Underrated trades

Ducks in a row

Go Ducks Quack Quack
Dec 17, 2013
18,004
4,356
U.S.A.
Anaheim Ducks acquire Rob Niedermayer from Calgary Flames on March 11, 2003 for Mike Commodore and Jean-Francois Damphousse.

This trade helped the Ducks make it to the 2003 Stanley Cup finals and then later helped the Ducks get Scott Niedermayer to come to the Ducks as a free agent setting us up for a eventual Stanley Cup championship in which Rob Niedermayer was part of our MVP checking line in the 2007 playoffs.

What are some other trades that turned out to be much bigger then expected when made?
 

Normand Lacombe

Registered User
Jan 30, 2008
1,442
1,352
December 13, 1990 - Pittsburgh acquires Jiri Hrdina from Calgary for Jim Kyte

GM Craig Patrick acquired the veteran Hrdina to help fellow Czech, Jaromir Jagr. The 18 year old Jagr was homesick, frustrated, and had trouble adjusting to life in North America. While showing some flashes of his greatness to come, Jagr posted only 12 points in 32 games prior to Hrdina's arrival. Hrdina helped Jagr adjust to North America, the NHL and gave Jagr a fellow countryman who he could confide with. With Jagr still learning English, Hrdina also acted as a translator between Jagr and the coaching staff. Hrdina's role in helping rookie Jagr has been forgotten for the most part.
 

The Panther

Registered User
Mar 25, 2014
19,114
15,573
Tokyo, Japan
Oilers' ex-GM (and coach and President) Glen Sather made a number of great trades back in the day. He also did remarkably well in the early days of the free-agency era, when the Oilers could no longer afford to pay top players:

1979 -- Oilers trade Joe Micheletti to St.Louis for Tom Roulston and Risto Siltanen. Joe Micheletti scores 11 career goals, while Siltanen has back-to-back 53 and 63-point (in 63 games) seasons on defence, while even more importantly translating and teaching Jari Kurri. Roulston had a short career, but still scored three times the goals for Edmonton that Joe Micheletti scored in his career.

1981 -- Oilers trade the Pats: Pat Price to Pittsburgh for Pat Hughes. Price goes on to score 16 more career goals for four teams, while Hughes is a regular on the early Cup-era Oilers, scoring 86 goals in 3.5 seasons.

1981 -- Oilers trade the rights to Don Murdoch to Minnesota for defenceman Don Jackson. Murdoch then goes to Detroit, plays 49 more career games and is done (partly due to substance-abuse related issues). Jackson plays 266 games for Edmonton, contributing to two Cup teams.

1985 -- Oilers trade goalie Gilles Meloche (who never played a game for them) for Marty McSorley. Meloche, 35, plays most of three seasons for Pittsburgh and retires. McSorley plays 206 games for Edmonton, winning two Cups, before becoming part of the Gretzky farce.

As if McSorley wasn't enough, the Oilers later (in 1986) acquire Craig Muni from Pittsburgh to complete the Meloche deal. Muni, who (amazingly) wasn't good enough for the mid-80s' Leafs, according to their "brain"trust, then goes +50 his first year in Edmonton, helping the team win three Cups.

(In 1985, the Oilers also sign Craig MacTavish as a free agent, so they lost nothing for him. MacTavish plays 701 games for the Oilers [331 points], serves as team captain, wins three Stanley Cups, and later coaches the team for eight seasons [seven with a winning record], including a conference championship.)

1987 -- Oilers acquire Kent Nilsson from Minnesota for "cash" (I don't know how much, but presumably not a lot). Nilsson scores 17 points in 17 games, 19 points in the playoffs, and wins the Stanley Cup with them.

1987 -- As part of a 7-player deal, the Oilers acquire Craig Simpson for Paul Coffey, whom they are forced (by economics) to trade. This is a good trade for both franchises, who will go on to win 3 of the next 4 Stanley Cups, involving both players. Simpson immediately scores 56 goals and later leads the 1990 playoffs in scoring (his career was cut very short by injuries).

1988 -- Oilers acquire Bill Ranford and Geoff Courtnall for Andy Moog, who also demanded to be traded. Courtnall was in the latter-stages of a 36-goal season (they unfortunately let him go that summer for nearly nothing, just before Sather found out about the Gretzky trade!). Ranford soon became the club's #1 goalie, and beat Moog in the 1990 Final, winning the Conn Smythe.

1989 -- Oilers acquire Norm MacIver from Hartford for Jim Ennis (five career games). MacIver has a 40-points-in-57-games season on defence, before they lose him to Ottawa on waivers.

