Sharks aquire rights to Messier

[Turbulence]

SAN JOSE (sjsharks.com) - San Jose Sharks Executive Vice President and General Manager Doug Wilson announced today that the club acquired the rights to center Mark Messier from the New York Rangers in exchange for future considerations on June 30, 2003.

Another veteran movement by the Rangers...Will Messier really play with San Jose or is he expected to retire?

[StormShaman]

They traded in the hopes that they'll get a compensatory draft pick should he sign with another team.

[Turbulence]

Ah...forgot about the compensatory picks that come with the signing of a UFA...thx Shaman. Same deal with the Oilers and Leetch....

[Turbulence]

Messier joins Sharks -- briefly
TRADE FOR FREE AGENT MADE TO GET DRAFT PICK
By David Pollak
Mercury News

Blink your eyes.

You just missed NHL All-Star Mark Messier's career as a Shark. Late Monday night, San Jose acquired Messier from the New York Rangers as the final minutes of his contract ticked off. When it expired at midnight, Messier -- like dozens of NHL players -- became an unrestricted free agent.

Messier is 42 and earned $3.9 million last season. For the record, the Sharks had no intention of keeping him; instead, the transaction was all about what San Jose will gain when, or if, Messier signs with another team.

``This has no more significance than to acquire another compensatory draft pick next year to help our team,'' Sharks General Manager Doug Wilson said Tuesday.

The deal is similar to the one engineered a year ago when San Jose picked up the Rangers' Theo Fleury five days before he became an unrestricted free agent. In that case, however, the Sharks left open the possibility they would pursue Fleury if Teemu Selanne did not re-sign.

Eventually, Fleury hooked up with Chicago and the Sharks received the 66th pick in this summer's entry draft as compensation.

Messier, nicknamed the Messiah during the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup run, had 18 goals and 40 points last season. Sources said he is likely to return to the Rangers next season.

If Messier signs with any team other than the Sharks, San Jose will get an extra pick in the 2004 draft. What round depends on the dollar amount of Messier's contract.

Officially, the Sharks gave the Rangers future considerations. Wilson said that amounts to a draft pick that is ``considerably lower'' than whatever the Sharks might receive as compensation for Messier. If Messier retires, the Sharks' G.M. said, San Jose will owe the Rangers only a token amount of cash.

Because of the NHL's complex policies on free agency, the Rangers were not guaranteed compensation if Messier were to sign elsewhere. If New York brought in expensive free agents, for example, the league might find that adequate payback. That, a Sharks representative said, gave the Rangers incentive to deal.

New York made a similar move earlier Monday, sending defenseman Brian Leetch to Edmonton for goalie Jussi Markkanen before Leetch became an unrestricted free agent.

Messier, who has earned six Stanley Cup rings with the Rangers and Edmonton during 24 years in the NHL, spends his summers fishing off the Carolina coast and could not be reached for comment.

Brief reunion

For a short time, the trade reunited Messier with Adam Graves, teammates on the Rangers team that won the Stanley Cup. Graves also became an unrestricted free agent at midnight.

``That's what my little brother said today -- number 9 and number 11 together again,'' said Graves, 35, from his Ontario home.

The Sharks declined to exercise an option to pay Graves $3 million next season, but Wilson has expressed interest in bringing him back or in finding a role for him in the organization if Graves retires.

As for his own situation, Graves said he was ``working out to get in tip-top shape and cross bridges as they come.''

[PennsylvaniaCanesFan]

I think he will play. I believe everyone who is planning to retire will play this season as thier last. With the CBA over and a walkout looming, many of the older players will play this as thier last and retire after this year.