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Forever Blueshirts New York Rangers News
11 Rangers who also played for Islanders, Devils
By Larry Fleisher,
2 days ago
Feb 13, 2018; Saint Paul, MN, USA; New York Rangers forward Michael Grabner (40) during a game between the Minnesota Wild and New York Rangers at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
The New York-New York rivalry between the Rangers and Islanders dates back to Oct. 21, 1972, when Bobby Rousseau scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period at Nassau Coliseum to give the Blueshirts a 2-1 victory in their first-ever meeting.
The Hudson River rivalry between the Rangers and New Jersey Devils eventually evolved into a classic thanks to the classic thanks to the 1994 Eastern Conference Final, which was ultimately decided on Stephane Matteau’s double overtime goal in Game 7.
After moving from Colorado, the Devils won their first game against the Rangers 3-2 on Oct. 8, 1982 at the Meadowlands, when Merlin Malinowski scored the game-winner on a power play in the second period.
Along the way, the rivalries between the three local teams have produced countless notable moments and a few players who played at various points for each of the Rangers, Islanders and Devils.
Sergei Nemchinov, Rangers 1991-97; Islanders 1997-99; Devils, 1999-2002
Nemchinov is the only member of the 1994 Stanley Cup-winning Rangers to play for all three area teams.
After a successful career in Russia, Nemchinov scored 30 goals in 1991-92 as a 27-year-old NHL rookie with the Rangers. That was the same season the Rangers signed Adam Graves, traded for Mark Messier, won the Presidents’ Trophy and let a 2-1 series lead slip away in a six-game second-round loss in the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Nemchinov memorably scored the game-winning goal in overtime against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 5, 1991, which was Messier’s debut with the Rangers.
After scoring 23 goals in the Rangers’ disappointing 1992-93 season, Nemchinov scored 22 goals and notched 49 points to help them earn another President’s’ Trophy in 1993-94. He added two goals and five assists during the postseason and set up Glenn Anderson’s go-ahead goal in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vancouver Canucks.
Nemchinov’s production dipped to 17 goals in 1995-96 and six in 1996-97 before the Rangers traded him to Vancouver for forwards Russ Courtnall and Esa Tikkanen, who scored nine goals in the Rangers run to the Eastern Conference Final that spring.
The two-way center returned to the tri-state area when he signed a three-year contract with the Islanders before the 1997-98 season. Nemchinov played the better part of two seasons with the last-place Islanders before being traded to the Devils ahead of the 1999 deadline.
He played three full seasons with the Devils and scored 10 goals in 1999-2000 when they won the second of their three Stanley Cup championships. In the 2000 postseason, Nemchinov contributed three goals and set up a shorthanded goal by John Madden that gave the Devils the lead in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Nemchinov played 418 of his 761 games for the Rangers. He, Alexei Kovalev, Alexander Karpovtsev and Sergei Zubov were the first Russia-born players to have their names engraved on the Stanley Cup. Like Zubov, who also won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars, Nemchinov retired a two-time champion in the NHL.
John Vanbiesbrouck, Rangers 1982-93; Islanders, 2000-01; Devils 2001-2002
Although Vanbiesbrouck made his NHL debut as a teenager in 1981 with the Rangers, the goalie did not fully establish himself as a starter until the 1984-85 season. He emerged as a star the following season when he won the Vezina Trophy as top goalie in the NHL and led the League with 31 wins. “Beezer” helped carry the Rangers to an unexpected run to the conference final that season before being bested by Patrick Roy and the Canadiens.
Vanbiesbrouck played nine full seasons with the Rangers, splitting the No. 1 duties with Mike Richter the final three. The Rangers traded Vanbiesbrouck to the Canucks ahead of the 1993 NHL Expansion Draft, where he was selected by the Florida Panthers. He’s currently fifth all-time in Rangers history with 200 wins and 449 games, and eighth with 16 shutouts.
The Panthers thrived with Vanbiesbrouck between the pipes. They made a thrilling run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1996 and a lost a memorable first-round playoff series to Richter and the Rangers in 1997.
