Roenick -- 1996

[FanOfFlyers75]

In 1996, what other teams besides the Rangers were trying to trade for Jeremy Roenick?

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[Brodeur]

Quick Google search linked to a couple articles about the Islanders having interest:

Islanders Pursuing Roenick (Published 1996)

New York Islanders are interested in acquiring Chicago Blackhawks center Jeremy Roenick (M)

www.nytimes.com

A Roenick Trade Is Made, but Not to Isles (Published 1996)

Chicago Blackhawks trade rights to Jeremy Roenick, resticted free agent, to Phoenix Coyotes; New York Islanders' General Manager Mike Milbury terms his team's chances of acquiring Roenick 'dormant,' if not dead'; in exchange for Roenick's rights, Blackhawks obtain Aleksei Zhamnov, Craig Mills...

www.nytimes.com

The Islanders had agreed to a deal in principle with Roenick, at five years for $22 million, hoping that they could swing a deal for him, either by signing him to an offer sheet or making a straight swap. But the Islanders did not have enough to give up to land a player of Roenick's magnitude, and the Coyotes managed to deal with Chicago because of their willingness to part with Zhamnov.

The problem with the offer sheet route was partly the compensation (five first rounders) and that Chicago vowed to match which would prevent them from trading Roenick for a year.

Can't find anything concrete on what the Islanders were offering, but at the time they had two first rounders in 1997 (their own plus Toronto's). Another article speculated that the Blackhawks liked Darius Kasparaitis.

 

[Brodeur]

Hartford paper (behind a paywall): IMPACT OF ROENICK’S DEAL MAY REACH HARTFORD

Before Roenick's trade, the Islanders were prepared to offer him a five-year deal worth $22 million. In hot pursuit, the Islanders explored a three-way deal that included the Whalers. The Blackhawks would have been thrilled to have Brendan Shanahan, but the deal never came close to fruition. That's because the Islanders were tendering Travis Green and Zigmund Palffy; restricted free agents whose negotiations are at an impasse and were not involving highly regarded prospect Bryan Berard and all-rookie forward Todd Bertuzzi in their discussions with the Whalers.

A Shanahan-Roenick-Palffy three way trade would have been an interesting one to look back on.

Although the Coyotes outbid the Islanders, Capitals, Devils and Canadiens to get Roenick, the pursuit hasn't ended. The Devils have reportedly offered defenseman Scott Niedermayer and forwards Mike Peluso, Brian Rolston and Bill Guerin in trade.

Kinda funny to see the article imply Peluso, Rolston, and Guerin were similar. New Jersey had just missed the playoffs in 1996 after winning the Cup. #1 center was seemingly a big hole.

Washington would get Adam Oates ~9 months later. Montreal had Damphousse/Turgeon down the middle, so not sure what they would have offered. They'd trade Turgeon in October 1996.

 

[Brodeur]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1996/08/20/free-agent-roenick-visits-with-capitals/617cb480-1ce2-4226-ac00-4990105d6645/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1996/08/19/caps-may-offer-deal-to-roenick/f03a30a1-9222-43e8-ad54-914d61c768aa/

Found this article where Roenick met with the Capitals after having been traded to Phoenix.

If Roenick were to be traded to the Capitals, he might command similar compensation to what they offered the Hartford Whalers for their star left wing, Brendan Shanahan, on draft day back in June. The Capitals, according to a source, packaged defenseman Nolan Baumgartner, forwards Pat Peake and Steve Konowalchuk, the No. 4 pick in the draft -- which they used to tab center Alexandre Volchkov -- and maybe another No. 1 choice. The trade, however, was never made.

 

[Brodeur]

Devils Trade Richer Back to Canadiens (Published 1996)

New Jersey Devils trade Stephane Richer back to Montreal Canadiens for Lyle Odelein; (M)

www.nytimes.com

(might be behind a paywall) The Devils made a late August 1996 trade sending veteran winger Stephane Richer to Montreal for defenseman Lyle Odelein. Comically the thought was that might have made Scott Niedermayer expendable. Phoenix already had a young Oleg Tverdovsky, so I could imagine they weren't interested in the moment.

So trading a high-scoring wing for another defenseman, no matter how good he is, might be a precursor to a much bigger deal -- perhaps one involving Jeremy Roenick, who is still a restricted free agent even though Phoenix and not Chicago now holds his rights. "The situation is no different than before," Lamoriello said when asked where things stood with Roenick during a conference call yesterday. "We have interest. And until he signs we will have interest."

Lamoriello, who is the general manager of Team U.S.A. in the coming World Cup, said that he had spoken with John Paddock, the Phoenix general manager who is trying to sign Roenick, in San Jose before an exhibition game between the United States and Canada on Wednesday night. Judging from the way Lamoriello operates, just the fact that he has publicly acknowledged interest in another team's player is significant because of what Lamoriello says is the very, very private way we do dealings with other teams.

The deal that the Devils pulled off yesterday was surprising if for no other reason than that New Jersey is loaded with defensemen (could Scott Niedermayer be headed for Phoenix?).

 

[Brodeur]

Maybe slightly unrelated, but I just read an anecdote that the Blackhawks and Jets talked about a Roenick/Tkachuk trade in the summer of 1995. Winnipeg's owner got cold feet when he heard Roenick wasn't interested in playing in Canada. Chicago signed Tkachuk to a front loaded offer sheet that Winnpeg begrudgingly matched but that might have led them to jettison Teemu Selanne a few months later.

 

[Boxscore]

I remember the Flyers being extremely interested in acquiring Roenick at that time. The fans loved the idea as much, if not more, than the team. They were also in on Shanahan until Mr. Snider pulled the plug on any deal.

 

[Brodeur]

pic courtesy of HabsFan18's awesome thread: Taking a look back at past THN Draft Previews 1986-2004

I wish I could remember the podcast/article, but I remember a story (possibly from former Devils head scout David Conte) about how the Devils were high on Roenick/Selanne/Brind'Amour at the 1988 Draft. They figured at least one of them would be there at #12. But to their horror, they went 8-9-10.

Lou was hired from Providence College in April 1987, so there was a decent chance they knew of a teenaged Roenick in Boston. Lou was also the GM of Team USA for the 1996 World Cup, so he probably got re-familiarized with Roenick during that process. Roenick ended up skipping the tournament since he hadn't signed with Phoenix yet.

DEVILS HAVE EYES FOR COYOTES’ ROENICK

The Devils’ promised quest for a top-flight forward has turned to Phoenix’s Jeremy Roenick, sources have told The Post. New Jersey is said to be putting together a package of players in…

nypost.com

This article from summer 1999 painted Roenick as a potential target as the Devils got bounced again in the first round and were still seemingly in need of a #1 center. In retrospect, Roenick seemed like the anti-Lou type of guy, but seemed like Lou coveted him for years.