Trade trees #1: Craig Rivet to San Jose

Some trades can have almost no effect on a team, and others can drastically change the image of a team for years to come. Taking a page from Steve Dangle's book and running with it, we will start doing trade trees, breaking down how a specific trade has changed a team from several years ago. Today we will be starting with a trade made 10 years ago between the San Jose Sharks and the Montreal Canadiens.




The Montreal Canadiens sent 32-year old defenceman Craig Rivet and a 2008 5th round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for 22-year old defensive prospect Josh Gorges and a 2007 1st round pick.

While none would consider this a blockbuster trade, even for it's time, it still made a significant impact on one of the teams involved even to this day.

Starting with the San Jose Sharks, Rivet played a measly 91 games in 2 seasons with the Sharks scoring 43 points before being traded to the Sabers along with a 7th round pick that turned into Riley Boychuk (no, not that Boychuk.... No not that Boychuk either) for a 2009 2nd round pick, which turned into William Wrenn (never played an NHL game), and a 2010 2nd round pick.
This pick was then traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for Niclas Wallin (97 game with San Jose, 8 points) and a 2010 5th round pick which turned into Cody Ferriero (never cracked the NHL, spent most of his professional career in the ECHL). Needless to say, the trade did not fare well for the San Jose Sharks, with their fruits of the trade amassing 188 total NHL games.

Going to Montreal, was Josh Gorges, a young defenceman who played 464 games with the Canadiens gathering 88 points total. However in the 2014 off season, the Canadiens then traded him to the Buffalo Sabers for a 2016 2nd round pick. This pick was used in a trade to help acquire Andrew Shaw from the Blackhawks. Shaw is still with the Canadiens today, having played 71 games with them since his arrival.
Now for the interesting portion of the package coming to Montreal. The 2007 1st round pick, 22nd overall, turned into Max Pacioretty. Playing in 565 games with the Canadiens, and amassing a total of 412 points in that time, it's fairly obvious he is what really changed the team's future. The now captain of the team is also the face of the team's offense, with 5 consecutive 30 goal seasons (not counting the lockout-shortened season).

Having said all this, it's fairly easy to pick the Montreal Canadiens as the winner of the Craig Rivet trade. Receiving 2 players who played a combined 1000+ games in exchange for 2 players who have played less than 200 between them, there is no contest.

Who do you think won this trade? What trade should we break down next?