Proposal: Oilers offer Wayne Gretzky to the Canuck for Adams, Mclean 3 1st rounders 25 million dollars

[lawrence]

Oilers GM phones Canucks owner, not Patt Quinn, but our owners at the time, offers Gretzky to us for

Greg Adams
Kirk Mclean
3 1st rounders
25 million

WHAT THE f***.

I'm going to assume back than unlike Franceso, the Griffiths only had the Canucks as their revenue driver, so they were thinking if they can crunch 25 million via ticket sales. Nowadays, I think Francesco will use their other sources of revenue to make up for the cash.

But man, in hindsight this was a easy yes and to have landed the great hockey player of all time and the thought of him and Bure on the team..... we would have had at least one cup. Maybe maybe not.. Just me.

btw, Wayne just came off a 149 point season in 64 games.

Click to read more...

 

[Dab]

Wayne never won another cup and I’ve got to think it would have been the same had he been traded here.

 

[Hodgy]

Wayne never won another cup and I’ve got to think it would have been the same had he been traded here.

Who cares?

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Those three draft picks ended up being what, Herter, Nedved and Stojanov?

Sure would have changed the complexion of that Canucks team. McLean and Adams were huge parts of it - McLean was legitimately one of the best goaltenders in the NHL for parts of the early 90s. Also, Stojanov for Naslund never happens in that scenario.

But man, Gretzky and Bure on the same team? That would have been a hell of a thing to see.

 

[StreetHawk]

Those three draft picks ended up being what, Herter, Nedved and Stojanov?

Sure would have changed the complexion of that Canucks team. McLean and Adams were huge parts of it - McLean was legitimately one of the best goaltenders in the NHL for parts of the early 90s. Also, Stojanov for Naslund never happens in that scenario.

But man, Gretzky and Bure on the same team? That would have been a hell of a thing to see.

Nedved led to the deal that ultimately netted them Jeff Brown who was a key piece to that run in 1994.

for hockey it was best that Wayne landed in LA.

Don’t know if the Griffith’s family had the money to spend on players back then to make it worthwhile for them.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

LA got larry robinson and john tonelli as ring chasing vets who followed gretzky. would they have come here too?

imagine our 92 team was

courtnall gretzky linden
tonelli larionov bure
momesso ronning sandlak
kron/valk fergus/walter odjick

lidster lumme
babych diduck
murzyn robinson

gamble

the goalie situation’s ugly but if you can straighten that out, gretzky vs mario finals

 

[Jyrki21]

I find it suspect that this story never really came out until, what, this year? Even with the 1996 story being so well known and I could swear there is also an anecdote how the team might have had the chance to get him in 1979 upon his entry to the league.

I mean, I've never even seen this "Burke says no to Gretzky" Vancouver Sun cover, which you'd think would be mildly iconic (also, why would the newspaper refer to the assistant GM as opposed to Quinn or Griffiths?)

I'm not saying he's lying, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's misremembering some details. Kirk McLean wasn't a big star in 1988, Adams was a good offensive forward but the league was teeming with them, and first rounders were thrown around a lot more freely back then (the Kings ended up trading three as well). The Canucks were a small-market team with more modest ownership than many other clubs (in addition to being a Western Canadian rival) – it seems odd that Pocklington would approach them at all.

 

[Boose Brudreau]

Those three draft picks ended up being what, Herter, Nedved and Stojanov?

Sure would have changed the complexion of that Canucks team. McLean and Adams were huge parts of it - McLean was legitimately one of the best goaltenders in the NHL for parts of the early 90s. Also, Stojanov for Naslund never happens in that scenario.

But man, Gretzky and Bure on the same team? That would have been a hell of a thing to see.

So, those picks resulted in Brown, Hedican, Lafeyette and Naslund. 94 never would have happened, who tf knows what would have. pass from me considering what 99 did after he left Edmonton.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I'm not saying he's lying, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's misremembering some details. Kirk McLean wasn't a big star in 1988, Adams was a good offensive forward but the league was teeming with them, and first rounders were thrown around a lot more freely back then (the Kings ended up trading three as well).

in effect, he’s suggesting that we could get gretzky for patrik sundstrom, three firsts, and a big bag of money

LA got him for jimmy carson, gelinas, three firsts, and a smaller bag of money ($10 mill less)

is $10 mill worth the difference between sundstrom and jimmy carson (50 goal/100 pt scorer who had just turned twenty years old) and a guy who was just taken #7 in a great draft (next three picks were roenick, brind’amour, selanne)?

how bad did pocklington need the money? was he in they’re going to break my knees trouble? was it cement boots and they’ll hunt down and murder my whole family bad?

