Coffey traded for Carson (Jan. 1993) -- What was L.A. thinking?

[The Panther]

I know the pre-Gretzky and Gretzky-era Kings made some odd trades... I know it! For example, young Larry Murphy traded for Houston and Engblom. The 1988 rumored (confirmed?) trade of Robitaille for Ron Hextall (thankfully didn't happen). Gretzky's best buddy and 150-point Bernie Nicholls for Granato and Tomas I'm-Never-Healthy Sandstrom. The eventual trading and re-acquiring (twice) of Robitaille. Trading McSorley in August '93 and then re-acquiring him in Jan. '94 for the same player, while also giving away Sandstrom for basically nothing on top (yes they did that).

But the January 1993 trade takes the cake! To remind you:
Jimmy Carson, with Marc Potvin and Gary Shuchuk, traded by Detroit to Los Angeles for Paul Coffey, Sylvain Couturier and Jim Hiller.

This has always baffled me. Since the accompanying players never really did anything with their new teams (and likely weren't really expected to do much, even at the time) the trade really boils down to Carson for Coffey. There is just no way I can understand this.

For Detroit, then still coached by Bryan Murray, it makes perfect sense. Their top-offensive D at the time was Steve Chiasson (nobody knowing yet how good Lidstrom would be offensively), and they wanted a top blue-liner to play with Yzerman and Fedorov, etc., on the power-play. Done!! They were already starting to get stacked offensively and certainly didn't need Jimmy Carson.

For L.A....? They'd only acquired Coffey at the end of the preceding season, so he hadn't even played one full season for them yet. 1992-93 was the year Gretzky nearly missed the season, and was rushed back into action in January ahead of schedule. You might argue -- 'well, they needed a center to replace Gretzky!' Okay, but they'd already got Jari Kurri playing center (and rather well, at that) for half a season before this trade was made. Also, if that was the logic, why didn't they pull the deal 4 months earlier when it was clear Gretzky would miss serious time? The Kings started that season surprisingly well, but were slowing down by January. The Kings' record was 24-21-5 at the moment the trade was done. They were in the playoffs then, and would have made it in had they just continued at that pace.

At the time, Coffey had scored 57 points in 50 games and was a solid 'plus' player five-on-five. Gretzky had just come back to the line-up, and had played only 10 games with Coffey when the trade occurred. Meanwhile, Carson had scored a solid 25 goals in 51 games with Detroit, by far his best place in 4 years. But the Kings were an offensive powerhouse and simply did not need more soft and streak-scoring forwards.

I can't wrap my head around it...

Click to read more...

 

[Sentinel]

Like you said, the Kings were always too trigger-happy. Anything that seemed like even marginally good idea at the time, they chased. They probably wanted to put Kurri back on Gretzky's wing and felt like Carson was a great second center. They had no way of knowing Coffey still had another Norris in him.

I wouldn't judge them too harshly though. Whatever they did that season, it ended in their deepest playoff run ever (before the recent quasi-dynasty, that is).

 

[quoipourquoi]

Melrose wanted three players who would be regulars in the lineup in exchange for one. I can sort of understand the mindset, but on the other hand, I don’t know that it was the best thing for Los Angeles over the next three seasons where they’re 67-108-39 and could have used another superstar to drive the action and not just three warm bodies.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

On a related note can someone explain the original Coffey to LA trade? It seems like the Kings give up very little. Was Brian Benning supposed to be really good?

 

[Asheville]

Potvin and Shuchuk were Melrose's homies from Adirondack, and McNall always loved Carson (both had their minds on business/economics). Coffey's behavior upon being dealt to Hartford proved he was quite an a-hole.

All that said, Coffey would have been the difference in the '93 Finals as the blue line was either way too old (Huddy, Hardy, Watters) or too green (Blake, Zhitnik, Sydor) to deal with Hrudey's unpredictable play.

McSorely was the only blueliner close to his prime, and we all know what became of his '93 Finals legacy.