1989 -- Jimmy Carson refuses to play for Edmonton. Sather trades him (and tough guy Kevin McLelland, who was basically done) to Detroit for Adam Graves, Petr Klima, Joe Murphy, and Jeff Sharples. Those first three form an entire new line for the team, giving them the depth to win the 1990 Cup. (The Oilers then lost Adam Graves for nothing, due to salary-problems as usual.)

The Oilers later send Sharples -- who never played another game -- to Jersey for Reijo Ruotsalainen, who scores 8 points in 10 games, then 13 more points in the playoffs (+13) and helps them win the '90 Cup.

1991 -- The Oilers acquire Vincent Damphousse and Luke Richardson (and two other minor players) for Glenn Anderson, Grant Fuhr, and Craig Berube. Fuhr struggles for years in Toronto and Buffalo and L.A. (before his revival in St.Louis), and Anderson has only one more 20-goal season. Damphousse leads the Oilers in scoring before he, too, tells them he's leaving. Richardson plays 436 games for Edmonton before, as usual, they lose him due to money (Philly signs him), and he plays until 2009.


The trades become more hit-and-miss from around 1992, and most are done simply because the Oilers can't afford to pay anyone (for example, Tikkanen for Doug Weight, though that worked out pretty well).

If only Peter Chiarelli had been taking notes....
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
13,579
18,347
Las Vegas
for the crap he takes, Chiarelli has some good ones that go unmentioned. He really built the depth and key role players of the Cup team through them

Boychuk for Hendricks

Recchi and a 2nd for Karsums and Lashoff

Seidenberg and Bartkowski for Bitz, Weller and a 2nd

Horton and Campbell for Wideman, a 1st and a 3rd

Kelly for a 2nd
 

Normand Lacombe

Registered User
Jan 30, 2008
1,442
1,352
Ray Sheppard from Buffalo to NY Rangers for cash and future considerations in 1990. Shepard scored 24 goals in 59 games in his lone season in New York, while Buffalo received $1 dollar in cash.

Neil Broten from Dallas to New Jersey for Corey Millen in 1995. This trade went under the radar when it was made. Broten was second in playoff team scoring with 19 points in 21 games during New Jersey's Cup winning season.
 

Normand Lacombe

Registered User
Jan 30, 2008
1,442
1,352
Philadelphia acquires D Barry Ashbee from Hershey for LW Darryl Edestrand and D Larry McKilliop.

The 31 year old Ashbee had been the property of Detroit, Boston and Pittsburgh at various points in his 7 year pro career. Besides a 14 game stint with Boston in 1966, Ashbee rode the buses with Hershey for 7 years before Philadelphia picked him up in 1970. A tough, physical, stay at home defensemen, Ashbee became a mainstay on the Flyers for the next four seasons. The 1974 season saw Ashbee being named a 2nd team NHL All Star and placing 4th in Norris balloting. An eye injury in the 1974 playoffs against the Rangers ended his playing career. Sadly, leukemia claimed Ashbee's life in 1977.

Here is an excellent feature from Bill Meltzer about Ashbee:

Bill Meltzers Heroes Of The Past
 

Tarantula

Hanging around the web
Aug 31, 2017
4,451
2,863
GTA
An eye injury in the 1974 playoffs against the Rangers ended his playing career. Sadly, leukemia claimed Ashbee's life in 1977.

I googled this guy recently as I remember his eye injury, was watching that game on tv as a kid. I would recommend reading up on his story, it's one that stays with you!
 

RadimBicanek

Registered User
Mar 5, 2014
584
39
Canada
1996: St Louis gets Pavol Demitra from Ottawa in exchange for Christer Olsson.

Demitra becomes a scoring machine. Olsson goes back to Europe.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: bluesfan94

vadim sharifijanov

Registered User
Oct 10, 2007
28,590
15,949
truly underrated is diduck for a 4th and lumme for a 2nd, both from montreal, in the span of less than a year.

i should add, ^, which allowed the canucks to trade garth butcher to the blues for courtnall, ronning, and momesso.

for those counting at home, that's two top four defensemen, two top six wingers, and a top six center for the combined cost of two picks in the '91 draft and an aging physical defensive defenseman that they upgraded on with diduck.
 

