NHL history: Worst trade in each team’s history

NHL history: Worst trade in each team’s history: Boston Bruins

There was a spell in the early and mid-2000s where the Boston Bruins were making mistake after mistake. It seems like forever ago, but the Bruins were a laughing stock for a while. Then, they built the franchise that eventually won the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship. Before that, they made two of the most infamous trades of this era. One was sending Tyler Seguin to the Dallas Stars, but that didn’t have the long-term ramifications that sending Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks did.

Trading Joe Thornton when the Bruins didn’t think he was a fit is fine, but the return is awful. Wayne Primeau played 101 games in Boston as the veteran in the deal. Brad Stuart played 103 games in Boston. Marco Sturm had three fine seasons in Boston and then two miserable seasons. The Bruins traded a 26-year-old star for no pieces that could grow into something great. They wanted three NHL players, but they got three nickels for a dollar.

Thornton went on to have a future Hall of Fame career. He had north of 1,000 points in 15 seasons with the San Jose Sharks. He is still playing now, signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs this past season. The Bruins could have Thornton’s jersey going to the rafters, and who knows what the Bruins could have done with Thornton on some of those disappointing playoff teams. These two seem like they needed each other, but impatience led to a bad trade all around.