This wasn't the only bad Kings trade during the Chevy logo era. As a matter of fact, you'd be hard pressed to find a single trade that favored Los Angeles aside from "The Trade."

Heck, I'm not even sure Kurri's acquisition was all that great. Duchesne proved to be more useful for longer compared to Jari.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

Paraphrasing "A Season in Time", which covers every team in the 1993 season in detail,

Late 80s LA knew they were bad, so their internal management braintrust got to work drafting their team of the future. When the Gretzky trade went down, it somewhat blindsided them as most of the real negotiations were between McNall-Gretzky-Pocklington and they were just expected to pull the trigger on the mega trade as ordered, no questions asked.

This created a rift in the team between the "Old Boys Club" upstairs in management who felt they were already building a good team of the future before ownership went and traded it away (Jimmy Carson, the 50 goal scorer!), and the ex Oilers parade of Gretzky/McSorley/Huddy/Kurri/Coffey. Supposedly this all came to a head on a team flight (I believe in 1992-93 while the team was struggling) where one of the old boys club unwisely blurted out something to the effect of "would've been just fine on our own" while drunk.

So basically, you have Coffey, (already a well known frustration to many coaches, and a controversial player whose on ice value we cant even agree on 30 years later), and then you have Carson, a fifty goal scorer at a very young age that management loved, thought he was their superstar of the future, never wanted to give up in the first place, and he was an American star player to boot, which also seemed like a bonus trying to grow the sport in LA.

 

[Nerowoy nora tolad]

McSorely was the only blueliner close to his prime, and we all know what became of his '93 Finals legacy.

Its a shame nobody remembers his 1993 playoffs run for anything but the illegal stick. He was being seriously name dropped for the Conn Smythe that year from what Ive read, as he was the only really strong blueliner that LA had outside of a young Blake.

Oddly enough I cant think of any similar examples to his 1993 run. Weve seen a million mediocre forwards get red hot for a single playoffs ala Ville Leino, but I cant think of another example of a D-man doing it other than 1993 McSorley.

 

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

Carson played the best hockey of his life the year he centred Kurri & Esa Tikkanen. Perhaps the feeling was that if Carson was paired with Kurri again, he'd step it up & regain some of his lost form. Pretty sure that had to factor into it.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Its a shame nobody remembers his 1993 playoffs run for anything but the illegal stick. He was being seriously name dropped for the Conn Smythe that year from what Ive read, as he was the only really strong blueliner that LA had outside of a young Blake.

Oddly enough I cant think of any similar examples to his 1993 run. Weve seen a million mediocre forwards get red hot for a single playoffs ala Ville Leino, but I cant think of another example of a D-man doing it other than 1993 McSorley.

bryce salvador, previously best known as one of the pylons amongst which st louis divided the 40-60 minutes a game that weren’t taken by pronger and macinnis.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

This created a rift in the team between the "Old Boys Club" upstairs in management who felt they were already building a good team of the future before ownership went and traded it away (Jimmy Carson, the 50 goal scorer!), and the ex Oilers parade of Gretzky/McSorley/Huddy/Kurri/Coffey. Supposedly this all came to a head on a team flight (I believe in 1992-93 while the team was struggling) where one of the old boys club unwisely blurted out something to the effect of "would've been just fine on our own" while drunk.

amazing story. thanks. i have to finally get around to that book.

i have to guess it was robitaille. what other old time kings were even left in 1993?

no wonder he and gretzky were always frenemies.

 

[Brodeur]

Carson Returns; Coffey to Detroit : Kings: The trade also involves four other players. Gretzky is said to be saddened by the deal.

Just to echo the previous posts, it looks like Melrose coached Shuchuk/Potvin and vouched for them. And the team was happy to bring back a 24 year old Carson at the expense of a 31 year old Coffey. Without the benefit of hindsight, they were bringing back somebody they ideally would have kept in the first place. Melrose spoke of the development of the young D (Blake/Zhitnik/Sydor) which made the trade palatable.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Yet somehow, Melrose had it in for Carson and barely ever utilized him. I remember him hardly ever seeing any playing time during the '93 playoffs, and he was also a healthy scratch in favor of dressing a 7th defenseman, Mark Hardy.