Following a stop in Philadelphia with the Flyers, Vanbiesbrouck appeared in 44 games for the Islanders in 2000-01 and was traded to the Devils ahead of the deadline. After retiring in 2001, he came back for five games with the Devils in 2002 and formally ended his career.
Vanbiesbrouck is third among United States-born goalies with 374 career wins in the NHL. He trails only current Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick (393) and Ryan Miller (391).
Vladimir Malakhov, Islanders, 1992-95; Devils 1999-2000 & 2005-06; Rangers, 2000-04
Malakhov was among the first free-agent signings after the Rangers hired Glen Sather as general manger in 2000 but the move did not work out. A knee injury cut short the defenseman’s 2000-01 season after three games and though he had 28, 17, and 19 points the next three seasons, Malakhov’s production hardly matched his 52-point 1992-93 campaign as a rookie with the Islanders nor his 57-point campaign with them in 1993-94.
Malakhov wound up signing with the Rangers after helping the Devils win the Stanley Cup in 2000. He played 17 regular-season games and 23 in the postseason after the Devils acquired him from Montreal for Sheldon Souray in a pre-deadline trade.
When the Rangers began a rebuild by making numerous trades in 2004, Malakhov was sent to the Flyers and following the 2004-05 lockout, he signed with the Devils for a second stint. However, he only appeared in 29 games due to some controversial circumstances.
In Dec. 2005, Malakhov’s agent denied reports of the defenseman’s retirement and said it was a leave of absence. Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello rejected the leave of absence and considered Malakhov to be retired.
Michael Grabner, Islanders 2010-15; Rangers, 2016-18; Devils 2018
Grabner’s association with the Rangers began in July 2016 when he signed a two-year, $3 million contract after establishing himself by collecting 89 goals and 143 points in 297 games for the Islanders and helping them win a postseason series in 2016 for the first time since 1993.
The speedy forward’s stint on Broadway coincided with the end of the Rangers’ run of 11 playoff appearances in 12 seasons. In his only full season with the Rangers, Grabner notched 27 goals in 76 games and four more in a playoff run that ended prematurely in the second round against the Ottawa Senators.
He scored 25 goals in his first 59 games of the 2017-18 season and was traded to the Devils after the infamous Letter was released announcing the Blueshirts complete rebuild. Grabner scored only two goals in 21 games with the Devils before spending his final two seasons with the Arizona Coyotes.
Mike Dunham, Devils 1996-98; Rangers, 2002-04; Islanders, 2007
When Richter was forced to retire in 2002 following a concussion, the Rangers acquired Dunham from the Nashville Predators in a package that cost them defenseman Marek Zidlicky and two others. By that point in his career, he was a seven-year NHL veteran, who played his first two seasons (41 games) with the Devils as Martin Brodeur’s backup..
Dunham was 19-17-5 with an excellent 2.29 goals-against average and .924 save percentage in 2002-03, when the Rangers made a late failed run to try to snag a postseason spot. But his numbers fell off the following season. After a 1.82 goals-against average in his first seven games in 2003-04, Dunham finished with a dismal 16-30-6 mark and a 3.03 GAA in 57 games.
Before Dunham’s career in the NHL, he split goaltending duties with Garth Snow at the University of Maine and on the 1994 U.S. Olympic Hockey team in Lillehammer. That relationship came in handy when Snow was GM of the Islanders and signed Dunham for the 2006-07 season.
In his final NHL season, Dunham played 19 games for the Islanders, posting a 3.74 GAA and .889 save percentage as Rick DiPietro’s backup.
Joel Bouchard, Devils, 2002; Rangers 2002-04,;Islanders 200 6
You would be forgiven if you didn’t remember Bouchard’s two stints with the Rangers or his stints with the Devils and Islanders. With the Rangers, he scored five goals and finished with 12 points in 2002-03 before moving to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a late-season trade that brought Alex Kovalev back to Broadway. After being claimed in the preseason waiver draft by the Rangers the following season, he played another 28 games, this time with eight points (goal, seven assists).
