Mark Messier

The Rangers had not won the Stanley Cup since 1940, and put together many mediocre teams. With Messier as captain, the team won the Cup in 1994. In the finals, Messier scored the Cup-winning goal in game seven after guaranteeing a victory in game six by scoring a hat trick. With this victory, Messier became the first to be captain for two Stanley Cup winning teams.

For the 1996-97 season, Messier got to play with Gretzky again when the latter signed with the Rangers in the off-season. However Messier's contract was up at the end of the 1996-97 season, but Rangers did not resign him, in part, it was speculated, because he was power hungry. He was offered a one-year deal, but Messier declined to take it.