Just another example of Barry's incompetence. On top of that, it seemed like Jimmy Carson was also disinterested in hockey after that experience.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

there was a third barry melrose guy from adirondack, lonnie loach. a small guy they got off waivers from ottawa, who got him from detroit in the expansion draft. led the IHL in scoring before being one of melrose's go-to scorers on the '92 adirondack team full of guys who never made it with detroit.

here's shuchuk on that adirondack team:

After you won the championship with Adirondack in ’92 did you think your pro career was about to take off?

We knew we had a good team in Adirondack and Detroit wasn’t really giving guys the opportunity to get called up at the time. We kinda said ‘screw it.’ We’re going to play for ourselves and the guys in the locker room – the further we go as a team the further we’ll go as individuals. We felt that if Detroit didn’t want us, there were 27 other teams in the NHL that might grab us. It was an amazing mentality that we had. We were going for the Calder Cup, but we were also trying to help each other move on. And it worked out. It was great.

it still is one of the most unreasonable trades of all time, and not just because you gave up something incredible in paul coffey for something that was on the verge of worthless in carson. you look at that detroit system with all of the young pieces it had. i'm not saying you're going to ask for a fedorov or a lidstrom (but i would have at least asked...) but you can do better than two randos that used to play for your coach in the AHL.

recently, i made an entire roster of young guys the red wings chucked away because they had no room for them on their emerging powerhouse. gary shuchuk, marc potvin, and lonnie loach did not make my roster.

--- (warning: read below at your own peril)

very reminiscent, actually of the ongoing vancouver quagmire.

green coach comes in, says he needs familiar faces. okay willie desjardins, i'll trade a 3rd round pick for derek dorsett. oh you need more? how about i trade a 2nd round pick for linden vey? oh wait, linden vey is terrible and played himself out of the league? why don't i send a busting prospect to rescue emerson etem? might need to throw in a 6th. you did say you won championships with these guys right? what's half of an entire draft anyway when you can add dorsett, vey, and etem?

ditto our new coach. travis green won a memorial cup with portland so we brought in winners like derick pouliot and brenden leipsic.

and then there's the dangling a still useful star player to a team with a deep prospect pool and somehow coming out of it with garbage. our GM's first act of duty was to decide he needed to trade kesler for a young forward that can play now, a high end defense prospect, and draft pick. the forward was nick bonino, who was a good player but only a year younger than kesler. the draft pick was anaheim's 24th pick (they also had #10 in that draft). but the real kicker was in a defense pool with fowler, lindholm, vatanen, theodore, manson, despres, and sbisa, they got sbisa.

that’s a d corps so deep they bought one guy out after he lost two years to concussions (despres) and they still had to literally give another one (theodore) away to protect manson and vatanen... because they had too many good young d.

/rant

--- (back on topic)

here's shuchuk again--

When you and Jimmy Carson were traded by the Red Wings to Los Angeles a major riff developed between Gretzky and Kings owner Bruce McNall because Wayne’s good friend Paul Coffey was part of the package sent to Detroit. Did you know any of that at the time and did you ever feel caught in the cross fire?

Never. Wayne being the professional that he was and the classy guy that he is…I’ll tell you a story. We had our first game against Chicago and then went on a road trip. Me and Marc Potvin were kinda the outsiders. I knew Tony and Mike Donnelly from playing college hockey, but still. We were getting off the bus and Mark and I were talking, like ‘Hey, I guess we need to go get something to eat.’ Wayne came right up to us and said ‘You two guys are coming with me.’ It was me, Mark, Wayne, Jari Kurri and Kelly Hrudey. The five of us went to a little restaurant. He talked to us and said ‘Look, you’re going to hear stuff and it’s not true at all. Paul and I are very good friends, but it has nothing to do with you guys. It’s a business.’ He was very point blank about it. That helped us tremendously.

