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Was thinking of making his into a timeline, but its a scenario I had in my head for a while about if certain moves were made in 2008 and how the NHL may have changed. I am an NY RANGER fan so it will be very RANGER centric but these moves will have some effect on the rest of the time line. I used what if sports to help me here along with some assumptions. If this belongs in the timeline thread mods please move it there. This was based on an article Larry Brooks posted in the NY post back in late 2010. Link here (https://nypost.com/2010/04/04/rangers-had-done-deal-for-stamkos/). Here goes.

5/4/2008: In game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi finals the New York Rangers are eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Prior to this season GM Glen Sather had added free agent centers Scott Gomez and Chris Drury to an already star studded offense of Jaromir Jagr and Brendan Shanahan. He had hope these moves would bring the cup back to Broadway alas it wasn't to be as they were beaten by a younger faster Pittsburgh team. After watching this happen Sather realized that he too would need to cut ties with his veteran players and go out and get younger faster personnel to support young superstar goalie Henrik Lundqvist. His main goal was to get Steven Stamkos the potential number 1 overall draft pick.

6/21/2008: Its the annual NHL draft in Ottawa and Sarnia Sting standout Steven Stamkos is projected to go number 1 overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Before the start of the draft, Sather approaches Lightning owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules and offers them a pick of 2 of the 3 following players (Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Dan Girardi) and 2 draft picks. Tampa balks at the offer and drafts Stamkos 1st overall. The Rangers go on to draft Michael Del Zotto,Derek Stepan, and Evgeny Grachev in the first 3 rounds.

Summer 2008: The Rangers let popular free agents Jaromir Jagr,Brendan Shanahan, and Sean Avery walk. To top that in the hours before free agency they trade Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Nik Zherdev and Dan Fritsche. They also sign Free agents Markus Naslund and Wade Redden to add experience and bolster the D as well as substitute for the loss of Jagr.

October/November 2008: The NHL season opens in Prague with match ups between the aforementioned Rangers and Lightning both games end in 2-1 victories for the Rangers. As a result of this the Rangers go 10-2-1 in October and many experts praise the Rangers for their moves. However by November the cracks began to show. Meanwhile in Tampa Stamkos got off to a slow start despite being on a veteran loaded team. Coach Barry Melrose was also not a fan of his and began to cut his minutes to the point of suggesting he be sent back to Sarnia. As the Thanksgiving weekend approached the Rangers visited Tampa and Sather reignited the talks. Tampa listened this time but wanted another NHL ready player in the deal. The phones rang back and forth throughout the rest of the month.

December 1 2008: Tsn Sportscentre and we have a breaking trade to announce here, looks like the Tampa Bay Lightning have given up on struggling rookie Steven Stamkos. Pending league approval the Lightning have traded Steven Stamkos to the New York Rangers for Brandon Dubinsky,Marc Staal, and 2 players in the system Michael Del Zotto and Evgeny Grachev.

The trade sent shock waves throughout the league and both teams fan bases. On the Tampa side most fans were happy to be rid of a rookie who looked to be going nowhere, however others were angry that they gave up on him that quick. On the NY side most talk radio hosts and fans alike were hating on the Rangers for giving up 4 young players for a player deemed to be a bust 2 months into his career especially while the 2 they gave up were contributing to a good season at that point. Despite this hockey experts were 50/50 with criticism on both ends of what happened. Stamkos was unproven yet young, while Dubinsky and Staal showed signs of good futures but were probably never going to be more than role players.

2008-09 Season: After the shock of the trade wore off Stamkos joined the Rangers ast first he was used as a 3rd line center but eventually moved up to a 2nd line center after a few games. Despite a slow start and constant ridicule from the media and fans Stamkos picked it up in the 2nd half finishing with 23 goals and 23 assists. Despite struggling throughout much of the winter Stamkos's turn around along with the deadline acquisitions Derek Morris and Nik Antropv, and reacquiring Sean Avery pushed the Rangers into the playoffs as the 7th seed and saved coach Tom Renney's job despite rumors of his firing in February. In the playoffs the Rangers faced the Washington Capitals in round 1. Despite the Caps being heavily favored, the Rangers jumped out to a 3-1 series lead and looked to be in the drivers seat. However it wasn't to be as the Caps won 3 straight and knocked the Rangers out in 7 on a late Sergei Fedorov goal. It was a disappointing ending to the season, and it ultimately cost head coach Tom Renney his job. As they playoffs played out the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings in 7 to win their 3rd Stanley Cup.

2009 Offseason: After the disappointing 7 game loss and the firing of Tom Renney, Glen Sather knew he had work to do to improve his team. Before any moves were made Markus Naslund announced his retirement. The first order of business was to find a new coach to lead the team. That decision was made during the finals as Mike Sullivan former Bruins coach, and current Tampa assistant coach was hired to head the bench. Sullivan promised a faster team with more opportunity for younger players. Sather followed this plan as he wanted to get younger and faster. When draft day arrived the Rangers drafted speedy and big winger Chris Kreider out of Boston College who fit into this young and fast philosophy. After the draft Sather began to wheel and deal to reshape the team, 1 day prior to free agency Scott Gomez was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Chris Higgins and Ryan McDonagh this opened up a spot at center for young prospect Artem Anisimov. When July 1 arrived despite the chance to acquire Dany Heatley in a trade or sign ufa Marian Gaborik Sather stood pat. The only signing he made the rest of the summer were signing depth forwards Vinny Prospal,Brian Boyle ,and Ales Kotalik along with Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy.

