Chris Drury Hits Another Homerun; Trades Alexandar Georgiev to Colorado; The Ups & Downs of “The Bulgarian Beast” on Broadway, The Drury/Joe Sakic Relationship; Patrik Nemeth’s Possible Influence, One Last Bad “Islander Killer” Photoshop & More

Greetings and salutations everyone and welcome to another blog here on BlueCollarBlueShirts.com. “By George, I think he’s got it!” And I’m not solely talking about Alexandar Georgiev right now. I’m also talking about Rangers’ Team President/General Manager, Chris Drury.

I assume that you’ve heard the news already – Alexandar Georgiev is no longer a New York Ranger – a move that we all knew was coming.

What we didn’t know until the afternoon hours of July 7th, 2022, was where Georgiev was going and/or if Drury would be able to get something in return.

While we knew Georgiev would be somewhere else next season; there was also the possibility that he could’ve tested the market as an unrestricted free agent – only in the event had Drury not been able to qualify him.

All of our Georgiev-related questions were officially answered at 12:39PM EST on Thursday, when the Rangers sent out this press release, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/rangers/news/rangers-acquire-three-draft-picks-in-exchange-for-alexandar-georgiev/c-334842586?icmp=int_web_nyr_news_rightrail :

Since I always like to see what the other side has to say, especially following a deal featuring a tenured Ranger going the other way; here’s what the Avalanche are saying, courtesy of https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/news/avalanche-acquires-georgiev-from-rangers/c-334842898 :

During the past five years, I’ve probably written over 767867896789689 words about Georgiev. I’ve probably also made about 67667678687967676 silly photoshops featuring his mug too! The horrible photoshop featured at the top of this blog will be my last bad Georgiev photoshop for some time – or at the very least – until the Rangers play the Avalanche next season.

I don’t want to repeat what I’ve said about Georgiev during my previous writings now that he’s in Colorado. You can check the archives of this site for all of that.

(In addition, it’s not like he passed away or anything, he’s just entering a new phase of his career.)

That said, I can still remember Georgiev’s entry to the NHL and his first day with the Rangers.

In a fact that will now most likely pop-up throughout Colorado media reports (it was mentioned in the team’s press release too); it’s the fact that Georgiev was born in Ruse, Bulgaria, but grew up playing hockey in Moscow, Russia.

While he spent the bulk of his formative years in Russia (he holds dual-citizenship and as an adult, has a residence in Finland too); since he was born in Bulgaria, once hitting the ice for the Rangers, he then became the first Bulgarian to ever play in the NHL.

Today, that fact is not worth a “cup of coffee,” as it once seemed to appear. Instead, it’s worth somewhere north of $2,600,000 per season.

(As of this writing, Georgiev remains a restricted free agent, and we’re just waiting word on what terms Colorado and their new goaltender will agree to.)

Aside from his status as the first Bulgarian to hit NHL ice, Georgiev also finds himself in another unique place of NHL history.

Of all the NHL goalies that have played during the salary cap era (2005-06 season to today), Georgiev is the only one to wrest a starter’s job away from a future Hall of Fame and franchise goalie (Henrik Lundqvist), only to then quickly lose it to another franchise goalie (and perhaps a future Hall of Famer himself one day), CZAR IGOR Shestyorkin.

And while you can argue that Henrik Lundqvist was always the starter throughout his time in New York (following his “Wally Pipping” of Kevin Weekes); during his final season with the Rangers, the 2019-2020 pandemic-plagued campaign, Georgiev started in 36 games. Lundqvist started in 32. Prior to the shutdown, CZAR IGOR had started in 12 games and was well on his way to becoming the starter.

You can also bring up that once the NHL resumed play with their qualifying round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and when CZAR IGOR couldn’t go during the first two games due to injury – that it was Henrik Lundqvist (based on his experience) that played when Igor was out – and not Georgiev.

Georgiev had an up-and-down career with the Rangers, where by the end of it, I thought he had more success than failure. After all, if this wasn’t the case, the Avalanche wouldn’t have traded for him in the first place.

