July 1, 2009, short story on Scott Gomez trade for Metro NY Newspaper
Failed experiment
Rangers give up on Gomez, ship the former All-Star to Montreal
58 Gomez never found his place in New York. He was shuffled from line to line under former coach Tom Renney and still struggled under John Tortorella. The Rangers clearly overpaid — $51.5 million over seven years — as Gomez put up just 58 points last season
It was time to pull the plug.
In a bombshell move, the Rangers traded star center Scott Gomez to the Montreal Canadiens yesterday as part of a six-player trade. The Rangers received Long Island native Chris Higgins and defensive prospects Ryan McDonagh and Pavel Valentenko. In return, the Canadiens also acquired minor leaguers Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto.
“I have no complaints about him,” Rangers general manager Glen Sather said of Gomez. “He’s a terrific guy who is going to do well in Montreal.”
Apparently he wasn’t terrific enough. Gomez, who was signed two years ago, is coming off his lowest point total in five seasons. He was part of that blockbuster summer of 2007, when the team also signed Chris Drury. The duo clearly underachieved, as the team ranked 25th and 28th in scoring the last two seasons.
Yesterday’s trade was perhaps the first of several money saving moves by the Rangers. Gomez had five years left on his deal and was due to make $7.35 million next season. The Rangers, who have just five forwards signed for next season, can now become players on the free-agent market. The trade puts them in position to make a run at Dany Heatley.
posted by Denis P. Gorman at 2:34 AM
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