Best win win trades of all time

Zhamnov5GoalGame

Former Director of GDT Operations
Jan 14, 2012
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Who has a really good example of a trade that worked out really well for both teams.
Best examples would be ones that led to major success for each team.
Or where both players (or pieces) ended up playing better on their new team then they were for their previous squad.

Sadly I can't think of any good examples myself that are worthy of being considered great win-wins.
 

rent free

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Apr 6, 2015
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phaneuf to ottawa for stuff. leafs get rid of a terrible contract and the sens get a good defender
 

Regal

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Mar 12, 2010
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Vancouver
Kessel to Pitt got them two cups, got the leafs one of the best young teams in the league. (Matthews)

It was probably a good thing to get rid of Kessel with too much losing culture baggage around the team, but I don't think the return was good enough to call it a win-win. Getting Matthews wasn't part of the trade.
 

Minnesnota

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Apr 20, 2017
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It was probably a good thing to get rid of Kessel with too much losing culture baggage around the team, but I don't think the return was good enough to call it a win-win. Getting Matthews wasn't part of the trade.
Ehhhh.

Losing Kessel meant there were 30ish goals that needed to be replaced. You get rid of your best player and you most certainly don't expect to win games. It almost certainly put them in the best position to win the #1 overall pick.

I would most certainly say that trading away Phil Kessel for the best chance to land Matthews (which, turns out, they did) is most certainly a win-win for both organizations.
 

LeafFever

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Feb 12, 2016
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It was probably a good thing to get rid of Kessel with too much losing culture baggage around the team, but I don't think the return was good enough to call it a win-win. Getting Matthews wasn't part of the trade.
He mentioned Matthews, but Kapanen and Andersen are directly related to the trade. I think the return was fine, especially given what the value of Kessel was viewed as at the time.
With Kessel, no way do they finish 30th in 15-16'. The finished 1 point below Edmonton and lost over 20 games by 1 goal.
 

Kingspiracy

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Nov 13, 2006
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The Mike Richards trade was pretty good for both teams, Philly got a couple of young core guys, LA got a champ to push towards a cup
 

Regal

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Ehhhh.

Losing Kessel meant there were 30ish goals that needed to be replaced. You get rid of your best player and you most certainly don't expect to win games. It almost certainly put them in the best position to win the #1 overall pick.

I would most certainly say that trading away Phil Kessel for the best chance to land Matthews (which, turns out, they did) is most certainly a win-win for both organizations.

They still had to be lucky enough to win the lottery and could have arguably traded him for more. This just seems like one of those scenarios where people are equating too much luck after the fact to one deal. Just like Boston fans justify the Thornton trade because they were able to sign Chara after which helped lead to a cup years later. There was too many moving parts after the fact to make that connection. You could argue moving both of them was for the best but that doesn't mean the trades themselves were great. If the Leafs trade Matthews for a low 1st rounder and that player ends up becoming better than Matthews it doesn't mean it was a good deal.

And that's not to say the Kessel deal was bad. His stock was low, any deal selling a big name for pieces isn't usually great, and Kapanen is still a good prospect. I just don't think it fits the spirit of the type of deals we generally call a win win which is usually centered around one or two specific players for each side that are actually involved in the deal itself. Not the future scenarios the deal sets up.
 
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Empoleon877130

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Sep 27, 2017
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Larsson-Hall was good for both teams for sure. Neal for Hornqvist worked for both teams, Penguins have 2 cups in 3 years with Hornqvist and the Predators made the cup finals with Neal. I don't know why people are mentioning the Kessel trade, the actual return the Leafs got was rather mediocre for Kessel. Yeah, they got Matthews from sucking the next year, but who's to say they wouldn't have gotten the #1 pick with Kessel on the roster? They did pick #3 the year before.
 

Minnesnota

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Apr 20, 2017
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They still had to be lucky enough to win the lottery and could have arguably traded him for more. This just seems like one of those scenarios where people are equating too much luck after the fact to one deal. Just like Boston fans justify the Thornton trade because they were able to sign Chara after which helped lead to a cup years later. There was too many moving parts after the fact to make that connection. You could argue moving both of them was for the best but that doesn't mean the trades themselves were great. If the Leafs trade Matthews for a low 1st rounder and that player ends up becoming better than Matthews it doesn't mean it was a good deal.

And that's not to say the Kessel deal was bad. His stock was low, any deal selling a big name for pieces isn't usually great, and Kapanen is still a good prospect. I just don't think it fits the spirit of the type of deals we generally call a win win which is usually centered around one or two specific players for each side that are actually involved in the deal itself. Not the future scenarios the deal sets up.
Andersen was a result of the trade too.

Leafs traded the 30th pick they acquired from Pittsburgh in the Kessel trade to Anaheim for Andersen.

It was a win-win trade for both teams. You're just arguing semantics at this point when it's a clear win-win for both teams.

Penguins fans are happy because Kessel helped them to win 2 Stanley Cups. Leafs fans are happy because a result of not having Kessel was finishing last in the league, they received Kapanen and were able to flip the pick from Pittsburgh for Frederik Andersen.

I don't know how you argue against that.
 
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