25 years ago today, the Canadiens traded Kirk Muller

[Masao]

Feels like yesterday. I can't believe it's been 25 years.

The trade was Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Craig Darby in return for Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov

Seemed good in paper, but sadly Turgeon ended up being wasted talent who was underused and traded for peanuts while still in his prime. Also, trading both Desjardins and Schneider made Patrice Brisebois the top defenseman, which wasn't a good thing.

The night of the trade, the Canadiens played the Nordiques which was the second to last game ever between the Canadiens and the Nordiques and also the last time the Nordiques ever visited the Forum. Here's a video from that day (sorry about the very low volume):

Click to read more...

 

[mariolemieux66]

Schneider was a biggest lost than Muller. Muller's best season after being traded was 40 points. Turgeon was the best player in the trade, but only lasted 1 full season. The 3 seasons after winning the cup were very sad to watch, as it lead us to miss the playoffs 5 times in 10 years with only 2 playoffs series win.

 

[De Montreal]

Seems bad but let's remember we were able to re-sign one of those player in 2000, Craig Darby!

 

[FloJack]

Malakhov, 25% of the time he looked like he could win a Norris, the other 75% he clearly had skiing with his kids on his mind.

Was such a big part of the Habs shutting down Jagr and advancing past round 1 of the ‘98 playoffs.

 

[peate]

And yet, he's still here.

 

[MXD]

Muller sustained an injury at some point (can't remember the injury), played through it and became a fringe Top-6.

 

[26Mats]

Feels like yesterday. I can't believe it's been 25 years.

The trade was Kirk Muller, Mathieu Schneider and Craig Darby in return for Pierre Turgeon and Vladimir Malakhov

Seemed good in paper, but sadly Turgeon ended up being wasted talent who was underused and traded for peanuts while still in his prime. Also, trading both Desjardins and Schneider made Patrice Brisebois the top defenseman, which wasn't a good thing.

The night of the trade, the Canadiens played the Nordiques which was the second to last game ever between the Canadiens and the Nordiques and also the last time the Nordiques ever visited the Forum. Here's a video from that day (sorry about the very low volume):

Turgeon asked for a trade because he didn't like being 3c behind Koivu and Damphousse for 10 games.

What a tool.

But ultimately it was on Trembkey and Houle for not being able to handle superstar egos. Shortly after he had the same problem again with a certain goalie that wore number 33. In both cases, Houle made terrible trades.

I still think Turgeon and Malakhov for muller and Schneider is a good deal by Savard. Too bad the GM and the GM's coach that succeeded him blew it.

Saying it was a bad trade because they didn't so much for us and were eventually traded for peanuts is like saying McDonagh was a bad pick because he was traded for Gomez who was a big bust for us.

 

[yianik]

I remember when Captain Kirk became a Hab, that guy had a mile wide smile and you could tell he was over the moon happy to be in Montreal. Dude loved playing here. When he was traded you could tell the guy was devastated. I felt like crap because I thought we made a good trade, but felt awful about Muller.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Damphouse - Koivu - Turgeon

Now, that's a center lineup.

Too bad it all went to shit.

 

[26Mats]

Damphouse - Koivu - Turgeon

Now, that's a center lineup.

Too bad it all went to shit.

It was amazing what Houle was handed and what he left the team with.

Having said that, that was before the salary cap. And we had to trade a lot of players to the richer teams because we couldn't afford them. Damphousse, Recchi and Malakhov were 3 such players.

At least Houle got a young Souray in the Malakhov deal - probably his best move.

 

[DAChampion]

Damphouse - Koivu - Turgeon

Now, that's a center lineup.

Too bad it all went to shit.

Koivu remained a great Habs for a long time, he and Subban are my two favourite Habs.

 

[MXD]

Recchi didn't mesh with any of our centers.

 

[26Mats]

Recchi didn't mesh with any of our centers.

The Recchi-Koivu-Corson line was good for a little while, then faded.

 

[Luigi Habs]

As a kid it was a crushing moment for me to see Muller go.

I remember Turgeon scored a hattrick in his first game with us. We should have traded only Damphousse and built our team around Turgeon and Koivu.

 

[calder candidate]

That was a great trade what kill the team was the Reechi trade and than trading Turgeon away they were lot of bad decision during that time period...

 

[JianYang]

Muller sustained an injury at some point (can't remember the injury), played through it and became a fringe Top-6.

It was game 1 of the opening round in the 93 playoffs. Muller tore cartiledge off his collarbone, and played through it all the way to the Cup. He had surgery right after.

He was a warrior, and he was devastated by the trade.

There were two trades that shook me as a kid. The roy trade made me really sad, but the muller trade wasn't that far behind.

 

[JianYang]

It was amazing what Houle was handed and what he left the team with.

Having said that, that was before the salary cap. And we had to trade a lot of players to the richer teams because we couldn't afford them. Damphousse, Recchi and Malakhov were 3 such players.

At least Houle got a young Souray in the Malakhov deal - probably his best move.

I think houle's best deal was trading Thibault, Manson, and Brown to Chicago for Hackett, Weinrich, Nasreddine, and a 4th round pick.

I also felt bad for weinrich, and hackett toiling away some of their best years on those rosters though.

 

[26Mats]

I think houle's best deal was trading Thibault, Manson, and Brown to Chicago for Hackett, Weinrich, Nasreddine, and a 4th round pick.

I also felt bad for weinrich, and hackett toiling away some of their best years on those rosters though.

That was a go one.

 

[ahmedou]

Could we trade him again?