Revisiting the Pavel Bure trade

[CasusBelli]

I was in Miami when Florida traded Bure to NYR and remember thinking that the $10 million in cash was the best part of the deal for the Cats (they were a mess financially). I know PB had had several knee issues at that point and that he was on the wrong side of 30, but I always felt the Panthers got fleeced. What did you think as Ranger fans at the time?

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[KirkAlbuquerque]

I was just a kid (or a young teen anyway) but I remember my dad explaining to me that the Rangers were able to get Bure after the trade deadline because they weren't gonna make the playoffs anyway lol

 

[TheBloodyNine]

ok....

 

[Thirty One]

I was in Miami when Florida traded Bure to NYR and remember thinking that the $10 million in cash was the best part of the deal for the Cats (they were a mess financially). I know PB had had several knee issues at that point and that he was on the wrong side of 30, but I always felt the Panthers got fleeced. What did you think as Ranger fans at the time?

Should have got him the first time.

He was so great to watch, unfortunately he had very few reps left in him. I remember hearing speculation it might be York/Novak/1st and it ended up being Novak/Ulanov/1st. Sather leaned on them as they had no one else to move his salary to.

The first ended up being 10th overall. Was a weak draft year, but they apparently had talks for the 4th pick with Tampa (Pitkanen pick). If they had the 10th maybe that would have been an easier trade to make.

 

[NYSPORTS]

thought he was another name whose best years were behind him

 

[n8]

I loved seeing Bure in a Rangers jersey. I too wish we might have gotten him when he was first traded although, I can't say I remember what the potential cost would have been back then. Given the package Bure got, it would have been Cloutier, Kovalev, Sundstrom, and a roster defenseman (Ulf?) - we would have had a full season of prime-time Bure with Gretzky and it would have been beautiful. And we would have Bure instead of the remains of Pavel Brendl too!

To answer the OP, I remember thinking we didn't have to trade much to get Pavel. It didn't feel like we gave anything substantial up and that another team could have made a better offer. Given that we only got 51 games out of him though, it did feel like we only got a rental instead of the full deal so Florida probably wins out in the retrospective analysis. Florida though gets a black eye trading up to select Petr Taticek and passing on the likes of Keith Ballard, Steve Eminger, and Alexander Semin. Had their scouting been better, the trade tree of Bure might have turned out a lot rosier for Florida.

 

[FIRE DRURY]

I remember feeling two sensations after hearing about the Bure trade.

1). Whooooo!

2). We f***ing did it again, didn’t we...?

Bure, Lindros, and Lafontaine. 3 truly exceptional talents we acquired that only played a season or two here, passed their primes, due to age or injuries in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

All 3 played well here in their short stints. Including Bure. Shame all three couldn’t stay healthy during their tenures in NY.

 

[Barnaby]

He was one of my favorite players so fun to see him in NY if only for a short time.

They weren’t going anywhere regardless and what they gave up didn’t amount to much. I wish they could’ve gotten him earlier.

 

[pld459666]

I was fortunate enough to see one of the few highlights of Bure in a NYR sweater.

We and a few of the boys I was playing hockey with took a road trip up to Toronto. Hall of Fame and a Rangers/Leags game.

Bure scored a GWG on a breakaway with under a minute to go.

Amazing game. And we had bet a bartender in the area if the Leafs won, we'd pony up for an hour of free drinks, if the Rangers won we would eat and drink for free.

We get to the bar, they have our table roped off waiting for us. Ate and drank for free but we did leave a huge tip.

New York Rangers at Toronto Maple Leafs Box Score — October 26, 2002 | Hockey-Reference.com

 

[RGY]

50 points in 51 games here. He was outstanding. Its too bad his knees were shot, and at only 30/31 years old.

My favorite memory of Bure as a Ranger was his coast to coast goal against ANA.

 

[Speedtrials]

I believe the first time the package that Vancouver wanted was sundstrom, cloutier, malhotra, and a first. Obviously looks like a steal now, but back then the Rangers refused to put Manny in the deal.
When Bure finally got here, he was dynamic with Lindros and Rucinsky, they closed out the year on fire. For some reason Sather played hardball with Rucinsky that off season, while giving Holik his 45 million dollars. Rucinsky, went to St. Louis I believe, Bure couldn't stay healthy, and Lindros couldn't return to be that 1st line center anymore.

