Approximately three hours after learning that he had lost Jaromir Jagr to the Caps – Craig Patrick was telling the truth, all right, about Washington being in the hunt – Glen Sather was attempting to deal with the aftershocks of the latest earthquake to hit Broadway’s beleaguered Blueshirts.
“I guess in the end it gets down to how people evaluate personnel,” the GM told The Post last night. “I knew all along there was a chance this could happen, and I told people a long time ago that I’d only go so far to make a deal.
“Craig told me that Washington was interested, and it’s not that I suspected he was lying, but when we asked [Caps GM] George [McPhee], he told us no, not that I’m accusing him of lying, I don’t know what really to make of that.
“But, really, what it came down to is that I wasn’t prepared to do what Craig had asked me to do in order to make the deal. I’ve said it before and I mean it: I’m not prepared to mortgage the future for any player, not even Jagr. We have to build the organization.”
Sources have told The Post that the deal that brought Jagr to the Caps with Frantisek Kucera in exchange for prospects Kris Beech, Michal Sivek and Ross Lupaschuk, a future prospect and a cash payment believed to be $4.75 million, was engineered by team owner Ted Leonsis over McPhee’s objections. What impact this will have on the GM’s future is problematic.
While the deal may or may not have stunned Sather, it sure amazed Jagr – who had previously announced that he had hoped to be dealt to the Rangers – and his agent Mike Barnett, who had never been contacted by the Caps and who learned of the deal from this reporter.
“What do you mean?” was Barnett’s reaction at 3:00 yesterday afternoon.
“Jaromir basically told Mario [Lemieux] that he’d go anywhere he was traded, so I guess there wasn’t any necessity for the Caps to call beforehand,” Barnett said some three hours later. “He could have been traded to an expansion team, and now, instead, he’s on a team that has a chance to win the Cup, so that’s something.
“Jaromir’s pretty surprised about all this.”
All three prospects involved in yesterday’s trade were 1999 draft picks. Beech, a center who has the high-end potential, went seventh overall; Sivek, a center, went 29th; and Lupaschuk, a defenseman, went 34th. Patrick yesterday likened Beech to a potential Ron Francis, said that Sivek could become a skill-type second- or third-line pivot, and that Lupaschuk could become a fourth or fifth defenseman. It hardly seems as if Patrick struck a bonanza, here, though if Beech does become a franchise center, that evaluation will have to be adjusted.
While accepting that package, Patrick apparently rejected a Ranger offer of Mike York, Jan Hlavac and Kim Johnsson, plus the same cash payment. The Pittsburgh GM had apparently insisted Sather include Pavel Brendl and/or Jamie Lundmark as well as Radek Dvorak in his package.
“I’m not going to get into names, but yes, Craig did ask for more than we were willing to do. I have no hard feelings toward him or the way he conducted business; none whatsoever,” Sather said. “From the minute I took this job [in June 2000], I’ve said that there aren’t going to be short-cuts and this isn’t going to be an easy process.
“I would have loved to have gotten Jaromir, and everyone knows that, but I couldn’t destroy the organization to get him. There’s only one way to win in this league, it’s the way New Jersey won, it’s the way Colorado won, and that’s through building with youth and good character players.
“That’s the way it is.”