Bouchard played one game in the 2001-02 season for the Devils and his final 25 in the NHL with the Islanders in 2005-06 to wind up a career that also had stops with the Calgary Flames, Predators, Dallas Stars, Coyotes and Penguins.
Kevin Weekes: Islanders 2000; Rangers, 2005-07; Devils, 2007-09
Before being known as a leading NHL TV analyst, Weekes played 11 NHL seasons for seven teams, including each of the three locals.
Weekes played two seasons with the Rangers and famously was the No. 1 goalie to begin the 2005-06 season, that is until Henrik Lundqvist took over the role. Weekes started three of the first four games that season but a knee injury opened the door for Lundqvist. The rest they say is history.
Instead of being the No. 1 goalie, Weekes served as a capable backup and mentor in the early days of Lundqvist’s career after signing as a free agent in Aug. 2004. He played 46 games over two seasons with the Blueshirts.
Six years before being Lundqvist’s backup, Weekes played 36 games for the Islanders in 1999-2000. They acquired him from the Canucks in deal for Felix Potvin during the season but traded him the next offseason to the Tampa Bay Lightning for three draft picks, including a first-rounder.
Weekes closed out his NHL career as Brodeur’s backup with the Devils for two seasons from 2007 to 2009.
After 300 games with the Islanders and 77 more with the Devils, Asham eventually found his way to the Rangers following stops in the Metropolitan Division with the Flyers and Penguins.
Asham was at the end of his career when the forward signed a two-year deal in 2012 with the Rangers. Although his offense was limited on Broadway during that lockout-shortened first season, he scored the series-clinching goal in Game 7 of the first-round playoff series in 2013 to eliminate the Washington Capitals.
After his first season on Broadway, Asham appeared in six games in 2013-14 and later retired.
Pat Conacher, Rangers 1980-83; Devils 1986-92; Islanders 1996
Conacher entered the NHL after being a fourth-round pick in the 1979 draft by the Rangers. But the forward did not score in 22 games on Broadway before he signed as a free agent with the Edmonton Oilers before the 1983-84 season, winning the only Stanley Cup championship of his career that season.
Conacher’s time away from the area was short as he returned to the Devils as a free agent the following season and his signing coincided with the Devils starting to improve. In their 1987-88 run to the Wales Conference Final, he appeared in 17 games. Overall he played 193 games for the Devils.
After contributing to the Kings run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, Conacher played the final 13 games of is career with the Islanders in 1996 after being acquired from the Calgary Flames.
Parenteau’s time in the area is best known for his productive stint on Long Island, where he scored 38 goals in 161 games in the 2010-2011 and 2011-12 seasons with the Islanders. He scored 20 goals in 2010-11 and had 63 points the following season there.
In 2009-10, before signing with the Islanders, Parenteau had eight points (three goals, five assists) in 22 games with the Rangers.
After modestly productive stints with the Colorado Avalanche, Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, Parenteau was claimed off waivers by the Devils right before the 2016-17 season. With the Devils, he scored 13 goals in 59 games but when New Jersey fell out of contention, Parenteau was traded to the Nashville Predators.
Mike Mottau, Rangers 2000-02, Devils 2008-2010, Islanders, 2011-2012
Mottau was the Rangers’ seventh-round pick out of Boston College in 1997, but unlike fellow BC alum Chris Kreider, he was nowhere near as successful with the Rangers.
He had three assists in 19 games from 2000-02 with the Rangers. Although Motteau showed promise with Hartford in the American Hockey League, he was unable to replicate his success with the Rangers, who traded him to the Flames in 2003.
After bouncing around the AHL for a few years, Mottau resurfaced in 2007-08 with the Devils and wound up being a regular on their defense corps for three seasons. He scored seven goals and collected 43 assists in 235 games for the Devils through the 2009-10 season.
Motteau then played 42 games over the following two seasons with the Islanders before finishing up his NHL career with short stints with the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers.
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