NYR94

Registered User
Mar 31, 2005
14,409
13,784
Long Island, NY
Justin Williams to LA for Patrick O'Sullivan and a 2nd-round pick. Williams at the time had been battling injuries the past few seasons and ended up being a Conn Smythe winner for LA in 2014.
 

vadim sharifijanov

Registered User
Oct 10, 2007
28,590
15,949
Seidenberg and Bartkowski for Bitz, Weller and a 2nd

this one is big not just because seidenberg was awesome in 2011 but also because boston getting him meant vancouver didn't. ehrhoff pushed management hard to acquire seidenberg at the deadline in 2010, after they played together in the olympics.

with willie mitchell out for the year, and eventually not re-signed due to concussion concerns, vancouver not getting that one done was a real missed opportunity. they settled on andrew alberts instead to fill that vacant LD spot, and while he was cheaper he was obviously also a hugely inferior player.

i don't know how far trade discussions between vancouver and florida went, but my guess has always been that one or two of the pieces they eventually moved in the keith ballard trade in the summer of 2010 (grabner, bernier, and a 1st that became quinton howden) was probably what florida was asking for.

everything about 2011 changes if that trade happens. the canucks don't trade for ballard, who was a disaster in vancouver, and even if hamhuis still gets hurt in the finals, they roll seidenberg and edler as their top two LD instead of edler and one of aaron rome/alberts/ballard/ehrhoff on his wrong side. they also probably retain one of grabner and bernier, and don't have to play jeff tambellini on the second line in the finals with samuelsson and raymond both out for the year. not to mention boston loses its second best defenseman.
 

BigBadBruins7708

Registered User
Dec 11, 2017
13,579
18,347
Las Vegas
this one is big not just because seidenberg was awesome in 2011 but also because boston getting him meant vancouver didn't. ehrhoff pushed management hard to acquire seidenberg at the deadline in 2010, after they played together in the olympics.

with willie mitchell out for the year, and eventually not re-signed due to concussion concerns, vancouver not getting that one done was a real missed opportunity. they settled on andrew alberts instead to fill that vacant LD spot, and while he was cheaper he was obviously also a hugely inferior player.

i don't know how far trade discussions between vancouver and florida went, but my guess has always been that one or two of the pieces they eventually moved in the keith ballard trade in the summer of 2010 (grabner, bernier, and a 1st that became quinton howden) was probably what florida was asking for.

everything about 2011 changes if that trade happens. the canucks don't trade for ballard, who was a disaster in vancouver, and even if hamhuis still gets hurt in the finals, they roll seidenberg and edler as their top two LD instead of edler and one of aaron rome/alberts/ballard/ehrhoff on his wrong side. they also probably retain one of grabner and bernier, and don't have to play jeff tambellini on the second line in the finals with samuelsson and raymond both out for the year. not to mention boston loses its second best defenseman.

yeah its a complete reversal of fortune.

you're right, the Bruins dont go anywhere in 2011 without rolling out Chara/Seidenberg for 30 minutes a night
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tarantula

Normand Lacombe

Registered User
Jan 30, 2008
1,442
1,352
Minnesota traded Dirk Graham to Chicago for Curt Fraser in January, 1988. Graham would win a Selke in 1991, while Fraser was out forced to retire due to injuries.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Iron Mike Sharpe

LordNeverLose

Registered User
Jul 2, 2015
6,509
3,776
Picking a fight
Islanders acquired Butch Goring for Billy Harris and Dave Lewis.

Goring would go on to help the Islanders win 4 Cups in the next 3.5 years, including '81 when he won the Conn Smythe (despite finishing with 20 points to Bossy's 35).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tarantula

Tarantula

Hanging around the web
Aug 31, 2017
4,451
2,863
GTA
Islanders acquired Butch Goring for Billy Harris and Dave Lewis.

Goring would go on to help the Islanders win 4 Cups in the next 3.5 years, including '81 when he won the Conn Smythe (despite finishing with 20 points to Bossy's 35).

Wasn't this a in season trade? The Isles sure got over the hill after that deal.
 

Normand Lacombe

Registered User
Jan 30, 2008
1,442
1,352
In a deal that would ultimately help both clubs, the Sharks shipped Miikka Kiprusoff to Calgary for a 2005 2nd rounder.

This trade initially looked lopsided in favor of the Flames. Kiprusoff led the NHL in SV% and GAA, while leading Calgary to game 7 of the 2004 SC Final. More galling to Shark fans was the 2004 WCF with Kiprusoff helping to eliminate San Jose. Kiprusoff would be Calgary's goalie for the next decade before hanging them up.

The 2nd rounder turned out to be D Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Still a mainstay in his 13th season in San Jose, Vlasic continues to play at a consistently high level.
 

