There is no such thing as a general manager with a perfect track record when it comes to trades. Every GM tries to make his team better every season, but some trades don't go the way the team executives quite imagined. Here are the worst trades by every NHL team in the last decade.
31. Chris Kunitz from the Anaheim Ducks (Loser) to the Pittsburgh Penguins (Winner)
Back in 2009, the Anaheim Ducks thought they hit the jackpot when they traded 29-year old Chris Kunitz with Eric Tangradi to the Pittsburgh Penguins for 25-year old defenseman Ryan Whitney. Kunitz played 313 games in Anaheim notching 81 goals and 192 points. Anaheim thought it was a good idea to trade something known as a commodity for a young blue liner full of potential. It turned out Kunitz still had unseen tricks as he scored 106 goals over 4 seasons while paired with Crosby between 2010 and 2014. Whitney however, didn't quite live up to the expectations Anaheim had for him as a 2002 5th overall pick.
30. Devan Dubnyk from the Arizona Coyotes (Loser) to the Minnesota Wild (Winner)
All it took for the Coyotes to determine that Arizona wasn't the place for Dubnyk was 6 months and 19 games. They traded the goaltender to the Minnesota Wild for a third round pick, which was at the time almost nothing. Directly when he arrived in Minnesota, Dubnyk shined as he went 27-9-2 with a .936 save percentage and a 1.78 GAA which earned him an All-Star nod and a Vezina trophy nomination.
29. Tyler Seguin from the Boston Bruins (Loser) to the Dallas Stars (Winner)
Rumor had it that former Boston GM Peter Chiarelli traded Seguin due to his hard-partying lifestyle. Just at the age of 21, he was traded to the Dallas Stars. He already had a 29-goal season in his record, it wasn't a surprise that had the potential of a superstar. The Boston Bruins traded Tyler Seguin along with Rich Peverley to the Stars in exchange for Loui Eriksson, prospect Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith and Matt Fraser. Today, there's nothing left of that trade in Boston. Eriksson got a single 30-goal campaign. On the other hand, Seguin has over 300 points with the Dallas Stars just at the age of 26.
28. Derek Roy from the Buffalo Sabres (Loser) to the Dallas Stars (Winner)
In the past decade, the Buffalo Sabres haven't made any major trades that have put them on the losing part of a deal. However, back in 2012, the Buffalo Sabres traded Derek Roy to the Dallas Stars for Steve Ott and Adam Pardy. In Roy's 8 season tenure with the Sabres, scored 161 goals and 427 points. Ott scored 9 goals in both seasons he spent with the team and had a total of 44 points and Pardy only scored 4 points in the single season he spent in Buffalo.
27. Justin Williams from the Carolina Hurricanes (Loser) to the Los Angeles Kings (Winner)
On a faithful March 4th day in 2009, the Carolina Hurricanes decided to trade Justin Williams to the Los Angeles Kings for Patrick O'Sullivan and a 2009 2nd round pick which turned out to be Brian Dumoulin. In his tenure with the Hurricanes, Williams scored 81 goals and 201 points. O'Sullivan barely did anything for the Hurricanes and Dumoulin didn't play a single game with the Hurricanes.
26. Dion Phaneuf from the Calgary Flames (Loser) to the Toronto Maple Leafs (Winner)
Back in 2010, a deal was put in place to trade the 24-year old defenseman to Toronto alongside with Keith Aulie and Frederik Sjostrom in exchange for Matt Stajan, Niklas Hagman, Jamal Mayers and Ian White. However, Phaneuf was a physical defenseman who was drafted top 10 back in 2003. Hagman got 42 points for the Flames in 3 seasons, Mayers scored 6 points in 27 games with Calgary and White scored 18 points for Calgary in 2 seasons. Stajan, the only one who remains a Flames' player has netted 178 points for the Calgary team. Although it is amazing that the Flames couldn't acquire more from a team that was known to make costly sacrifices of young picks and prospects.
25. Dustin Byfuglien from the Chicago Blackhawks (Loser) to Atlanta Thrashers (Winner)
After winning 3 Stanley Cups, the Blackhawks had a hard time keeping talent stemming from the dynasty. All of Artemi Panarin, Andrew Shaw, Brandon Saad, Andrew Ladd, Nick Leddy and Teuvo Teravainen, although they were all big names, none hurt the organization more than losing Big Buff back in 2010. The former Stanley Cup champions moved Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and a prospect to the Atlanta Thrasher for a first-round pick, a second-round pick, Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and prospect Jeremy Morin. The first and second rounders were acquired by Atlanta in the trade that sent Ilya Kovalchuk to the Devils in February of that year.
24. 2012 First-round pick from the Colorado Avalanche (Loser) to the Washington Capitals (Winner)
These past years, the Colorado Avalanche can't seem to be able to draft rightly. Starting off in 2010, they only got 16 games out of their first-round pick Joey Hishon. They got mere 4 games by their 2011 first-round pick Duncan Siemens, who remains stuck in the American Hockey League. Things got worse in 2012 when they went without a first rounder which sent their 2012 first-round pick and a 2012 or 2013 second-rounder to the Washington Capitals in exchange for goaltender Semyon Varlamov. That first-round pick turned out to be Filip Forsberg.
23. Jakub Voracek from Columbus Blue Jackets (Loser) to the Philadelphia Flyers (Winner)
The Columbus Blue Jackets have always had the reputation of playing it safe when it came to trades. Their track record shows few news breaking successful trades or disastrous fails. Rick Nash is probably the only star the Blue Jackets have traded to this date. Back in 2011, the Ohio team went shopping for a top centreman and decided to go all-in to acquire Jeff Carter from the Philadelphia Flyers. They traded Jakub Voracek, a first-round pick along with a third-rounder. However, Carter lasted only 36 games in Columbus. The draft picks earned the Flyers Nick Cousins and Sean Couturier.
22. James Neal from the Dallas Stars (Loser) to the Pittsburgh Penguins (Winner)
The Dallas Stars are historically known for being a very defensive team, making the James Neal and Matt Niskanen trade for Alex Goligoski trade kind of weird. After getting traded, Neal has scored no fewer than 21 and as many as 40 goals in every season since the trade. Goligoski spent 5 and a half seasons in Dallas and never really became the mobile defenseman the Stars had hoped for. A one-for-one trade would have been fair value, but adding Niskanen made the difference maker for teams such as Pittsburgh and Washington as they have had several deep playoffs runs with Niskanen on the team.
21. 2012 First-round pick from the Detroit Red Wings (Loser) to the Tampa-Bay Lightning (Winner)
Back in 2012, Detroit thought that they should add some defense to their team and went after Tampa-Bay's Kyle Quincey. It quickly turned out to be a disastrous trade by the Original Six team as they would send their 2012 1st round pick along with Sebastien Piche for rugged defenseman Kyle Quincey. That first-rounder turned out to be Andrei Vasilevskiy. Vasilevskiy could have helped Detroit with their goaltending situation as both Howard and Mrazek have been underperforming recently.
Do you agree with our list? Leave a comment in the comment section below.
Post a Comment