 

[c9777666]

Funny thing is that it was the other guy in that trade- Shuchuk- that contributed a bigger moment in the ‘93 Playoffs than Carson did:

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

And years later, the Wings package Coffey and Primeau to get the "missing piece" that was Brendan Shanahan in finally winning their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

It's also worth mentioning that there was a major rift between Barry Melrose and Nick Beverley. The two boobs really did a number on the Kings, and the incoming replacement for Beverley, Sam McMaster, turned into an even bigger disaster.

Seems like everything started to crumble for the Kings after that magical Cup run in '93.

 

[Asheville]

When you and Jimmy Carson were traded by the Red Wings to Los Angeles a major riff developed between Gretzky and Kings owner Bruce McNall because Wayne’s good friend Paul Coffey was part of the package sent to Detroit. Did you know any of that at the time and did you ever feel caught in the cross fire?

Never. Wayne being the professional that he was and the classy guy that he is…I’ll tell you a story. We had our first game against Chicago and then went on a road trip. Me and Marc Potvin were kinda the outsiders. I knew Tony and Mike Donnelly from playing college hockey, but still. We were getting off the bus and Mark and I were talking, like ‘Hey, I guess we need to go get something to eat.’ Wayne came right up to us and said ‘You two guys are coming with me.’ It was me, Mark, Wayne, Jari Kurri and Kelly Hrudey. The five of us went to a little restaurant. He talked to us and said ‘Look, you’re going to hear stuff and it’s not true at all. Paul and I are very good friends, but it has nothing to do with you guys. It’s a business.’ He was very point blank about it. That helped us tremendously.

It's stuff like this that makes Stephen Brunt and other Gretzky detractors look like such a-holes.

I truly believe that those earliest Kings teams were headed to a Stanley Cup if the roster was largely left alone. Keep Nicholls. Keep Duchesne. Keep Zhitnik. Keep Sydor. In fact, the one position they should have actively tried to upgrade was goaltender.

 

[The Panther]

Is there any chance L.A. could have gotten Nick Lidstrom in mid-1992-93 for Coffey (plus spare parts)? I believe that's midway through Lidstrom's second season, and his biggest fan, Bowman, wasn't there yet. No doubt Detroit was high on Lidstrom by then, but would they have entertained a trade like that?

I can believe the locker-room rift in L.A. after the Gretzky trade. Even as a little kid, I thought L.A. was a team on the rise after 1987-88. The young triumvirate of Robitaille, Carson, and Duschene looked good (and they drafted Blake that summer). Swapping out Carson for Gretzky was a good move -- esp. when it later became clear Carson wasn't necessarily fully committed to hockey -- but with Wayne being 27, there was window there of only about five/six years to get it done with him in the driver's seat.

I agree that the Kings basically needed to simply stay the course from that point. They desperately needed either a better goalie than Hrudey (he was acquired late in Wayne's first season), or one more Blake-like tough defenseman. What they didn't need was to trade highly skilled players (Nicholls, Duschene) for lesser skilled players in multiple. I also don't think they needed to fire Tom Webster in 1992.

 

[FerrisRox]

He was being seriously name dropped for the Conn Smythe that year from what Ive read

Uh... no, no he wasn't.

 

[FerrisRox]

I know the pre-Gretzky and Gretzky-era Kings made some odd trades... Gretzky's best buddy and 150-point Bernie Nicholls for Granato and Tomas I'm-Never-Healthy Sandstrom.

One anecdote I love about the Bernie Nicholls trade is that when he was notified of the deal, he was in Pittsburgh for the All-Star Game (where he ended up playing for the Western Conference... as a New York Ranger) and he was summoned to then-owner Bruce McNall's suite and put on the phone with Kings General Manger Rogie Vachon who broke the news to him. After Vachon laid out the trade to him Nicholls, while standing right in front of McNall who was a friend and business partner at the time (they owned race horses together,) told Vachon he thought he got "the raw end of the deal."