2009-10 Season: After the summer the Rangers took the ice for the 09-10 season. After hearing much criticism the prior season Steven Stamkos came into the season looking to prove everyone wrong. He spent the summer in Toronto training alongside former teammate Gary Roberts and impressed in camp and preseason. After dropping the opener against defending champion Pittsburgh, the Rangers won 8 in a row with Stamkos scoring at will and finally looking like the player he was promised to be. Stamkos continued to be a force during the season however the rest of the team struggled. After a great October the Rangers played around .500 the rest of the season. As the season wound down the Rangers found themselves on the playoff bubble. At the deadline they picked up Olli Jokinen and Brandon Prust in exchange for Higgins and Kotalik. This move was hoped to jump start the team however it didn't do much and the Rangers found themselves in a tie for 8th place with the Philadelpha Flyers going into the final weekend of the season. Ironically the last 2 games of the season would be a home and home with the same Flyers. After winning the first game at the Garden the second game in Philly would determine who would go to the playoffs and who would go home. Jody Shelley scored early for the Rangers and they held that lead until the 3rd period where Matt Carle tied it. As the 3rd wound down Vinny Prospal hit Stamkos on a breakaway and he scored his 46th of the season. As the Flyers pushed and pushed for the tying goal Stamkos sailed the puck into the empty net for goal 47 and a trip to the playoffs.

With the win the Rangers qualified as the 8th seed and a match up with the dreaded Washington Capitals who were cup favorites and Presidents trophy winners. After dropping the first 2 in Washington the Rangers came home in a rut. Late in game 3 Stamkos scored to put the Rangers ahead 3-2 and get them back in the series. In game 4 it was the Stamkos and Lundqvist show as Stamkos had 2 goals and Lundqvist posted a 3-0 shutout. Despite the momentum, the comeback wasn't meant to be as Washington took the next 2 games and defeated the Boston Bruins,Pittsburgh Penguins, and Chicago Blackhawks in a thrilling 7 game series on the road to their 1st Stanley Cup. Alex Ovechkin won the hart and Conn Smythe along with his first cup. With Pittsburgh and Washington winning cups in back to back years and splitting 2 playoff series as well, most experts were lauding them as the Celtics and Lakers of the NHL and the rivalry would continue for the next few years. As for Glen Sather he knew that the draft and free agent class of 2010 would greatly shape his team for the next few years.

2010 Offseason: After another exit at the hands of Washington Glen Sather's mission was to bolster the offense to take some pressure off of Steven Stamkos. This plan would be carried through the draft and free agency. At the draft, with the 12th selection the Rangers chose Vladimir Tarasenko an offensively gifted right winger from Russia who would be another dynamic offensive player upfront. Despite the pick Tarasenko announced he would remain in Russia for 2010-11.

As the offseasons went onin 2010 the Rangers got a player who they had been coveting for quite some time, that player, Marty St.Louis. It was no secret that St.Louis had been unhappy in Tampa, and had wanted to go to New York to be closer to his wife's family in Connecticut. In 08-09 and 09-10 he had requested to be dealt to the Rangers but a deal could never be reached. Finally Sather was able to get Tampa to budge by sending the Michal Rosival and the Rangers 2011 1st round pick to Tampa for MSL. St.Louis was excited to be closer to family and to have a chance to again play with Steven Stamkos whom he played with for a short time in Tampa. Sather also signed Swedish league top scorer Mats Zuccarello to a deal along with Ruslan Fedotenko to provide more depth. Oilli Jokinen was not resigned. These signings along with a loaded defensive prospect pool and young depth players such as Ryan Callahan,Artem Anisimov and up and coming center Derek Stepan had the experts stating that the Rangers would be a threat in years to come, however in the upcoming year they believed they'd be a low seed again as Pittsburgh,Philadelphia,New Jersey, Washington, and Boston were all had better depth even though Philly had a down year the prior year.

2010-11 Season: The Rangers started the season with a bang as Derek Stepan scored a hat trick in his first NHL game. Despite a hiccup in mid October and captain Chris Drury in a slump the Rangers caught fire in late October and rode it all season. The depth players previously mentioned were living up to expectations, and little used Brian Boyle was having a career year. Henrik Lundqvist continued his excellence between the pipes and mid season call ups Ryan McDonagh and Mike Sauer were stalwarts on the blueline. But what had everyone happy and hopeful was the combination of Steven Stamkos and Marty St.Louis up top, the 2 players had a chemistry like that of Gretzky and Kurri as both players had other teams defensemen shaking their heads. Stamkos finished 1st in goals in the league with 51 and St.Louis potted 31 goals along with 68 assists to finish 2nd in league scoring with 99 points. Despite all of the positivity the Rangers found themselves in 3rd in the Atlantic division most of the season as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh held onto the top spots, with New Jersey slumping those 3 teams pulled away from the rest of the pack in the division. However with defending champions Washington coming alive mid season and Boston bouncing back the east was as dangerous as it had been in years. As the season came to a close the Rangers finished 46-25-11 with 103 points, their best total since the cup year of 93-94.

More to come much more
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