There are many positive Georgiev moments, where the former #90, soon to be #40, shined during. These moments include:

— Going 8-3 against the Islanders, where he also posted a GAA of 1.96 and a save percentage of .935. These numbers were even better, prior to the most dramatic season in all of Rangers’ history, the 2021 56-game campaign. (And yep, Georgiev was part of that drama himself too.)

— Performing well against other Ranger rivals, including the Devils (6-2) and the Flyers (5-3).

— His success against the Maple Leafs, including posting a career-high 55 saves against them during a game played from the 2018-19 season.

— His eight shutouts during a time period where Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t recording any – where during the final two years of the “Lundqvist Era,” Georgiev was facing the stiffer competition – while Lundqvist played nearly every game against the inferior teams of the league.

— The fact that after two of Lundqvist’s back-ups then went on to become starters elsewhere (and then earned millions and millions of dollars too), in Cam Talbot and then Antti Raanta; that it was this undrafted goaltender that no one knew about, who stepped up and earned his spot on the team.

Today, Georgiev now has the chance to join them, as both a starter and as a well-paid goaltender, depending on whatever goes on between Colorado and Darcy Kuemper.

Of course, for all of Georgiev’s ups, there were also several downs too, including:

— Struggling during the 2021 season, which then carried over into the first half of the 2021-22 season. In Georgiev’s defense, he always played at his best whenever he was playing regularly. The worst games and numbers of his career took place whenever he was placed on “spot-game” duty. This became apparent when CZAR IGOR went down during December of 2021, only for Georgiev to rebound once receiving more playing time.

— The whole Tony DeAngelo saga from early into the 2021 season, a saga that we still don’t know the full details about. We’ll probably get the complete story many years from now, when these guys open up in retirement, during podcasts and/or books.

— His perceived body language and post game celebrations with CZAR IGOR from this 2021-22 season, where admittedly, I never thought there was anything to that, but it was something that many people talked about.

— Expressing a desire for more playing time and/or a trade, where to his credit, he bit the bullet this season, did what he had to do, and as of today, now has his wish.

With Georgiev now in Denver, I do have a few thoughts about this trade, but before getting into them, how about this “food for thought” item:

As of this writing, the longest tenured Rangers that are under contract with the team are Chris Kreider (debuted during the 2012 playoffs), Mika Zibanejad (debuted during the 2016-17 season), Filip Chytil (debuted during the end of of the 2017-18 season), and Ryan Lindgren (debuted during the end of the 2018-19 season).

After these four players, there are multiple players on the roster who all made their Rangers’ debut during the 2019-2020 season, including Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox, CZAR IGOR, Jacob Trouba, and others.

Prior to this Georgiev trade, he was the third-longest tenured Ranger on the team.

This just goes to show you how much the Rangers’ roster has been turned over since “The Letter” of 2018 – a successful rebuild and roster turnover.

Another “food for thought” item, and an item I said on this site at the time? I always thought it was weird that Georgiev was the only full-time Ranger NOT to conduct an exit interview at the end of the 2021-22 season.

Whether that was his choice or not, I do not know, but at the very least, I thought it would’ve been nice of him to at least thank the fans (or something else akin to that ilk).

We all knew he was going, but a quick reflection about his time in New York would’ve been interesting to hear. Now with this deal done, we’ll probably get a statement from his Instagram or something like that.

When I first heard about this trade, the following thoughts came to my mind, and in no particular order:

— What a haul for Chris Drury. Drury could’ve received a seventh round draft pick and/or “future considerations,” and I would’ve been fine with that. To get three draft picks for a goalie/player that the entire league knew you had to trade/weren’t going to give a qualifying offer to – WOW. Another win for Drury, no matter how these draft picks/assets turn out. Just to receive three draft picks for someone on his way out is a victory to me.

— I wonder how much the relationship between Drury, and his counter-part in this trade, Joe Sakic, played into this deal? Yes, the Avalanche may lose Kuemper, which means that Sakic needed to have a “Plan B” (and it’s not like Kuemper was ever the difference between a win or a loss for the 2022 Cup Champs), but to give Drury three picks for Georgiev? Again, wow.