The deal was, at best, perplexing. Nicholls had scored 70-goals and 150 points the previous season and was third in league scoring behind Wayne and Mario at the time of the deal. A trade for the Kings had been rumoured for weeks and the team was playing horribly at the time of the transaction but what made the deal difficult to understand was that package they received didn't address any of the club's needs. The 1989-90 Kings desperately needed to upgrade their blueline. Steve Duchesne logged the bulk of the minutes but after him, it was a patchwork. Veteran Larry Robinson was logging more minutes and being used in situations that were, at that point in his career, beyond his capabilities. Beyond them, Marty McSorely was being used more than he should have been and veterans Tom Laidlaw and Tim Watters were largely ineffective and Brian Benning was failing to deliver on the promise he was supposed to have.

To move out a piece like Bernie Nicholls and not even begin to address this problem seemed bizarre at the time. If they were set on moving Nicholls to the Rangers, James Patrick absolutely should have been part of the package that came back. It didn't make sense at the time. While the Kings were weak on the wing past Luc Robitialle, they could have moved Nicholls for Sandstrom and Patrick and at least, on paper, had an argument the team was better as a result. As it stood, the trade never really added up.

 

[The Panther]

Uh... no, no he wasn't.

Heh. Yeah, that comment kind of threw me, too. McSorley was certainly not being considered by anyone for the Conn Smythe...Lol.

McSorley did have a really solid season in 1990-91 under Tom Webster, who seemed the only coach capable of making Marty a really good defenceman. I personally thought McSorley looked great as a forward, but I never trusted him on defence.

 

[The Panther]

One anecdote I love about the Bernie Nicholls trade is that when he was notified of the deal, he was in Pittsburgh for the All-Star Game (where he ended up playing for the Western Conference... as a New York Ranger) and he was summoned to then-owner Bruce McNall's suite and put on the phone with Kings General Manger Rogie Vachon who broke the news to him. After Vachon laid out the trade to him Nicholls, while standing right in front of McNall who was a friend and business partner at the time (they owned race horses together,) told Vachon he thought he got "the raw end of the deal."

The deal was, at best, perplexing. Nicholls had scored 70-goals and 150 points the previous season and was third in league scoring behind Wayne and Mario at the time of the deal. A trade for the Kings had been rumoured for weeks and the team was playing horribly at the time of the transaction but what made the deal difficult to understand was that package they received didn't address any of the club's needs. The 1989-90 Kings desperately needed to upgrade their blueline. Steve Duchesne logged the bulk of the minutes but after him, it was a patchwork. Veteran Larry Robinson was logging more minutes and being used in situations that were, at that point in his career, beyond his capabilities. Beyond them, Marty McSorely was being used more than he should have been and veterans Tom Laidlaw and Tim Watters were largely ineffective and Brian Benning was failing to deliver on the promise he was supposed to have.

To move out a piece like Bernie Nicholls and not even begin to address this problem seemed bizarre at the time. If they were set on moving Nicholls to the Rangers, James Patrick absolutely should have been part of the package that came back. It didn't make sense at the time. While the Kings were weak on the wing past Luc Robitialle, they could have moved Nicholls for Sandstrom and Patrick and at least, on paper, had an argument the team was better as a result. As it stood, the trade never really added up.

Nice post! (I love how Nicholls straight-up told Vachon that he'd lost the trade...!)

All I can say is I concur with all your points. There had been rumors during 1988-89 of L.A. trading Nicholls for a goaltender. Unless you were getting Patrick Roy such a trade might have been a net loss, too, but at least it would have made sense in addressing the team's needs. Instead they got a so-so goaltender (Hrudey) and then the next season traded Nicholls for two wingers.

I get what you're saying that the team thought they needed more depth at wing. However, it should also be pointed out that in 1988-89, L.A. had been 1st in the NHL in goals, and in 1989-90 (when Nicholls was traded) they finished 2nd in goals -- only 10 behind Calgary for 1st. So, really they were more than fine offensively. As we all know, they never did find a second center to support Gretzky once Nicholls was gone. If they'd had one in spring 1993, maybe the Cup was theirs. Or, just as likely, they'd have gotten past Edmonton in 1991 (instead of losing three games in overtime) and then probably would have faced Mario and the Pens in the Final. Sandstrom and Granato had their moments, but the Kings could score anyway and I'd much rather have seen a 2nd-center behind Gretzky (which he clearly missed).

