Timeline of events: How Rick Nash became a Ranger

It’s always very interesting to see how previous draft picks and trades pave the way for a big name player to be acquired. We looked into how Brandon Dubinsky became a Ranger, how Marc Staal became a Ranger, and how Tim Erixon wound up with the Rangers organization. Now, we look at a few of those deals, and how they all led to the Rangers acquiring Rick Nash. It’s interesting to note that all these transactions occurred with Glen Sather as GM of the Rangers. 7/15/2001: Rangers sign Zdeno Ciger. 12/12/2001: Rangers trade Zdeno Ciger to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Matthew Barnaby. 3/8/2004: Rangers trade Matthew Barnaby and a 3rd round pick in 2004 to the Colorado Avalanche for Chris McAllister, David Liffiton, and the #37 pick in 2004 (The #37 pick was initially Florida’s, and was traded to Colorado in 2003 with Peter Worrell for Eric Messier and Vaclav Nedorost). 6/26/2004: New York Rangers draft Al Montoya with the sixth overall pick. 6/26/2004: Rangers trade the #37 p...