Florida didn't get much for Bure, but with his injuries the Rangers really didn't get much out of Bure.

 

[Priorae]

Pfew, the early 2000s teams were so great on names - all broken and old. Messier / Bure / Lindros / Leetch / Nylander / Holik / Kovalev. The "in your prime" greatest teams ever.

Those years were brutal. No upside hope / not really competitive. Yuck. Thank god for Henrik.

 

[NYR94]

Pfew, the early 2000s teams were so great on names - all broken and old. Messier / Bure / Lindros / Leetch / Nylander / Holik / Kovalev. The "in your prime" greatest teams ever.

Those years were brutal. No upside hope / not really competitive. Yuck. Thank god for Henrik.

Yeah, during that era the Rangers acquired big names but they were never in the playoffs so I couldn't get excited. After all that losing and disappointment I just became numb to the acquisition of new big names. But I always liked Bure as a player and he always put up points in the playoffs. It's sad how injuries ended his career early. Probably my favorite speedster of all time. It makes me wonder how he might have looked later in his career had he played longer, especially past the 2004 lockout and benefited from the new rules in 2005-2006.

 

[Thirty One]

50 points in 51 games here. He was outstanding. Its too bad his knees were shot, and at only 30/31 years old.

My favorite memory of Bure as a Ranger was his coast to coast goal against ANA.

Overtime right? And I think it completed the hat trick and the 3-2 comeback.

 

[NYSPORTS]

Pfew, the early 2000s teams were so great on names - all broken and old. Messier / Bure / Lindros / Leetch / Nylander / Holik / Kovalev. The "in your prime" greatest teams ever.

Those years were brutal. No upside hope / not really competitive. Yuck. Thank god for Henrik.

Jari Kurri couldn’t outskate the Zamboni but he sure looked good wearing the Rangers sweater!!!!!

This current rebuild may actually result in stars of our own and, omgosh, Stars in their prime.

 

[Thirty One]

Jari Kurri couldn’t outskate the Zamboni but he sure looked good wearing the Rangers sweater!!!!!

This current rebuild may actually result in stars of our own and, omgosh, Stars in their prime.

Yeah, maybe until you jinxed it.

 

[Thirty One]

Peak Petrovicky-Nedved-Bure here:

 

[Edge]

Personally, talent aside, at that point I was over the whole "acquiring a star" approach.

Aside from the fact that there wasn't a track record of it working out, it became hard to imagine them being part of a long-term solution, and with so many of them coming in it was hard to feel a connection with them.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Peak Petrovicky-Nedved-Bure here:

That made me nostalgic for the early 2000s and so excited about hockey.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

Is Panarin a better player than Bure if he's the player he was last year? I feel like he's way more well rounded but obviously not as good of a goal scorer.

 

[Levitate]

It may not have been absolute prime Bure but he was still amazing. His knees getting destroyed by AHLers in preseason and such was a shame

That said, it was known his knees were in trouble when the Rangers traded for him...it was a high risk move

 

[NYSPORTS]

Yeah, maybe until you jinxed it.

my bad, i won’t make the same mistake when we rebuild again in 12 years. Going to ask Santa for a Rangers McDavid Jersey to hang in my closet until he’s 34 and signs here. Can’t wait!!!!

 

[Speedtrials]

Edge, what do you think happened during Sather's first years before the lockout?

When he came in the talk was bringing in a culture of developing our own, but also having the resources to go get some high-end players. Instead, he spent like a drunken sailor, and we were just a mess until Hank and Jagr.

 

[ecemleafs]

he was absolutely electric. even if it was one of those acquire a star player on the downside of their career trades it was still awesome to have him. bure was one of my favorite players in the NHL around that time, along with fleury lol. bure scored 12 goals in his first 12 games with us in the season we traded for him. followed that with one last season of 19 goals in 39 games. overall he scored 31 goals in 51 games with us. 50 goal pace per 82 games.

 

[NYSPORTS]

Is Panarin a better player than Bure if he's the player he was last year? I feel like he's way more well rounded but obviously not as good of a goal scorer.

are they the same player at this age (and this NHL) is a really good question. I’d say yes.