Has the Superstar for Super prospect exchange ever really worked?

[Pensfan86]

The Selanne thread got me thinking about it....has this ever actually worked out well for the team trading the superstar for prospects?

Jagr for Beech, Lupaschuk, and Sivek
Selanne for Tverdovsky and Kilger
Gretzky for Carson, Gelinas, picks and money

I'm sure there's a good one I'm forgetting, but seriously, this never seems to work...

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[Jeff Goldblum]

Nieuwendyk for Iginla.

 

[discostu]

Nieuwendyk for Iginla.

Good one. Probably the best win-win for this type of trade. Neither team would even consider taking that one back.

The Yashin for Spezza, Chara, Muckalt is definitely one that worked out. There is debate if Yashin was a superstar, but, IMO, at the time, he definite was considered one of the top guys in the game. Yashin didn't turn out near as good as he was perceived at the time, but, even if he did, the return from Ottawa's perspective couldn't have been better.

 

[rival]

Peca, Wilson, 1st (McKee) for Mogilny turned out pretty well for Buffalo I'd say.

 

[Nalyd Psycho]

Terry Sawchuk for Johnny Bucyk.

 

[Mayor Mike]

Shanahan for Pronger

Coming to think of it, Shanahan has been traded for a bunch of super players

 

[Padan]

Theo Fleury for Robyn Regehr

 

[Kyle McMahon]

Paul Coffey from Edmonton to Pittsburgh for Craig Simpson, a deal that worked out well for both teams. Coffey won a Cup in Pittsburgh and gave them two 100-point seasons. Simpson had a combined 29 playoff goals on Edmonton's 1988 and 1990 championship teams.

 

[Cawz]

In 1993, the Oilers traded Esa Tikkanen to the Rags for Doug Weight.

 

[seventieslord]

Nolan for Boyes.

 

[John Belushi]

Bure, ect. for Jovanovski, ect.


Pederson for Neely clearly didn't work out.

Although not a superstar, Linden for McCabe, Bertuzzi and a 3rd (Ruutu) sure worked out for the Canucks.

 

[sunb]

Adam Oates for Jason Allison. One elite playmaker traded away from Boston but Allison eventually blossomed into a bona fide star too for the Bruins. The entire trade was more complicated with Bill Ranford, Rick Tocchet also being switched for Jim Carey and Anson Carter. But in essence, three old stars traded for three young and upcomers.

You could also argue the Eric Lindros for Peter Forsberg + accessories trade was a trade in which a superstar (albeit an arguable one) was traded for a super-prospect. At the time of the trade, Lindros was a top 10 player in the world and surefire superstar if there ever was one at 20 years of age.

 

[Blades of Glory]

I don't think you could possibly say Lindros was a top 10 player in the league before he played a single game.

 

[Crossfire Hurricane]

I don't think you could possibly say Lindros was a top 10 player in the league before he played a single game.

Top 10 player in the league? Probably not. Superstar is debatable though. Depends on your criteria.

 

[pitseleh]

It's a really old example, but:

Newsy Lalonde for Aurel Joliat.

Lalonde had an off year the year before he was traded, but he went on to lead the WCHL in goals after being traded. But after that big year he faded away. Joliat went on to become one of the best LW's of all time.

 

[Reilly*]

Buffalo Sabres traded Dominik Hasek to the Detroit Red Wings for Vyacheslav Kozlov, a 1st round selection (later traded to Columbus, later traded to Atlanta - Atlanta selected Jim Slater) in 2002 and future considerations.

Turned out better for Atlanta than Buffalo.

New York Islanders traded Zigmund Palffy, Bryan Smolinski, Marcel Cousineau and 4th round selection (previously acquired from the New Jersey Devils - Daniel Johansson) in 1999 to the Los Angeles Kings for Olli Jokinen, Josh Green, Mathieu Biron and 1st round selection (Taylor Pyatt) in 1999.

Another nice deal.


Phoenix Coyotes traded Keith Tkachuk to the St. Louis Blues for Ladislav Nagy, Michal Handzus and Jeff Taffe and a 1st round selection (Ben Eager) in 2001.

 

[John Flyers Fan]

I don't think you could possibly say Lindros was a top 10 player in the league before he played a single game.

He was at worst a top 20 player the day he entered the league.

 

[sunb]

I don't think you could possibly say Lindros was a top 10 player in the league before he played a single game.

At the time of the trade, Lindros at 19 years old was one of the most physically intimidating forces in hockey. In international tournaments, he was already a juggernaut who no team could stop. Although his offensive game wasn't nearly as refined as others, he could physically dominate games like no other. In his first NHL season, he scored 41 goals and 75 points in 61 games. Second season, 97 points and 44 goals in 65 games. In terms of an all-around package, Lindros was one of the most dominant players in the NHL the day before his first NHL game.

Outside of Gretzky, Lemieux, Bure, Bourque, Roy, MacInnis, Selanne and Yzerman, I don't think you would find many more NHL'ers who teams were more afraid of playing against. Guys like Fedorov and Jagr were still developing. Guys like Hasek and Lidstrom only recently came over. Guys like Turgeon and Robitaille would score a lot of points but were purely one-dimensional. Lindros was as good as any superstar at that time.