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Trade Deadline History
by Alanah McGinley on 02/21/07 at 03:14 PM ET
Comments (8)
Guest Submission by KK member Joe Pelletier
The NHL Trade Deadline is February 27th. For every trade there will be countless rumours, most unsubstantiated. With the internet and the unfortunate popularity of trade deadline websites, it only is getting worse.
So bad, that I have tuned it all out. Yes, even Spector, who is the only rumour site I recommend, is off my reading list until the off season. Spector’s site is great in that he only deals with mainstream reported and verifiable rumours, unlike so many other sites, but the overkill has gotten to me.
A big reason why I’m losing interest is the fact that trade deadline deals for rental players rarely provide the desired results.
Eric Duhatschek has an interesting history of the rental player at Globe Sports. General synopsis: Trade Deadline Day is when sellers cash in, and rental players almost always prove to be a bust. The ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup, is rarely achieved, and more often than not the rental player will walk away the following summer. The selling team acquires good prospects and draft picks, many of which turn out to be very good players for a number of years. Buying teams should have kept their prospects and draft picks and just signed their superstar acquisitions a couple of months later in the off season.
There are only three blockbuster deadline deals that have resulted in the hoisting of the Stanley Cup.
In 2001, the Colorado Avalanche traded away Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller and two 1st round draft picks to Los Angeles for Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht. Had Deadmarsh been able to overcome serious concussion problems suffered in LA, the Kings might not be complaining too much. Aaron Miller has been a solid player as well, though the 1st round picks are looking like busts. The Avalanche got their Cup, and the Kings even got Blake back in 2006.
In 1991, the Pittsburgh Penguins moved John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski to Hartford for Ron Francis, Ulf Sameulsson and Grant Jennings. Major victory for Pittsburgh here, who won the next two Stanley Cups. Ron Francis in particular was a key to those Cup victories, but Sameulsson was also a necessary addition. Jennings also provided solid service. Even today people are asking the same question people asked back in 1991 - What was Hartford thinking?
Back in 1980, the New York Islanders traded Billy Harris and Dave Lewis to Los Angeles in exchange for Butch Goring. Goring was instrumental in the Islanders subsequent success, described as the missing piece of the dynasty puzzle. The Islanders won the next four Stanley Cup championships.
Perhaps the most famous was in 1988 when the Calgary Flames traded a pudgy kid named Brett Hull to St. Louis in exchange for Rob Ramage and Rick Wamsley. Ramage provided great depth on the blue line, and Wamsley was excellent insurance and a leader backing up Mike Vernon as the Flames captured their only Stanley Cup championship. Worth it? You bet. But Hull, who was “narrowed” in Calgary, went on to score 527 goals in 744 games with the Blues. The Blues weren’t complaining too much about the trade.
That is a pretty low success rate considering how high rental players can cost. Teams seem to get caught up in the euphoria of the deadline. Perhaps teams are better off to tinker with their rosters, and bring in puzzle filler rather than superstars.
That’s what Mathieu Schneider believes. The Detroit Red Wings defenseman, who himself was a deadline pick up in 2003, told the following to Ted Kulfan of the Detroit News.
“It’s extremely difficult. If you’re putting together small pieces to the puzzle it can sometimes work. But to make major changes at the deadline, more often than not, they don’t work out for that season. It’s rare. What happens when you bring in a high impact player is, he’s taking away someone else’s ice time possibly, and it takes time to adjust to your new linemates.”
That’s what the Anaheim Ducks did in 2003 in my personal favorite deadline trade in recent memory. Looking for a veteran leader who could provide timely scoring, the Ducks moved a 5th round pick to Chicago for Steve Thomas. Thomas, who had only 4 goals all season with Chicago, scored 10 times in the final 12 games to secure a playoff spot for the Ducks. He then helped the Ducks go all the way to game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals before finally bowing to the New Jersey Devils. That same trade deadline period saw those same Devils tinker, bringing in Grant Marshall, who provided grit and 6 playoff goals.
So keep this in mind this NHL Trade Deadline 2007. Renting superstars rarely works out, and often costs a high price. And don’t be disappointed if your favorite team only chooses to tinker with its lineup rather than overhaul it. The results may be just as significant as the blockbuster trade, and it won’t cost nearly as much of the future.
___________________________________
Update: 7:15pm ET
section about Brett Hull was added late. Apologies for any confusion.
By Joe Pelletier
Check out his hockey blog network at Legends of Hockey
Filed in: | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
The Wings’ history’s the same--
1997 deadline: acquired Larry Murphy. Won Stanley Cup.
1998 deadline: acquired Jamie Macoun, Dmitri Mironov. Won Stanley Cup.
1999: deadline: acquired Chris Chelios, Wendell Clark, Ulf Samuelsson, and Bill Ranford. Lost in 2nd round.
2002 deadline: acquired Jiri Slegr. Won Stanley Cup.
2003 deadline: acquired Mathieu Schneider. Lost in 1st round.
2004 deadline: acquired Robert Lang. Lost in 2nd round.
Teams that acquire NHL regulars who provide veteran savvy tend to see a pay-off. The teams that steal the show with blockbusters tend to lose.
The Chris Chelios trade didn’t pay off until 2002, and the Wings could have Tomas Fleischmann and defenceman Mike Green if they’d not given into the temptation of acquiring Lang.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 02/21/07 at 04:38 PM ET
I think Carolina benefitted from bringing in Doug Weight and Mark Recchi at last year’s deadline, and Edmonton also did pretty nicely with their deadline acquisitions of Sergei Samsonov and Dwayne Roloson, considering where they were beforehand.
Posted by Doogie2K from Calgary on 02/21/07 at 05:16 PM ET
What about Recchi and Weight from last year? That was a pretty big splash that worked out.
Posted by Ninja on 02/21/07 at 05:18 PM ET
There’re exceptions to the rule, definitely, but the general rule indicates that blockbuster trades don’t work out. Even Ray Bourque had to wait until his second season with the Avs to win the Cup.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 02/21/07 at 07:39 PM ET
Pederson and Morrison for Mogilny and Souray for Malakhov in 2000.... maybe not “blockbusters” but Mogilny was an established 50+ goal scorer....
Posted by Jon on 02/21/07 at 08:14 PM ET
I think the common theme among all moves is that they only “matter” if the team wins the Cup. Is winning the conference, or winning two playoff series helped by the move, do they matter then? I mean, Buffalo traded for Steve Heinze and Donald Audette in 2001 and that team would’ve played NJ in the conference finals if Warrener would’ve tied up Lemeiux stick on a pop fly in game 6. Is that season a success? How do you rule on those types of moves?
By your measuring stick, they could be thought of as losers, because we didn’t win the Cup. I don’t know where I stand on the issue, to be honest, because sometimes teams that make moves do well, but don’t always win the Cup.
Posted by Chris from DC via Buffalo on 02/22/07 at 01:02 PM ET
If a team does well after making a move then that move has to matter. Especially if the gained player contributed to the team’s success, i.e. played significant minutes.
Not winning the Cup doesn’t make a productive add not matter.
Posted by Ninja on 02/22/07 at 05:57 PM ET
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While I agree with most of what Joe says, I will continue to visit Spector even more during the next six days.
I find his breakdowns of possible trades mind-settling and it helps me settle down a bit.
But I do understand where Joe is coming from, this is getting boring....
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/21/07 at 04:26 PM ET