachiever, but never was my captain. Thankful we let him go before his body gave out at 28. Would be almost as thankful if we brought MSL behind the bench to assist Quinn's group.
I didn't say best, or most talented, I said most important. Most important because of what he symbolized.
And for the record, acquiring Jaromir Jagr was an idiotic move that set this franchise on a course for years of mediocrity and false confidence.
I love Jaromir Jagr. He is one of the 10 best players in the history of the game, and he was very fun to watch while he was a Ranger. But acquiring him made no sense, and his inflated post lockout stats led to Scott Gomez, Wade Redden, and Chris Drury, and a whole slew of terrible decisions (Sather's incredible lucking into the McDonagh trade and being able to bury Redden doesn't change the stupidity of those moves).
False hope is why, for most of Henrik Lundqvist's career, the Rangers have been a shit team he dragged into the playoffs. The Rangers should have done what they're doing now 13 years ago, but that was impossible because they traded for Jagr and signed a bunch of his friends.
All the numbers put up by Jagr, Gaborik, Nylander, and all the other "big names" amounted to was a 2 year stretch of being a false contender.
The vast majority of Lundqvist's career, the team in front of him has been slightly above average at best, and it all traces back to Jagr. And the finals-losing squad, IMO is one of the worst teams to make the finals in the modern era, and only made it because they played a hilariously bad MTL team without Price after beating, only because of Lundqvist, the Penguins in a game 7 during which they were thoroughly dominated. We had a better team the year before, when we lost to the Devils, and even that team wasn't what I would call great.
I know, unpopular opinions, but I'll stand by them and they're opinons I've held for years (and shared here before).
For everyone who's happy the Rangers are bottoming out and rebuilding, think about how that might have worked out with a 23-year-old Henrik Lundqvist.
