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The top 10 trade deadline deals in NHL history |
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Features
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Written by J.P. Hoornstra
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Tuesday, March 02, 2010 00:00 |
"We make more mistakes at the trade deadline than we do the rest of the year combined," Brian Burke once said of his general-manager breathren. "We, as a group, make horrible decisions at the trade deadline."
Here, then, is a celebration of a few GMs who got it right: Hockey Primetime's 10 best NHL trade deadline deals:
.jpg) Butch Goring was a fan favorite in Los Angeles, a 30-year-old speedster, when he was traded to the New York Islanders for forward Billy Harris and defenseman Dave Lewis on March 10, 1980. He promptly led the Islanders to the next five Stanley Cup Finals, of which they won four.- A six-player blockbuster in 1991 worked splendidly for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They captured their first Stanley Cup that season after acquiring Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson from the Hartford Whalers for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski. Francis became a scoring machine and all three players helped hoist the team’s second Cup a year later.
- It’s hard to believe the Detroit Red Wings went without a Cup for 42 years, from 1955 to 1997, when future Hall of Famer Larry Murphy was traded from Toronto to Detroit for future considerations on March 18. Murphy paired with Nicklas Lidstrom on defense and helped the Wings win the next two championships.
- In 1994, then-New York Rangers GM Neil Smith traded Mike Gartner to Toronto for Glenn Anderson. Smith also traded 23-year-old Tony Amonte to Chicago for Brian Noonan and Stephane Matteau, and dealt Todd Marchant to Edmonton for Craig MacTavish. The deals paid short-term dividends, as the Rangers ended their 54-year Cup drought.
- Future draft picks are nameless quantities on deadline day, but none paid better dividends than in March 1998, when Tampa Bay acquired first- and third-round picks in the upcoming draft from San Jose and Calgary, respectively. Those picks turned into Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, cornerstones of the franchise’s first championship squad in 2004.
- In 2000, the Devils and Canucks pulled off a rare deadline-day trade that helped both teams. Alexander Mogilny helped New Jersey win the Cup, while Brendan Morrison (shipped to Vancouver along with Denis Pederson) jump-started the Canucks’ offense and helped break a four-year playoff drought.
- In March 2006, Pittsburgh traded Mark Recchi to the Carolina Hurricanes for Niklas Nordgren, Krystofer Kolanos and a second-round pick in 2007. With star forward Erik Cole missing all but the final two playoff games, Recchi helped the ‘Canes win the team’s first Stanley Cup.
- How well did the Bruins-Oilers deadline-day swap work out in 1988? The two key players involved, goaltenders Bill Ranford and Andy Moog, wound up in opposing nets in that year’s Stanley Cup Finals. OK, so neither was the starter yet – but they both were two years later when the teams met in the Finals again.
- The Flames had never visited the Finals – either in Atlanta or Calgary – before veteran John Tonelli arrived from the Islanders on deadline day in 1986. Tonelli contributed seven goals and 16 points in the playoffs before the Flames bowed to the Canadiens in five games.
- The biggest in-season move made by the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins was replacing head coach Michel Therrien with Dan Bylsma. But they might not have won the Stanley Cup without the services of deadline-day acquisition Bill Guerin (from the New York Islanders), who had seven goals and 15 points in the playoffs.
Join HPT Radio on March 3rd for the NHL Trade Deadline Radio Show hosted by Dave Turner on HockeyPrimetime.com.
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Last Updated on Tuesday, March 02, 2010 10:38 |
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