Biggest "Almost" Deals Through History?

[Northern Dancer]

2 leaf ones:
It might not be as big as some of the deals already said here, but apparently the leafs and flyers agreed on a trade that would send jeff carter + a 1st (2008 or 2009 I think) for tomas kaberle. However, it was nixed as kaberle used his no trade clause to veto the deal.

Also at the 2009 nhl draft, leafs and bruins discussed kessel. Burke nixed the original offer, which was kaberle and leafs 2009 1st rounder for kessel.

So in an alternate world, the leafs would have jeff carter, tyler seguin and kessel on the same team.

(SIGH)

You should read previous posts before posting at least the previous 4 posts. .

 

[Mad Brills*]

whoops. Posted full details anyway

 

[Northern Dancer]

whoops. Posted full details anyway

No probs.

 

[Tawnos]

Similar to Sinden wanting Gagne. Gretzky to rangers was basically a done deal at the '96 deadline except that Smith didnt want to include Norström in the package. Ironically he later traded Norström to the Kings in what would become one of his worst trades.

That doesn't make sense, since it was the same deadline.

 

[ForsbergForever]

As somebody said, Brett Hull was very close to signing with Montreal instead of Detroit. Similarly, Shanahan almost chose the Habs over the Rangers in 2006.

Going way back, Sam Pollack was close to a deal for Denis Potvin at the 1973 draft but Bill Torrey decided to kep the 1st overall pick.

Steve Yzerman was also almost traded to Montreal in '95 for Mathieu Schneider and others (obviously) but like the proposed deal to Ottawa Detroit decided they were better off with their captain.

I also remember reading that the Habs almost got Pavel Bure instead of Florida in 1998, offering Mark Recchi, Vladmir Malakhov and possibly Mathieu Garon to Vancouver.

 

[Randy Marsh]

Sinden wanted Simon Gagne (rookie) and Clarke, rightly refused to to give him up. It was never a done deal. It was always contingent on that last piece.

This person insisted it wasn't Gagne.

There was a rumor that Claude Giroux was nearly traded to the Lightning for Paul Ranger. I cringe at the thought of that.

 

[HunterRice]

Roenick almost signed with the Redwings insted of the Flyers

 

[LeafsNation75]

There was a rumor that Claude Giroux was nearly traded to the Lightning for Paul Ranger. I cringe at the thought of that.

That's not a rumour. A few years ago during Sportsnets trade deadline coverage they had Brian Lawton on and he said the Flyers offered him Claude Giroux for Paul Ranger, however he turned down the trade.

 

[iamjs]

Calling it an almost-deal might be a stretch, but I always thought the discussion of Mario trading himself while he owned the Penguins is worth mentioning.

It's been speculated Lemieux might trade himself to a contender, something he's long insisted he wouldn't do, to bring the Penguins some cash, prospects or both.

To do that, he must sell his majority stake in the franchise and divest himself of all financial interest in the Penguins. That would be an extremely complicated and time-consuming process that would require him to find a buyer, then arrange a deal, something that might take a lot longer than a short offseason to accomplish.

He doesn't sound like a man willing to go through all that, especially if it means giving up the team he worked so hard to buy.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/games/2003-04-02-hurricanes-penguins_x.htm

Starkey writes today that while Lemieux "has no immediate intentions of leaving the Penguins, ... he has not issued stern denials of recently published reports that speculated he could play for another team as soon as next season." Lemieux said, "Anything's possible. [Michael] Jordan did it." Starkey notes Lemieux's situation is "much different [than Jordan's], because he is the Penguins' majority owner, chairman and CEO and is currently playing for the team. Jordan had only a small stake in the Wizards" (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 4/1)

http://m.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Da...idering-Ticket-Cuts-Is-Lemieux-Moving-On.aspx

 

[Killion]

Strange one out of Los Angeles in 1971/72 the year before the WHA started up involving Jack Kent Cooke, Wilt Chamberlain, Bobby Hull & Arthur Wirtz..... Cookes idea, proposal was that he trade his LA Lakers Superstar Wilt the Stilt straight up for Bobby Hull as rumors were flying that #9 was talking to the WHA & Winnipeg, and unlike a lot of NHL Governors including Wirtz who didnt take the rumors about Hull or the WHA seriously, Jack Kent Cooke did. He knew that if Hull jumped ship the WHA would garner instant credibility, and he also knew his man in Arthur Wirtz who wasnt going to cave to Hull's contract demands.

