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6 Rangers who also played for Islanders, Sabres to complete New York hat trick
By Ryan Gagne,
2 days ago
It’s a unique club, one that only six NHL players, including one Hockey Hall of Famer, belong to. This exclusive group consist of those who’ve played for the three teams in New York state — the New York Rangers and Islanders, and Buffalo Sabres.
The New York Americans, later known as the Brooklyn Americans, were the first NHL team in New York. In 1926, the Rangers were born and became the only team in the Empire State when the Americans folded in 1942. The Blueshirts were an integral part of the Original Six era, which lasted 25 years until 1967.
Eventually, the League expanded to 12 teams and, by 1970, welcomed the Sabres and, two years later, the Islanders. For the past 54 years, New York state has been home to three NHL franchises.
The Rangers have only made three trades with the Islanders and 13 with the Sabres. Meanwhile, the Islanders and Sabres have made 20 trades, eight of which took place ahead of the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, which waters down the overall total.
6 players who appeared in games for Rangers, Islanders and Sabres
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It is uncommon for players to get traded from one New York state team to another. However, it is more rare for players to skate with all three franchises. Let’s look at the six players who defied the odds and played with the Rangers, Islanders, and Sabres.
Martin Biron is one of the more recognizable names to play with all three New York teams in the NHL, spending 13 years in the Empire State. Chosen by the Sabres in the first round (No. 16 overall) of the 1995 NHL Draft, Biron made his debut later that season, appearing in three games as a teenager.
Biron played nine seasons with the Sabres, bridging two all-time great goalies, Dominik Hasek and Ryan Miller. He played 300 games with the Sabres, more than with any other NHL team. Biron had a 2.53 GAA and .909 save percentage with the Sabres.
The Sabres traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2006-07 season and he totaled 133 games with them over three seasons. He signed with the Islanders for the 2009-10 season, when he had a 3.27 GAA in 29 games.
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Biron jumped from Long Island to Broadway the next offseason, when he signed with the Rangers to form one of their best goalie tandems ever with Lundqvist. Though Lundqvist was the clear No. 1, Biron provided quality play in a backup role with a 2.13 GAA in 2010-11, 2.46 the next season and 2.32 in the abridged 2013 season.
After a slow start in 2013-14, Biron retired before the season was two months old. In all, he played 46 games with the Rangers and was part of the 2011-12 club that reached the Eastern Conference Final.
Jason Dawe was drafted by the Sabres in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 1991 NHL Draft. The forward debuted two years later and skated five seasons in Buffalo, scoring 158 points (79 goals, 79 assists) in 290 games, most he played for any one NHL team. In March 1998, he was dealt to the Islanders for defenseman Jason Holland and forward Paul Kruse. After 35 games, he was placed on waivers and moved to the Montreal Canadiens.
Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY Sports
As a free agent in 1999, Dawe joined the Nashville Predators but never played a game for them before he was traded to the Rangers for Evgeny Namestnikov in February 2000. He played four games over two seasons with the Rangers, including his final NHL game at age 28 in January of 2002.
Mike Donnelly was an undrafted left winger who made his NHL debut at 23 with the Rangers in 1986-87. Although his tenure in the Big Apple lasted 22 games, he was traded to the Sabres on Dec. 31, 1987 with a fifth-round draft pick that would turn out to be a player who changed NHL history.
Buffalo selected Alexander Mogilny with that fifth-round pick (No. 89 overall). Arguably one of the greatest players in Sabres history, Mogilny established an NHL rookie scoring record with 76 goals in 1992-93, a mark he shares with Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne.
In exchange for Donnelly and the Mogilny pick, Buffalo gave up a 10th-round selection, along with forward Paul Cyr.
After three seasons and 74 games in upstate New York, Donnelly moved on to the Los Angeles Kings, where he had his most productive seasons, scoring 170 points (87 goals, 83 assists) in 307 games. He moved on to Dallas Stars for a bit before relocating to Long Island as a free agent in 1996-97. He skated in just three games with the Islanders to finish his NHL career.
Chad Johnson was a goalie selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the fifth round (No. 125 overall) of the 2006 draft . He never dressed for the Penguins and was traded to the Rangers in June 2009. Over two seasons as one of Henrik Lundqvist’s backups, Johnson played six games with the Rangers, earning a 1-2-1 record before moving to the desert and the Arizona Coyotes and then on to the Boston Bruins.
Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
He returned to New York as a free agent in 2014, signing with the Islanders. He played 19 games and had an 8-8-1 record, 3.08 goals-against average and .889 save percentage. At the following trade deadline in March 2015, Johnson was dealt to the Sabres with a third-round pick (William Lockwood) in exchange for goalie Michal Neuvirth.
Although he didn’t play in any games during the 2014-15 season, he became the Sabres No. 1 goalie, appearing in an NHL career-high 45 games in 2015-16, securing a 22-16-4 record, 2.36 GAA and .920 save percentage. That was his only season in Buffalo, ironically. The well-traveled goalie moved on to the Calgary Flames before returning to the Coyotes and then landed back in Buffalo as a free agent in June 2017. In nine NHL seasons, Johnson played the most games (81) with the Sabres and finished with a 32-32-7 record in upstate New York.
Without a doubt, the most famous player to skate with the Islanders, Sabres, and Rangers is Hall of Fame center Pat LaFontaine . The third overall pick by the Islanders in 1983 had 1,013 points in just 865 NHL games, retiring at 32 due to an ongoing battle with concussions and post-concussion syndrome.
LaFontaine debuted with the Islanders in 1983-84, missing out on the dynasty years when they won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83. He’ll always be remembered on Long Island for ending the “ Easter Epic ” in 1987 with a goal in the fourth overtime against the Washington Capitals to send the Islanders to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
After eight seasons, 530 games, and 566 points with the Islanders, Lafontaine — then just 25 — was traded to the Sabres in 1991. It was a significant deal between the two clubs involving seven players, including Randy Hillier, Randy Wood, Benoit Hogue, Uwe Krupp, Dave McLlwain, and future Hall of Famer Pierre Turgeon.
LaFontaine had his best NHL season with the Sabres, scoring 53 goals and 148 points in 1992-93. He missed out on the scoring title by 12 points. However, injuries began to derail his career after that magical season. He played only 127 games over the next four seasons, though maintaining his scoring touch with 144 points.
The Sabres traded LaFontaine to the Rangers in September 1997, making him the only player in NHL history to be traded among all three New York teams. During his only season on Broadway, he scored 62 points (23 goals, 39 assists) in 67 games to finish his NHL career with a 1.17 points-per-game average.
Initially selected by the Islanders in the first round (No. 8 overall) of the 1999 NHL Draft, Taylor Pyatt played 13 seasons in the NHL, skating in 859 games and collecting 280 points (140 goals, 140 assists). He debuted with the Islanders in 2000-01 and played 78 games as a rookie before being included (with Tim Connolly) in the trade with the Sabres for Michael Peca on June 24, 2001.
Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Pyatt played the next four seasons with the Sabres and became an NHL regular. He scored 14 goals in 2002-03 and played 230 games with the Sabres, most of any team he dressed for in the NHL, before moving on to the Vancouver Canucks and Phoenix Coyotes.
As a free agent in 2012, the 6-foot-4 forward signed with the Rangers, completing his trifecta of New York teams. That first season in New York was shortened by the NHL lockout and then in 2013-14, Pyatt started the season with the Rangers before he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Overall, Pyatt had 12 points (six goals, six assists) in 70 games with the Blueshirts.
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