Pittsburgh Penguins: 5 Worst Trades in Franchise History
Feb 6, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Simon Despres (47) controls the puck against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Pittsburgh Penguins won 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
The offseason, it’s hard to analyze and interpret games when they are not happening. This leads to a lot of time to reflect on the year that was, ups and downs, ebbs and flows, and the one main point of contention of which Pittsburgh Penguins fans most agree.
The highly criticized and often lamented trade of Simon Despres to the Ducks for Ben Lovejoy was just this.
Seemingly universally panned as an awful trade from the deadline on, it has given fans the time to look back and say what if, why, or huh? That wily old trader Jim, while he may have been swindled in this deal, one trade a legacy does not make. Rutherford has the chance to fleece another GM this offseason and rebuild the Pens on the fly. Because we all have to remember, however bad that deal may look, it doesn’t come close to cracking the top five of worst trades in Penguin history.
Mar 21, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; A view of the arena and American flag before the game between the Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks at the American Airlines Center. The Stars shut out the Blackhawks 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
- June 22, 1996 (The Pittsburgh Penguins Trade Sergei Zubov to the Dallas Stars for Kevin Hatcher)
Sergei Zubov was a 25 year old right handed defenseman coming off his first year in a Penguins sweater, and what a year that was. Zubov quarterbacked the deadly Penguins power play to within one game of the Stanley Cup finals while posting his highest points per game average of his career and matching his second highest playoff scoring output. Zubov was clearly a tremendous asset for the Pens moving forward.
Kevin Hatcher was a 29 year old right handed defenseman coming off a season in which the Dallas Stars had failed to make the playoffs. Hatcher, as most fans remembered, was a lumbering physical force on the blue line as evidenced by his decade patrolling the backside of the rival Washington Capitals defense. Never an offensive marvel, at this point in Hatchers career what was left of his previously booming shot was now softening and his lack of top end speed was becoming glaringly evident even in an era when speed was not paramount.
Hatcher while offensively passible was no match for Zubov on the plus side of the blue line. With his point totals being roughly half of Zubov’s over the previous four years and his play continuing to drop this trade was doomed from the jump with his aging skill set nowhere in vicinity of the silky smooth Russian. Hatcher lasted 3 seasons in Pittsburgh amassing 140 points and no discernible memories. Meanwhile, Zubov lasted a dozen years in Dallas racking up over 500 points, four all-star selections, and a Stanley Cup in 1999.
The real kicker of the deal is that the Penguins paid Hatcher nearly 8 million dollars over those three years and Zubov would have only cost the Penguins around 5 Million. With the financial turmoil that the club would soon endure those dollars could have been put to good use, let alone having the far superior player still in tow. The Penguins haven’t seen a defenseman as adept at puck distribution and command since Zubov departed and building your backend around a youthful borderline superstar defenseman is never a bad thing.
Keeping Zubov also would have been a lot easier than watching Ric Jackman, Dick Tarnstrom, and Josef Melichar in the waning years of Zubov’s career.
Feb 28, 2015; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; General view during the Canadian national anthem before the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports
- November 29, 1977 (The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Pierre Larouche to the Montreal Canadians for Peter Lee and Peter Mahovlich)
Bad trades don’t always have to be recent, nearly 40 years ago the Penguins gave away one of the greatest players to ever don the flightless bird for Peter Lee and Peter Mahovlich. While Lee would go on to put up respectable, if not flashy, numbers as a Penguin, Mahovlich would only last one and a half seasons in Pittsburgh. Pierre “Lucky” LaRouche was a fan favorite and was the youngest player to score 50 goals and 100 points when he completed the task as a Penguin in the 1975-76 season.
Mahovlich and Lee would combine for nearly 160 goals over a combined 8 seasons with the Pens. Larouche on the other hand, long before becoming a close personal friend of Mario Lemiuex, would score 276 goals after the trade over twelve and a half more NHL seasons. The culmination of regret lies in LaRouche scoring 50 goals for the Habs in 79-80 and 48 for the Rangers in 83-84.
A slow start with 11 points in 20 games in 1977 spelled doom for Lucky, and a marginal return on one of the greatest goal scoring centers in league history makes this trade a tough pill to swallow even nearly 40 years later. LaRouche was the youngest player to score 200 and 300 points, and is still the only player to score more than 45 goals with three different teams. A mark that with current NHL trends is not likely to be broken.
Dec 20, 2014; Newark, NJ, USA; Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) makes a save on New Jersey Devils right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) during the first period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
- July 11, 2001 (The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera to the Washington Capitals for Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, Ross Lupaschuk and cash considerations)
It’s inevitable that any article about Penguin trades has to mention the Jagr deal and his dying alive comments. But, that’s all we will touch on the backstory here. The Penguins at the time were hemorrhaging money like they were owned by Enron, coming off of the colossal failures of the Baldwin ownership group. Also, the downward spiral of Craig Patrick’s tenure as general manager coupled with an aging team with dwindling skills. The Penguins needed an out to stay solvent.
