Talk to people who have made a career out of trying to make sense of the National Hockey League, and they say it's simple: Glen Sather is willing to mortgage part of the New York Rangers' future to bring in an erratic shooting star of the past ... because in New York, the future is always now.

	Glen Sather seems willing to turn over the Rangers future for a cameo playoff appearance.

Amazing how someone from above obviously had to remind Sather of that.

The former Edmonton hockey god has been presidentially present for only one of the Rangers' four consecutive playoff misses, but his own glorious postseason successes are now distant memories. Even Hall of Fame coaches don't get free front office passes in a league still trying to catch up with its economic growth.

So if the man they call "Slats" not only wants to turn around the fortunes of this team he's led for the past 14 months but also salvage what's left of his own carefully constructed legacy, he would need to make a signature move. A swift strike of his powerful budgetary sword, one that would show a reeling Rangers fanbase that Neil Smith really doesn't live here anymore.

Yes, dammit, Glen Sather would restore the Rangers to their rightful postseason throne by bringing in a glory boy to show them the way.

Unfortunately, Mr. Jagr went to Washington instead.

There are those who believe fervently that Sather allowed the five-time scoring champ to relocate from Pittsburgh to the Potomac because he believes more in the old ways of constructing teams: keep the kids, control the budget, build the draft picks. But since when has that sporting philosophy worked on Broadway?

So now, Sather seems set and bent on replacement savior Eric Lindros. Once called "The Next One" and now considered a Philadelphia pariah, Lindros is expected to be officially welcomed either Thursday or Friday to the city and team he almost was arbitrarily appointed to nine years ago.

For Lindros, that was 314 regular season and playoff goals, one league MVP award and no Stanley Cups ago. For the Rangers, it was one Cup, one general manager and lots of lost credibility.

Soon, the terrible 'twain shall meet.

"I hope it happens," Flyers owner and Comcast/Spectacor chairman Ed Snider said. "But what you're telling me is scary."

	“	I hope it happens. But what you're telling me is scary. ”
		— Flyers owner and Comcast/Spectacor chairman Ed Snider in reaction to the trade's media coverage

What Snider knows is that the news has been out that the Flyers and Rangers are one Carl Lindros contractual OK away from consummating a deal that would send Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson, top prospect Pavel Brendl and a mid-round draft pick to Philadelphia in exchange for Carl's favorite client and hockey son.

What Snider fears is the detailed coverage of the trade since late Monday night has put it in danger of falling apart.

Trained in martial arts and an accomplished warrior in business, Snider doesn't scare easily. But he expressed genuine discomfort when told that this impending Lindros trade was causing waves of fan diss-curse on the sports talk radio station 90 miles up the Turnpike.

Accompanying the calls for Lindros to be detained at the border on WFAN-AM was an informal Tuesday afternoon poll that essentially was running 80-20 against the proposed trade. Hearing that, Snider wanted to make a quick call himself.

"Normally that wouldn't (matter)," he said. "But if you get slammed in the papers and by everybody else about it, you have to wonder what will happen. It's a very intriguing thing because Eric is a superstar when he wants to be, and they don't grow on trees. So Eric is an intriguing commodity for a lot of teams."

To Snider and Flyers president Bob Clarke, Lindros Inc. has also been a huge pain in the brass. And for much of the past two chaotic years, they've had absolutely no problem telling that to the media in Philadelphia, bless their executive souls.

Among those obviously not listening to or reading all that Philadelphia hockey vitriol, however, was every member of the Madison Square Garden Board of Dave Checketts Replacements. Or whatever they're called.

Why else would Sather be going for this Lindros deal when he refused to commit one more prospect -- sources say Brendl was never part of an offer of Hlavac, Johnsson and a pick to Pittsburgh -- when it was clear that doing so would have defeated Washington's efforts to nab Jagr?

Those fans and MSG employees who don't necessarily believe that Sather has become a) desperate or b) just plain nuts think that time has expired on his efforts of protecting all of the prospects brought in by ex-Rangers prez Smith.

Though Rangers insiders insist that hasn't been the case, perhaps losing Jagr was a last straw flushed from the MSG executive washroom.

Or maybe Sather really is just toppling off his rocking throne.

Maybe he does believe the whispers that Lindros' supposed six concussions suffered in his past two seasons actually weren't six concussions at all.

There are those Philadelphia conspiracy theorists both in the locker room and the front offices who believe Lindros was more motivated to make Clarke and the Flyers medical staff look bad than he was motivated to play.

Then again, Lindros' personally appointed neurologist of prominence, Chicago noggin specialist James Kelly, would show you reports that would indicate otherwise.

But Kelly and consulting brain docs for two other teams have all examined Lindros and cleared him to play during the course of the past year. Lindros is also believed to be prepping today for a physical for the Rangers, looking not only mentally alert but also physically imposing.

It seems impossible to believe that adding Lindros to a Rangers lineup that would even include a sober and healthy Theo Fleury is enough to turn them into Cup contenders. But in New York, it's not about repeating the feelings of 1994 anymore. It's simply about finishing eighth or better in the East.

"Eric is in the best shape of his career," one friend said.

If there is any medical risk associated with a Lindros acquisition by Sather then, it would seem eased by a contingency of a first-round Flyers draft pick, one that would be transferred should Lindros suffer an injury early in his first Rangers season. That doesn't make this trade any less dubious to Rangers fans, but to Sather and his board of answer men, a Lindros acquisition would help more than hurt a team slipping markedly in New York's sports marketing circles.

It seems impossible to believe that adding Lindros to a Rangers lineup that would even include a sober and healthy Theo Fleury is enough to turn them into Cup contenders. But in New York, it's not about repeating the feelings of 1994 anymore. It's simply about finishing eighth or better in the East.

Perhaps season ticket sales won't ever be a problem at the Garden, but the four straight regular-length seasons have certainly eaten away some of the Rangers' popularity. That's why training camp will be run at MSG this season instead of up in Rye, N.Y. ... it's all part of an attempt to re-spark interest in the team.

One that has to be capped by a playoff appearance, or else.

So in that respect Lindros will help, and maybe what they have to spend to get him won't really hurt.

Hlavac might be a promising young player, but the Flyers had preferred Radek Dvorak, who will remain in New York. The Rangers also have a couple of excellent offensive defensemen prospects coming up, and deem Johnsson as expendable. As for supposed sniper Brendl, who has scored 172 goals in his last three junior seasons, Sather would be subtracting a kid criticized for lacking a commitment to conditioning.

"He's really the ace in the hole," one league source said of Brendl. "This kid could be the steal of the century or the biggest bust."

Taken from that perspective, however, that would be just another risk and another reason why the Rangers shouldn't make this trade. But someone, whether it's that little voice inside of Sather or a larger voice from immediately above, is saying that it's all worth it in New York's world of now or never.

Rob Parent covers the NHL for the Delaware County (Pa.) Times. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.