 

[deckercky]

My understanding is that paying out $25m was literally not possible for the Griffiths.

 

[RobertKron]

in effect, he’s suggesting that we could get gretzky for patrik sundstrom, three firsts, and a big bag of money

LA got him for jimmy carson, gelinas, three firsts, and a smaller bag of money ($10 mill less)

is $10 mill worth the difference between sundstrom and jimmy carson (50 goal/100 pt scorer who had just turned twenty years old) and a guy who was just taken #7 in a great draft (next three picks were roenick, brind’amour, selanne)?

how bad did pocklington need the money? was he in they’re going to break my knees trouble? was it cement boots and they’ll hunt down and murder my whole family bad?

Yeah, Carson was 3rd in the NHL in goals, top10 in points that year, but also 15mil in 1988 was a lot more money than it is now..

 

[lawrence]

Herter, Nedved and Stojanov?

the butterfly effect of having Wayne on our team the following years would mean these picks would be much lower. Wayne would have launched Trevor Linden into a true offensive machine if Linden had Wayne as a centreman. Bure might have scored 70 goals on multiple occasions if he was centred by Wayne. Fast foward to 94, no Greg Adams, no Mclean, but we had Wayne Gretzky at some point you think the Canucks would have gotten a new number 1 by now. My gosh who knows.

My understanding is that paying out $25m was literally not possible for the Griffiths.

I feel the same. Although I don't know their background it seems like anything Canucks related is via the Canuck sales ticket. Francesco would have used his other source of business to off set this amount although it won't be 25 million 2021

Imagine Daryl Katz will phone up Franceco Aquillini and offer us Mcdavid for....

3 1st
Vasili Podkolzin
Thatcher Damko
125 million dollars (or more)

I think Francesco would have used his other sources of income to make this up. Also the cheapest ticket can sky rocket to 90 dollars people will still pay for the price of admission.

to be honest, this is something I wish I never knew. It's really one of those "what ifs" because in this case, this what if quite possibly be :

: A Stanley cup
: We can also say the greatest player of all time played for the Vancouver Canucks.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Lol. Easy yes.

Says the person not having to shell out $25M over 30yrs ago.

 

[82Ninety42011]

2 times we could have had 99 this and when he signed with Rangers. He actually agreed to come here but didn't like being pressured into signing same day wanted to wait til morning or something story goes. Sad history we have.

 

[Jyrki]

There's a reason why Pocklington "only" took $15M from LA - not many owners back then could pull that kind of money out of their asses for the sake of NHL operations, even if it meant getting them closer to acquiring the GOAT. A lot more money started to get poured into sports and entertainment after the end of the Cold War, and the lockout reflected NHL players wanting a bigger size of the pie.

Around the time of the trade, Lemieux was the best paid player... he only made $2 million per year. Salaries went up dramatically after the '95 lockout.

1989–90 season

1. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2 million
2. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $1.72 million
3. Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers) $0.86 million
4. Steve Yzerman (Detroit Red Wings) $0.7 million
5. Bryan Trottier (New York Islanders) $0.575 million

1994–95 season

1. Wayne Gretzky (Los Angeles Kings) $3.66 million (Predicted salary of $6.54 million)
2. Mark Messier (New York Rangers) $3.45 million (Predicted salary of $6.29 million)
3. Scott Stevens (New Jersey Devils) $3.24 million (Predicted salary of $5.8 million)
4. Pavel Bure (Vancouver Canucks) $2.61 million (Predicted salary of $4.5 million)
5. Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) $2.361,429 million (Predicted salary of $4.071429 million)

1999–00 season

1. Jaromir Jagr (Pittsburgh Penguins) $11.7 million
2. Paul Kariya (Anaheim Ducks) $11 million
3. Peter Forsberg (Colorado Avalanche) $9 million
4. Theoren Fleury (New York Rangers) $8.5 million
   Eric Lindros (Philadelphia Flyers) $8.5 million

 

[CpatainCanuck]

My understanding is that paying out $25m was literally not possible for the Griffiths.