Iron Mike Sharpe

Registered User
Dec 6, 2017
945
1,118
In February 1980, the Canucks shipped former captain Don Lever to Atlanta. At the time of the trade, the 27 year old "Cleaver" had been in Vancouver for 8 seasons, was the all-time leading scorer for the Canucks, & had long been the most popular player on the team among the fans. Coach Harry Neale didn't have as high an opinion of Lever's leadership, & stripped him of the captaincy in favor of Kevin McCarthy at the start of the 79-80 season. It seemed like Neale & Lever were butting heads a lot, & there were rumors of Lever being shipped out for a couple of months before it happened. I recall the Canucks tried to put together a deal with the North Stars for Tim Young, but it fell apart for whatever reason. Anyway, in a move that angered Lever & fans alike, Lever & enforcer/prospect Brad "Motor City Smitty" Smith were dealt for aging veterans Ivan Boldirev & Darcy Rota, who had just been shipped from the Hawks to the Flames a year before together in the blockbuster Tom Lysiak trade.

Boldirev was a great stickhandler, very strong on the stick & hard to knock off the puck, decent passing & nice, soft hands around the net - but he had a bit of a reputation for being lazy (or at least appearing lazy) & inconsistent in his effort. He had been the Hawks leading scorer over the time period he was in Chicago, & mostly played a 1 or 2 C role. With the Canucks, he slotted in nicely in the number 2 spot for the 80-81 season behind the Canucks' talented young 1C Thomas Gradin. The fans didn't really warm up to him at first - his lazy style of play in contrast to the Cleaver's constant work effort earned Boldirev some boos at the Pacific Coliseum shortly after the deal, as fans taunted him "BOOOO-direv!"

But the real win for the Canucks was Rota, & that trade didn't really come to full fruition for another couple of years.

Rota was a fast, feisty winger who played well along the boards in both ends, particularly good for a hard forecheck. He had a quick release & was good at snapping in pucks from the slot, & as a typical second-third line winger he could consistently chip in 20 goals a season. Neale kept Boldirev & Rota paired for most of the 80-81 & 81-82 seasons, & they were effective at putting up secondary offense together behind the Gradin-Smyl line. The duo played well enough together under Roger Neilson in their run to the Final.

At the beginning of the 82-83 season, Neilson bumped Curt Fraser from the Gradin-Smyl line & replaced him with Rota on the left side. That year, the 29-year old Rota, whose previous best effort was 25 goals, exploded for 42 goals, setting a team record for goals as Smyl set a record for points (88) & Gradin hit his personal best (86), with the line being one of the best in the league that year.

Previously, nobody would have expected this from Rota - he had never had much chance to be a first line player, nor did he get much PP time through the years, but when he was put on a top line, at a time when his career should have been in decline, he responded much better than anyone could have expected.

But, yeah, underrated trade by Canucks fans for the first two years at least - it only took a run to the Cup & a 40-goal season to erase the memory of Cleaver & have Canucks fans admit that we won the trade (finally!)
 
  • Like
Reactions: VanIslander

ShelbyZ

Registered User
Apr 8, 2015
3,799
2,561
Not that he made a huge impact or anything, but one that I recall was the Red Wings acquiring Jamie Macoun at the trade deadline in 1998.

This was obviously their first season after the tragic unexpected loss of Konstantinov. I had just turned 11YO a few days before that deadline and didn't yet have unlimited unsupervised internet access yet, so I mostly got my Wings news from watching the games, the newspaper or sports updates on a local Detroit AM talk station that my Mom had pretty much permanently on in the car or in the house as long as she was awake.

The Red Wings acquired 2 Dmen that day. Dmitri Mironov and Jamie Macoun. I vividly remember the radio sports guy massively overhyping Mironov as the dawn of a NEW RUSSIAN 5 (since they still had Larionov, Kozlov and Fetisov and had matched Fedorov's offer sheet from Carolina less than a month earlier), while Macoun got barely any mention, if at all... The front page of the sports section had a huge picture of Mironov in his Ducks gear and a headline that used the word Duck somehow, again with most of the focus on Mironov. They at least mentioned Macoun there, however.

It was expected that Mironov would be a fixture on the PP and one of the top 2 pairings, while Macoun would battle with Aaron Ward and Bob Rouse for a spot on the 3rd pairing and audition for a job for the next season.

However, once the playoffs came and the Red Wings won a 2nd consecutive Cup, Mironov had been benched early and skated in 7 games in rounds 1 and 2 before being relegated to the pressbox for rounds 3 and 4, while Macoun skated in every game.

After that, Macoun basically hit his "best by date" lifting that Cup, got extended and quietly became a bit part (especially after the team acquired Chelios and Samuelsson) in the first of what was many seasons of a revolving door on the Wings blueline after the Krupp signing flopped. He then called it a career.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Datsyukian Deke

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->