Since entering the league in 67/68, the Kings had been having serious attendance issues & Cooke desperately needed some Superstar Drawing Power. His basketball team, the Lakers, they were doing better than fine & he could part with Chamberlain... Meanwhile in Chicago, Wirtz had the opposite problem. He was in the midst acquiring controlling interest in the Bulls who's attendance was anemic, whereas the Black Hawks, no problem.... Had that trade gone through & happened, pretty sensational, historic really. In setting a new precedent & with a lot of single entity ownership of both NBA & NHL franchises, the mind reel's.

Jack Kent Cooke did confirm all of this before he died but Wirtz didnt, wouldnt comment on it when asked, but I believe its quite true, just never happened obviously but had it? Derek Sanderson wouldve been the Poster Boy for the WHA & we all know how that turned out, and an aged Gordie Howe really the only signing giving them some modicum of respectability & credibility though quite clearly, bit of a novelty act. It was the Hull signing that put them on the map, BAM!, instant credibility, plenty of other excellent players following in his wake. Imagine though how different things would have been had Hull wound up in LA, totally different history really and on all kinds of different levels.

 

[Sonic Disturbance]

2 leaf ones:
It might not be as big as some of the deals already said here, but apparently the leafs and flyers agreed on a trade that would send jeff carter + a 1st (2008 or 2009 I think) for tomas kaberle. However, it was nixed as kaberle used his no trade clause to veto the deal.

Also at the 2009 nhl draft, leafs and bruins discussed kessel. Burke nixed the original offer, which was kaberle and leafs 2009 1st rounder for kessel.

So in an alternate world, the leafs would have jeff carter, tyler seguin and kessel on the same team.

(SIGH)

Don't you mean Jeff Carter OR Phil Kessel (minus Kadri)? Unless Kaberle is capable of cloning himself to be traded twice?

But yeah, much better than our return of Joe Colborne, 2nd Round Pick (traded for John Michael Liles) and late 1st (Tyler Biggs - we actually gave up our 39th pick - which ended up being John Gibson - PLUS the 30th pick we got from the Bruins for Biggs).

 

[Yurog]

Thornton(Boston) for Luongo (Florida) in 2005-2006
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6p1TYuVPic

 

[Randy Marsh]

That's not a rumour. A few years ago during Sportsnets trade deadline coverage they had Brian Lawton on and he said the Flyers offered him Claude Giroux for Paul Ranger, however he turned down the trade.

I don't know who is dumber, Holmgren for offering it or Lawton for turning it down.

 

[Hobnobs]

That doesn't make sense, since it was the same deadline.

Sometimes GMs doesnt make sense. Since losing Gretzky, Smith obviously got desperate plus the package for Gretzky were likely more pricy + Norström than the package + Norströpm they actually sent.

 

[alko]

Zigmund Palffy as a Ranger.

That was already done. But there were some issues with it, so the trade was cancelled. And after some days Palffy was traded to LA Kings.

 

[The Panther]

In Phil Esposito's book "Thunder and Lightning: A No B.S. Hockey Memoir", he talks about how when he was the general manager of the Rangers in the late 80's he had chances to trade for Mark Messier... ...The Messier trade was in September 1986, and the Rangers would send "Kisio, Vanbiesbrouck, Tomas Sandstrom, and a second-round draft pick for Messier and five million in cash."

Esposito has been known to blow smoke up people's backsides, and I'd say this is a good example of it. The Rangers may indeed have put such a package together, but there is no chance that the Oilers would have even considered it. Makes no sense, especially given that Messier was 25 and was the GM/Coach's favorite player.

