5 Absurd NHL Trades That Nearly Happened
Today’s focus is spectacular NHL trades that were minutes away from happening in the past. We know the classics, Eric Lindros and Steven Stamkos to the Rangers, and Claude Giroux to the Lightning.
Here are 5 of the most absurd NHL trades that you probably haven’t heard about that as crazy as it looks, were close to happening.
5. Thomas Vanek for Tyler Seguin
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It was the summer of 2013, and Buffalo Sabres captain Thomas Vanek was entering his contract year. The Sabres were not confident they could re-sign him.
Meanwhile, the Boston Bruins were extremely disappointed in Seguin’s 2012-13 season, and were looking to trade him. A Vanek for Seguin trade was down but Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill swooped in with an offer that sent Seguin to Texas.
If Buffalo had acquired Seguin, that would have fast-tracked the Sabres path to contention, and Jack Eichel would have gone elsewhere.
4. Islanders trade 6 draft picks for Ryan Murray
At the 2012 draft, New York Islanders GM Garth Snow was desperate for a major piece on defence, so he offered all 6 picks he had in the 2012 draft to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for the 1st overall pick, which they would use to pick Ryan Murray.
Somehow, it was rejected. Heck, even the 1st round pick the Oilers would have received in the deal would be better than who they used the pick on, Nail Yakupov. As for the Islanders, Snow would definitely want that one back.
3. Subban To The Flyers
In the summer of 2014, contract talks between the Montreal Canadiens and star defender PK Subban were getting ugly. With an arbitration looming, Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin quietly explored the trade market to gauge a potential return.
A possibility of a trade seemed unlikely until the Philidelphia Flyers made a game changing pitch of a 2015 1st rounder, top prospect Samuel Morin, and a ‘significant’ roster player not named Claude Giroux for the pending RFA. It was a tough decision, but Les Canadiens management opted to re-sign the Subbanator.
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2. Pavel Datsyuk to the Devils for Scott Gomez
The year was 2007, and Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland was having a tough time convincing rising star Pavel Datsyuk to rejoin the team in 2007-08. Datsyuk had come off an amazing 06′-07′ with 87 points, while Gomez, although older, was more proven and also had a pretty good year, with 84 points. Like the Subban situation, management pondered on the trade but decided to take out the wallet.
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1.Wayne Gretzky to the Canucks
Lets head way back to 1988, when Wayne Gretzky was in the lower end of his prime but still easily the best player in the NHL, and would be for the next 8 years. Oilers owner Peter Pocklington was looking at a core shakeup for a once dynastic Oilers team that was showing signs of falling apart, and it didn’t take long for talks to heat up.
Around the time of the 88′ draft, Pocklington and Canucks management agreed on a mega blockbuster sending Gretzky to Vancouver for a hefty $22M and 5 straight 1st round picks. If Canucks ownership didn’t mess up the deal by being disrespectful to Gretzky, this may have sealed a 1994 Cup win and give the City of Champions a group of young stars that would surely one day lead them to a cup again.
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Other deals you may not have known about: Dougie Hamilton for the 2015 3rd overall selection, Ryan Miller and Kevin Bieksa to San Jose, and Sam Reinhart to the Canucks for Hunter Shinkaruk and the 6th/24th overall selections in the 2014 draft.