Enter the Washington Capitials, offering three of the top 50 picks in the 1999 draft while taking Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera’s nearly 13 million dollars in salary in exchange for less than a million due to Kris Beech, Michal Sivek, and Ross Lupaschuk. The rub lies in that none of the players that the Penguins received back ever amounted to anything in the NHL with a combined 13 goals scored with Pittsburgh. When you trade a dollar bill for three wooden nickels you always loose.
At the time, the Penguins needed financial relief and someone to take on their impossible financial burden and the Capitals, while robbing the Penguins blind did just that. It’s not all bad on this front and what keeps this from being higher on the list is that history hasn’t been kind to either side of this deal. Jagr grossly underperformed during his three year tenure in Washington failing to crack 100 points and being an overall misanthrope, albeit a misanthrope that scored over 80 goals and 200 points over parts of three seasons.
Apr 5, 2014; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; The Vancouver Canucks and the Los Angeles Kings stand during the National Anthem before the start of the first period at Rogers Arena. The Vancouver Canucks won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports
- March 20, 1996 (The Pittsburgh Penguins trade Markus Naslund to the Vancouver Canucks for Alex Stojanov)
1996, we meet again. How in the world did Craig Patrick keep his job after this terrible four month stretch from March to June, 1996? Exit Markus Naslund and Sergei Zubov enter Kevin Hatcher and Alex Stojanov, it makes Pittsburgh Penguins fans sick to their stomach to even think what could have been
Entering the final year of his rookie deal with the Pens, Naslund was just beginning to establish himself as an NHL player with 19 goals in his 66 games in 95-96 after splitting time between the NHL and AHL in the prior two seasons. However, as the 96 trade deadline neared, Naslund’s production had begun to fall off and he had even watched some games from the press box.
Naslund would go on to score over 350 goals and 800 points after the trade and become one of the most reviled players in Vancouver Canuck history. Stojanov, there is not really much to say about his two season Penguin cameo. He scored 6 points and never played another minute in the NHL after 1997. His career highlight being a fight in juniors with Eric Lindros. Naslund on the other hand would be a three time First-Team NHL, five time all-star and 2003 Hart Trophy finalist.
Apr 25, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) stands for the National Anthem prior to the game against the Anaheim Ducks in game five of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
- October 28, 1982 (The Pittsburgh Penguins trade George Ferguson and their 1983 First Round Pick to the Minnesota North Stars for Anders Hakansson, Ron Meighan, and the North Stars 1983 First Round Pick)
In 1982-83 the two players acquired in this early season trade combined to play 102 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Anders Hakansson scored 21 points and Ron Meighan scored 8. While neither was a superstar they were at least regarded as prospects, as loose as that term may have been.
George Ferguson was a former top fifteen pick that had been a solid scorer for a decade in the NHL but was nearing his expiration date. Ferguson played 128 games over two years with the Minnesota North Stars and scored 36 points. Using the players alone this would seem to be a win for the North Stars in hindsight.
Entering the 82-83 season there was no clear cut Mario, Sid, or Connor McDavid as the guaranteed generational talent at the top of the upcoming draft. The Pens knew they were not a playoff team and assumed that they would finish with a record somewhere near Minnesota. Therefore, they put their first round pick into play as part of the aforementioned deal to ensure they could acquire Anders Hakansson and Ron Meighan, and swapped first round picks with the North Stars.
At the conclusion of the season the Penguins had ended up parlaying the first overall pick into two players who would never play another game for the Penguins and the Fifteenth Overall pick. This makes Patrick’s above noted follies seem like an autocorrect error.
The Penguins selected Bob Errey with that fifteenth pick who would go on to become a solid NHL regular and current Penguins Color Commentator. While the first overall pick in 1983 was the American born Brian Lawton, who had a solid if unspectacular career, what the possibilities of the future for the Penguins could have been are endless.
The third overall pick in this draft was Pat Lafontaine with Steve Yzerman and Tom Barrasso going fourth and fifth, respectively. The ninth pick was Cam Neely. Three Hall of Fame players who have spent time in NHL front offices and the only goalie to go from high school to the Vezina trophy.
Post Script – Lafontaine and Neely would not have a major impact as rookies, only combining for around 50 points. Yzerman, however, scored nearly 90 points in his rookie year and would have likely bumped the Penguins out of drafting Mario, unless he was stashed in Juniors for an additional year to ensure the tank of Eddie Johnson’s denial was complete.
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