And yeah, the Kings had this weird habit back then of jumping the gun on trades at inopportune times. At the moment they traded Bernie Nicholls, they had a .500 record and were in the playoffs. It wasn't like they were a huge disaster. (In fact, the last game before the All-Star break, they'd beaten Detroit 9-4 with Bernie getting three points!)

They just need some patience.

 

[blogofmike]

Between Wayne's arrival and the Nicholls trade, the thought was that Wayne always had awful linemates. Which was often true. After that, it was a weakness at #2 C. Which by 1993 was imagined, because Kurri as a centre was doing good things, even if that means no Gretzky + Kurri.

Carson was a waste of space by 1993 though.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Gretzky was playing with Warren Rychel and Tomas Sandstrom on the top line during the '93 run, and one of Gretzky's top priorities for returning was, believe it or not, having Warren Rychel back on the team the following season.

Blues' Offer to McSorley Spurs Kings : Hockey: Perhaps worried about losing enforcer, they sign Rychel. They also agree to terms with Conacher.

Wayne Gretzky's "wish list" has dwindled to one--King defenseman Marty McSorley.

Three days after the St. Louis Blues signed McSorley to an offer sheet worth $10 million, the Kings swung into action. On Monday, they took care of another Gretzky designee by signing left wing Warren Rychel to a three-year deal worth $1.6 million.

Then later in the day, the Kings swept in and beat out divisional rivals Calgary and Vancouver, reaching an oral agreement on a two-year deal worth $400,000 per season with 34-year-old forward Pat Conacher, Conacher said.

Although the Kings have the right to match the Blues' offer for McSorley, the move to re-sign the rugged Rychel, 26, could be viewed as an insurance measure should the Kings lose McSorley to St. Louis, or sign him, then trade him to another team. Certainly, the Blues' action turned out to be fortuitous for the Rychel camp.

"When (the Kings) called me Friday night, this was the last thing I thought they would do," said Tom Laidlaw, Rychel's agent.

According to Laidlaw, the Kings' offer improved dramatically. He said his client will be paid $500,000 this season, $550,000 next season and $550,000 in the option year of his deal.

Rychel, who led the league with 30 major penalties last season, scored 13 points in 70 regular-season games with 314 penalty minutes, and scored 13 points in 23 playoff games.

"We wanted Warren back all along, no matter what the circumstances were," King General Manager Nick Beverley said.

Said Rychel: "I really didn't think I'd be back with the Kings, to tell you the truth. (Negotiations) were at a crawl. I'm very surprised, but I'm very pleased."

With Melrose not using Jimmy Carson, the second line had Jari Kurri centering Luc Robitaille and Gary Shuchuk.

They had the USA line of Donnelly-Millen-Granato, and the checking tandem of Conacher and Taylor would have a rotating forward join them, oftentimes between Gretzky, Kurri, Granato and Rychel.

That team as it was didn't have much depth, and it got even worse the following season.

Corey Millen was jettisoned to New Jersey.
Kings Trade Millen : Hockey: Center had said he would test the market. L.A. gets the 117th pick in draft.

Marty McSorley was moved for Shawn McEachern, and then as Panther already pointed out, to reacquire Marty, they sent off two forwards in exchange for two defensemen, well, one really as Jim Paek was a throw in alongside Marty McSorley.

They'd only muster 27 wins in 84 games that season. The first year Ducks and Panthers both had more wins than those Kings. The Kings also gave up more shots than any other team in the league that season and were absolutely putrid in their end of the ice.

