What sports fan doesn’t enjoy a good trade deadline? It’s
one last chance for a team to make a splash. While not every deal pushes
somebody over the edge, a big deadline deal always raises eyebrows. Here are
the biggest, best NHL trade deadline deals of the last 20 years.
2008: MARIAN HOSSA TO THE PENGUINS
Here’s a blast from the past: Hossa was traded to Pittsburgh
from the Atlanta Thrashers. He played great — he was an elite player in his prime
— but the Penguins fell to the Red Wings in the finals. So Hossa signed with
the Wings that offseason, only to see Detroit lose to Pittsburgh in the next
finals. Oops.
2009: BILL GUERIN TO THE PENGUINS
Guerin was the captain of the Islanders at the time of his
trade. With the Penguins, he had 12 points in 17 regular-season games and then
15 in 24 playoffs games as the Pens won it all. He stayed around for one more
season, notched 45 points and then retired.
2013: JAROME IGINLA TO THE PENGUINS
It seemed like Iginla would play his entire career with the
Flames. He had been there for 16 seasons, after all, and was their leader in
pretty much every category. However, when he entered the “desperate for a
Stanley Cup” portion of his career, Calgary happily sent him to Pittsburgh to
chase his goal. He played well with the Penguins but didn’t get that Cup, and
he tried again with Boston the next year.
2018: J.T. MILLER AND RYAN MCDONAGH TO THE LIGHTNING
A few of these trades will involve the Rangers getting players,
but here’s one where the bigger names headed out of New York. Just last
offseason, the Lightning acquired two solid veterans from the Rangers in
forward Miller and defenseman McDonagh. Both are still with the team, and
McDonagh has been particularly good this year.
2017: KEVIN SHATTENKIRK TO THE CAPITALS
Shattenkirk, one of the better offensive defensemen in the
league for several years, was a pending free agent. Thus, the Blues decided to
send him to Washington, as the Caps were hoping to finally get over the hump
and win the Stanley Cup. Shattenkirk had 14 points in 19 regular-season games
and six in the playoffs, but as you know, Washington didn’t get its first Cup
that year.
2017: BEN BISHOP TO THE KINGS
With Andrei Vasilevskiy coming into his own, the Lightning
could afford to deal Bishop, who had been their primary goalie. The Kings
already had Jonathan Quick, but they were trying to return to the playoffs and
didn’t want to take any chances. Unfortunately it didn’t pan out, and even with
Bishop the Kings missed out on the postseason.
2016: ERIC STAAL TO THE RANGERS
Staal had some great seasons in Carolina where he was the
face of the franchise for over a decade. With the Canes out of the race, they
sent Eric to New York to reunite with his brother Marc. It didn’t pan out for
Staal, and then he signed with Minnesota, where he scored 42 goals last season.
2015: KEITH YANDLE TO THE RANGERS
Yandle is still a fine puck-moving defenseman, but in 2015
he was in his prime. The Rangers were happy to get him, and he put up solid
numbers after the trade. He then stuck around for one more season, tallying 47
points. New York arguably got the better side of this deal, even if Yandle is
now a Panther.
2015: JAROMIR JAGR TO THE PANTHERS
Jagr was already in his 40s and on his like, eighth team,
when the Devils sent him to Florida. You’d think he was just hanging on due to
name recognition, but he put up a whopping 18 points in 20 games after the
deadline. The next season, as a 43-year-old, he scored 27 goals with the
Panthers. That’s why he’s one of the all-time legends of the NHL.
2015: MARTIN ST. LOUIS TO THE RANGERS
The Rangers were at it again! This was a huge deal because
St. Louis was a Lightning legend. He was the captain when he was traded and was
the franchise leader in points. At first the trade was looking like a dud, as
St. Louis had only one goal in 19 regular-season games. Then he notched 15
points in the playoffs in leading the Rangers to the Stanley Cup Finals.
2014: ROBERTO LUONGO TO THE PANTHERS
Luongo, who had previously played with the Panthers, had his
greatest success with the Canucks. However, Vancouver decided to give up on the
aging goalie a few years ago, sending him to Florida to retire. Ah, but Luongo
showed he still had life left in his legs. He’s in his fifth season with the
Panthers since being dealt, and only this year did he start to decline.
2014: RYAN MILLER TO THE BLUES
Miller, like Luongo, was a huge figure in the history of the
team that traded him. He had won a Vezina with the Sabres, but as an
unrestricted free agent his time in Buffalo was coming to an end. Miller was
dealt to the Blues, but he struggled mightily before signing a deal with the
Canucks in the offseason.
2014: MARIAN GABORIK TO THE BLUE JACKETS
One year earlier, Gaborik had scored 41 goals for the
Rangers. Injuries started to slow down his career the next season, but he still
was dealt to the Blue Jackets. He had three goals in 12 games in 2012 and was
traded the next year to the Kings, where he had a brief rebound before injuries
took him down once more.
2013: FILIP FORSBERG TO THE PREDATORS
At the time of the deal, this was the Martin Erat trade.
Nashville sent its veteran forward to Washington for a prospect named Filip
Forsberg. Erat was a dud, and Forsberg is now one of the better players in the
NHL. Simply put, the Predators fleeced the Capitals.
2012: JEFF CARTER TO THE KINGS
The Blue Jackets took a big swing when they traded for
Carter, who had worn out his welcome in Philadelphia. Carter turned out to be
just as miserable in Columbus, so after less than a year they sent him to the
Kings. There he found his footing, as he’s still with L.A. and has helped them
win two Stanley Cups. In fact, in the year of the trade, he scored the goal
that clinched the title.
2008: BRAD RICHARDS TO THE STARS
It’s never easy to trade a player who won a Conn Smythe
Trophy for you, but with Richards, Vincent Lecavalier, and Martin St. Louis all
under sizable deals, something had to give. As you know, St. Louis got dealt
eventually, but Richards was sent out first, to the Stars. Richards would stay
in Dallas for three solid seasons.
2006: MARK RECCHI TO THE HURRICANES
In the first season after the lockout-lost campaign, there
were a lot of deals at the deadline. That includes the 38-year-old future Hall
of Famer Recchi going to the Hurricanes. Despite being up there in years,
Recchi had 16 points in the playoffs, including six in the Stanley Cup Finals
as Carolina earned its first championship.
2000: RAY BOURQUE TO THE AVALANCHE
This is perhaps the most iconic deadline deal of the last 20
years. Bourque was a legend in Boston, but he had yet to win a Cup. So beloved
was the defenseman as a Bruin, the team was happy to send him to the Avalanche.
With Colorado, Bourque got his Cup and promptly retired on top. Even Boston
fans celebrated his victory.
2000: ALEXANDER MOGILNY TO THE DEVILS
The Canucks got a good player in Brendan Morrison, but he
didn’t have the same cache as Mogilny. We’re talking about a guy who scored 76
goals in a season once, after all. The speedy Russian didn’t have a big
postseason, but the Devils won the Cup in the 1999-2000 season. That makes this
trade worth it for New Jersey.
1998: THE LIGHTNING GET THE FIRST-OVERALL PICK
Why is a trade where the biggest player dealt was Bryan
Marchment on this list? Because the Lightning got themselves the first overall
pick in the 1998 NHL Draft from this one. (Yes, that’s just over the 20-year
timeline, but its close enough.) Tampa Bay got Vincent Lecavalier, its future
captain and first star. If not for this deal, the Lightning probably wouldn’t
have won that Stanley Cup in 2004.
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