BY DEREK CARSON – FAN FUEL BLOGGER
The Trade Deadline is fraught with perils. General managers are forced to overpay for a player that may not push their team into Stanley Cup contention. The trick is to avoid overpaying, or worse, throwing your team’s future into the dirt for a first round playoff exit (hello Mike Commodore and Matt Cullen from this Ottawa Senators fan).
Check out this list of the top five worst deadline deals made by American teams and you’ll see what I mean.
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5. Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks (2008)
At the 2008 deadline, the San Jose Sharks traded Steve Bernier and their first round pick in 2008 to the Buffalo Sabres for Brian Campbell and Buffalo’s seventh round pick in 2008.
Brian Campbell was an impending unrestricted free agent who loved getting points, but the trade didn’t help San Jose win anything and in the offseason Campbell signed a ridiculous contract with the Chicago Blackhawks (eight years at $7.1 million per year).
That contract was made possible with Campbell getting 19 points in the last 20 games of the regular season with the Sharks and then seven points in their 13 playoff games. The contract raised the bar for other offensive defencemen and hurt every team in the league in this new salary cap era.
Not to mention that the Buffalo Sabres used the Sharks’ first round pick to draft Tyler Ennis who is turning into a real solid NHL player at the young age of 22.
Bad trade for the Sharks, bad trade for the league.
4. Doug Gilmour and J.P. Dumont to the Buffalo Sabres (2000)
At the 2000 deadline, the Buffalo Sabres somehow acquired Doug Gilmour, J.P. Dumont and a conditional draft pick from the Chicago Blackhawks for one Michal Grosek.
Sure, Grosek wasn’t a terrible player, but he had only scored 20 goals once in his short career. He ended up playing out just the rest of that season with Chicago for a grand total of six points in 14 career games for the ‘Hawks.
Gilmour, meanwhile, helped the Sabres clinch the eighth seed that year and stayed on for another year with Buffalo and another playoff run. J.P. Dumont ended up playing five seasons with Buffalo and was always one of their better players.
This one is a head scratcher for sure.
3. Marian Hossa to the Pittsburgh Penguins (2008)
Remember when Marian Hossa played for the Pittsburgh Penguins? It all happened in the blink of an eye.
At the 2008 deadline, Pittsburgh traded Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and their first round pick in 2008 to the Atlanta Thrashers for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis.
Sure, Hossa helped the Penguins get all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, but that is a lot to give up for a guy who ended up bolting at the end of your playoff run for the team that beat you in the Final.
That’s just mean.
2. The Phil Housley pick (1980)
At the 1980 deadline, the Los Angeles Kings traded their first round pick in 1982 to the Buffalo Sabres for Jerry Korab. The Sabres would draft Phil Housley with that pick, a man who by all rights should be in the Hall of Fame by now.
Phil Housley never won the Stanley Cup but he is the fourth highest scoring defenceman of all time. He scored 1,232 points in 1,495 games during his 22 year career, eight of which were spent with Buffalo.
Meanwhile, Korab was in the twilight of his career and didn’t help L.A. win anything. He only scored three points in 17 playoff games for the Kings and left after his third full season.
1. The Ray Bourque trade (2000)
At the 2000 deadline, the Bruins traded Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk for Brian Rolston, Samuel Pahlsson, Martin Grenier and Colorado’s first round pick in 2000 which the Bruins used to draft Martin Samuelsson. This was a fantastic trade for the Colorado Avalanche, but what about the Boston Bruins?
Rolston spent four seasons with the Bruins but scored 30 goals only once. Pahlsson only played the remaining 17 games of that season with the Bruins, scoring two points in total. Grenier never played a single game for Boston and has only played 18 NHL games in his entire career. Finally, Martin Samuelsson played a grand total of 14 games for the Bruins and registered one point in his NHL career which appears to be over before it ever began.
Bourque is one of the greatest defencemen of all time and went on to win the Cup with the Avalanche.
Terrible. Just terrible.