One year removed from their Cup run in '93, this is the team the Kings were icing:

Donnelly-Gretzky-Kurri
Robitaille-Lang-Druce
Conacher-Todd-Granato
Rychel-McReynolds-Shuchuk/Ward

Zhitnik-Blake
Sydor-Huddy
Watters/Dufresne-McSorley

Of course, the horribly coached and mismanaged Kings wouldn't sniff the playoffs again until 1998.

Dear God, in hindsight, that Paul Coffey trade snowballed into disastrous results. By the start of 1993, to address the loss of Marty McSorley, they dealt one goon obtained in the Coffey trade, Marc Potvin, to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for defenseman Doug Houda. And they brought up another punching bag, Phil Crowe, to replace Marc Potvin.

Barry Melrose wanted the Kings to get tougher and bigger, and he got his wish eventually as they got rid of Robitaille for Tocchet and brought in the likes of Troy Crowder, Barry Potomski, Matt Johnson, and Michel Petit in 1994-95. The result? 16 wins in the abbreviated 48-game schedule.

 

[FerrisRox]

At the moment they traded Bernie Nicholls, they had a .500 record and were in the playoffs. It wasn't like they were a huge disaster. (In fact, the last game before the All-Star break, they'd beaten Detroit 9-4 with Bernie getting three points!)

They were struggling before the trade though. From the original LA Times article reporting the trade: "It seemed certain some deal would be made after the club managed only a tie during a seven-game span after New Year's Day and dropped to fourth place in the Smythe Division. After a loss to the Buffalo Sabres last Tuesday, McNall promised a big change."

 

[blogofmike]

Gretzky was playing with Warren Rychel and Tomas Sandstrom on the top line during the '93 run, and one of Gretzky's top priorities for returning was, believe it or not, having Warren Rychel back on the team the following season.

Blues' Offer to McSorley Spurs Kings : Hockey: Perhaps worried about losing enforcer, they sign Rychel. They also agree to terms with Conacher.


With Melrose not using Jimmy Carson, the second line had Jari Kurri centering Luc Robitaille and Gary Shuchuk.

They had the USA line of Donnelly-Millen-Granato, and the checking tandem of Conacher and Taylor would have a rotating forward join them, oftentimes between Gretzky, Kurri, Granato and Rychel.

That team as it was didn't have much depth, and it got even worse the following season.

Corey Millen was jettisoned to New Jersey.
Kings Trade Millen : Hockey: Center had said he would test the market. L.A. gets the 117th pick in draft.

Marty McSorley was moved for Shawn McEachern, and then as Panther already pointed out, to reacquire Marty, they sent off two forwards in exchange for two defensemen, well, one really as Jim Paek was a throw in alongside Marty McSorley.

They'd only muster 27 wins in 84 games that season. The first year Ducks and Panthers both had more wins than those Kings. The Kings also gave up more shots than any other team in the league that season and were absolutely putrid in their end of the ice.

One year removed from their Cup run in '93, this is the team the Kings were icing:

Donnelly-Gretzky-Kurri
Robitaille-Lang-Druce
Conacher-Todd-Granato
Rychel-McReynolds-Shuchuk/Ward

Zhitnik-Blake
Sydor-Huddy
Watters/Dufresne-McSorley

Of course, the horribly coached and mismanaged Kings wouldn't sniff the playoffs again until 1998.

Dear God, in hindsight, that Paul Coffey trade snowballed into disastrous results. By the start of 1993, to address the loss of Marty McSorley, they dealt one goon obtained in the Coffey trade, Marc Potvin, to the Hartford Whalers in exchange for defenseman Doug Houda. And they brought up another punching bag, Phil Crowe, to replace Marc Potvin.

Barry Melrose wanted the Kings to get tougher and bigger, and he got his wish eventually as they got rid of Robitaille for Tocchet and brought in the likes of Troy Crowder, Barry Potomski, Matt Johnson, and Michel Petit in 1994-95. The result? 16 wins in the abbreviated 48-game schedule.

A lot of Kings trades snowballed badly. The Sandstrom trade seemed to be a difference-maker for Gretzky's play. He didn't respond well to being on a team that was selling.