— As you may know, Drury and Sakic played together in Colorado, where they also won a Stanley Cup together in 2001. If take a look at NHL history, you’ll always see two general managers, who have had prior history together, who made trades with one another all the time. I wonder if Drury and Sakic will enter this realm.

— I also wonder if Sakic feels guilty and/or has any type of remorse over the only black mark on Drury’s ledger thus far – the three-year signing of Patrik Nemeth, a defenseman formerly of the Avalanche.

While Nemeth was acquired via free agency, as opposed to a trade – you have to think that Drury did his due diligence on Nemeth before signing him, where you then have to suspect that he asked Sakic about his former player while doing that due diligence. Conspiracy? Maybe. Possibility? Very likely.

In a personal thought, and if you’re a regular reader of this site then you know this already – I was always a fan of Georgiev, both during his good times and during his bad times. While Cam Talbot was always (and still is) my favorite back-up goalie of the Lundqvist Era, I thought Georgiev did a great job too.

I wish Georgiev nothing but success. Heck, I hope he nabs the starter’s job in Colorado and goes all the way to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final, while once there – he drops a four-game set to CZAR IGOR and the Rangers! (4-0 sweep, of course!)

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Following this trade, the Rangers now have these following picks of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, picks which will all be made on Friday, during the second day of the draft:

— Second Round (63rd overall)

— Third Round (97th overall)

— Fourth Round (111th overall)

— Fifth Round (159th overall)

— Fifth Round (161st overall)

— Sixth Round (191st overall)

I’m posting this blog right before the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, where come that time – I suspect we’ll see more trades out of Drury.

As I said on the Tweeter machine last night, it was my prediction that Drury would make four trades prior to Saturday, including draft pick swap trades. With Georgiev now gone as expected, that’s one trade down. It’s my opinion that Julien Gauthier will be the next to go.

And if Kaapo Kakko is traded sometime between now and Saturday? I can’t wait to see that overreaction on Ranger social media pages!

PLUGS TIME.

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My first plug of tonight’s blog – the mandatory plug for my book, “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden”.

As mentioned previously, the book is now available in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle formats. To purchase a copy of the book, visit this link:

https://www.amazon.com/Rangers-Rafters-Madison-Square-Garden-ebook/dp/B09CM5N2WD

For those still looking for signed paperback versions of the book, I have re-ordered more copies. I now have a few signed copies for sale at $25 a pop (includes shipping price) through me directly. Here is all the information on that:

Order “The New York Rangers Rink of Honor and the Rafters of Madison Square Garden” Book Today

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Here are my last few blogs, in case you missed them:

The Legacy Of Adam Graves: The First & Only Successful Offer-Sheet in Rangers’ History; Career Retrospective, Campbell & Grier Take The Next Step; Drury Back to Work, 2022 NHL Entry Draft; What NYR Could Do & More

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New York Rangers’ Clickbait & Rumor Mill Fully Motoring; Nazem Kadri vs Ryan Strome & Andrew Copp, Sample Chapter of Upcoming NYR Trades Book; Fifteen Year Anniversary of the Scott Gomez & Chris Drury Signings, 2007-08 Salary Cap Reminiscent of 2022-23 & More

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Busy “Summer of Drury” Ahead; Key Dates, Henrik Lundqvist Gets Good News; Hall of Fame Class of 2022 Announced (And The Beefs Attached), Rangers’ Preseason Schedule, NYR Clickbait Season, Panarin Nonsense; Jack Johnson/Av’s Cup Win, NHL HC’s & More

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If you haven’t already, subscribe to this blog for the next update:

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I expect I’ll be back sometime Friday night, if not sooner than that. Heck, I might even come back later tonight, depending on whatever Drury does during the first night of the NHL Entry Draft.

Until then, I’m back to work on my two books!
LET’S GO RANGERS!Sean McCaffreyBULLSMC@aol.com@NYCTHEMIC on Tweeter