You're probably right. According to this:

The Canucks total payroll in 1990 was $5,265,000. A $25,000,000 payment would be the equivalent of nearly 5 years worth of payroll expenditure.

 

[Albatros]

Off topic, but it's mildly amusing that Mogilny got paid so much fewer than the Soviets who came over legally.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

You're probably right. According to this:

The Canucks total payroll in 1990 was $5,265,000. A $25,000,000 payment would be the equivalent of nearly 5 years worth of payroll expenditure.

Thanks for sharing this!

 

[krutovsdonut]

the griffiths were never in a position or of the temperament to pay anything like that price. frank griffiths was a local millionaire but not even a ten millionaire when he bought the canucks. he was a canny accountant who particularly made good on a couple of investments he got cheap: the canucks and cknw. the griffths were always cash poor for hockey team owners. they ultimately lost the team because they never had anything but the value of the team to work with. they went after the grizzlies because they could not get financing for gm place with just the canucks as tenants and bc place next door empty most of the time competing for staidum bookings.

 

[PavelBure10]

2 times we could have had 99 this and when he signed with Rangers. He actually agreed to come here but didn't like being pressured into signing same day wanted to wait til morning or something story goes. Sad history we have.

You bet. This was in Gretzky's book. Gretzky said to the Canucks that he will sleep on it, intending to sign with them in the morning, but an impatient Pat Quinn phoned Gretzky at absurd hours in the morning demanding for a answer. That was enough to sway Gretzky away from Vancouver altogether. Gretz wanted to play with Bure pretty badly, and eventually did when Bure went to the Rangers. Typical depressing Canucks news.

As for the trade, Gretzky would of brought Canucks revenue to an all time high, even if the Griffiths couldn't afford him. Gretzky merchandise alone would have brought in a boat load. GM place would have been built sooner than 95, with the crowds Gretzky would have brought in. Even more so than Bure.

The trade although getting the best player ever to play the game, would have hurt us. Adams was a clutch player in the playoffs. While McLean was a very good #1 goalie stuck on terrible teams. We wouldn't have gone far in 94 if McLean wasn't a brick wall.
Who knows what would have happened if we traded for Gretzky, I'm sure having the greatest of all time on your team would of drawn interest for very good players wanting to sign here.

Oh well, this is ancient history now, but fun to discuss.

 

[RobertKron]

Off topic, but it's mildly amusing that Mogilny got paid so much fewer than the Soviets who came over legally.

The other guys were just the KLM line and Fetisov, though, and he wasn't too far off Makarov. Those were all older, established legends.

 

[Hit the post]

The other guys were just the KLM line and Fetisov, though, and he wasn't too far off Makarov. Those were all older, established legends.

The legendary hot dog king Krutov. A small town type of guy who got institutionalized in the Red Army system. Couldn't handle the complete he had here. Larionov, a far more worldly individual, fit in seamlessly.

 

[Reverend Mayhem]

So, those picks resulted in Brown, Hedican, Lafeyette and Naslund. 94 never would have happened, who tf knows what would have. pass from me considering what 99 did after he left Edmonton.

Brown was our only good puck mover on the back-end in '94. Forgot Lumme.

 

[archangel2]

Oilers GM phones Canucks owner, not Patt Quinn, but our owners at the time, offers Gretzky to us for

Greg Adams
Kirk Mclean
3 1st rounders
25 million

WHAT THE f***.

I'm going to assume back than unlike Franceso, the Griffiths only had the Canucks as their revenue driver, so they were thinking if they can crunch 25 million via ticket sales. Nowadays, I think Francesco will use their other sources of revenue to make up for the cash.

But man, in hindsight this was a easy yes and to have landed the great hockey player of all time and the thought of him and Bure on the team..... we would have had at least one cup. Maybe maybe not.. Just me.

btw, Wayne just came off a 149 point season in 64 games.

thought this was beaten to death a few months ago

 

[archangel2]

With Burke, his mind and memory is slight lapsing now.