 

[T Low]

Page 3, yet no mention of Dan Cleary almost to Philly...

 

[VMBM]

Vladislav Tretiak as a Hab. I don't know how close it ever got; Tretiak probably would've had to defect (or Perestroika a few years earlier?), and I think he was 'too much of a Soviet' to do that. But Tretiak's dream was to play for Montreal, and his wish not being granted was at least one of the reasons - if not THE reason - he quit in 1984.

Tretiak-Roy or Roy-Tretiak tandem, probably not too shabby, eh?

 

[Moose Head]

Vladislav Tretiak as a Hab. I don't know how close it ever got; Tretiak probably would've had to defect (or Perestroika a few years earlier?), and I think he was 'too much of a Soviet' to do that. But Tretiak's dream was to play for Montreal, and his wish not being granted was at least one of the reasons - if not THE reason - he quit in 1984.

Tretiak-Roy or Roy-Tretiak tandem, probably not too shabby, eh?

Soviet players had constant escorts while playing abroad, but I recall Tretiak saying that back in 84 or so, he had a great chance to defect, thought long and hard about it, but chose to go back home.

 

[Theokritos]

Vladislav Tretiak as a Hab. I don't know how close it ever got

And prior to that, Vladimir Shadrin:

Associated Press (August 1978):
"The Soviet Ice Hockey Federation is prepared to start giving its older players permission to play in North America... In a series of lengthy and unprecedented meetings, Soviet hockey officials told WHA executives that players no longer able to help the national team will be available for one or two-year periods. The negotiations were so successful that the Edmonton Oilers recently came close to making a deal that would have made the 30-year-old [Vladimir] Shadrin a playing coach with the club. 'We were extremely serious in negotiations and a deal with Shadrin was so close that talks broke off when we started haggling over money,' Oilers vice-president Larry Gordon said Wednesday. 'At the last minute, the Soviets told us we were one year away from making a deal.'"

Associated Press (February 1979):
"'They felt Shadrin could help their team for one more year,' recalled Gordon."

 

[LeafsNation75]

I don't know who is dumber, Holmgren for offering it or Lawton for turning it down.

With the benefit of hindsight I say Holmgren was crazy for offering him and Lawton was crazy for turning down the trade.

 

[Boxscore]

Sinden wanted Simon Gagne (rookie) and Clarke, rightly refused to to give him up. It was never a done deal. It was always contingent on that last piece.

The deal was not "officially done" but it was "perceived" to be done when you consider...

1. Bourque told Sinden he would only accept a trade to a team on the East Coast, not far from Boston. Sinden agreed and told Ray a deal was being finalized with Philadelphia.

2. Bourque was so confident a deal was done, he even called Reggie Lemelin (who was working for the Flyers at the time) and told him that he was coming to Philly.

3. The Flyers players were told by Clarke that Bourque was acquired. Even players commented on this.

4. The Flyers had a Bourque, 77 jersey actually stitched and ready for the Press Conference and next game. (A good friend of mine worked closely with the equipment guys in Philly and told me this. He actually had the jersey in his hands).

At the very last second, the Avs "upped their offer" (after Sindon told them a deal with the Flyers was agreed upon) and Siden approached Bourque, who was apparently VERY upset with Harry for trading him to Colorado. The Avs were smart and had Sakic, Roy and others personally phone Ray and "sell him" on the Avs. After that, Ray agreed. I remember Bobby Clarke being furious for a while about that.

 

[Boxscore]

Ron Hextall was on the verge of being traded to the LA Kings for Luc Robitaille in 1988.

 

[Boxscore]

Also, the Flyers apparently had a deal in place to acquire the Stastny brothers from Quebec for a hefty package but the Nordiques nixed the deal at the last second.

 

[Mad Brills*]

and from 30 thoughts today, freidman said there was 2 proposed deals: small ones though.

1. Coburn to the oilers at the 2013 draft for 3 2nd rounders
2. Yandle to the isles for #5 overall at the 2014 draft. If that happens, no boychuk/leddy