The 7 WORST Trades in NHL History!

Trading in the NHL could always be a risk. You never know which players are on the verge of breaking out and which players are on their way out of the league. Keeping that in mind, here are 7 of the WORST trades in NHL History.

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[charlesborowski]

This whole list could probably just be trades made by Milbury as Islanders GM

[GuitarLessonsBobbyCrispy]

Also, the Leafs trading goaltender Tuukka Rask to the Boston Bruins in exchange for goalie Andrew Raycroft in 2006. The Leafs lost out on that trade big time.

[brucemckinlay]

The most widely regarded, lopsided trade in NHL history isn't even on your list. 1967 - CHI trades Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge and Fred Stanfield to Boston Bruins for Gilles Marotte, Pit Martin and Jack Norris

[Outta-hzej]

The Selanne trade only happened because the team was selling assets in order to relocate at the lowest cost. Thank you Gary Bettman.

[ronlangill]

Worst was Chicago sending Esposito, Hodge and Stanfield to Boston for Pit Martin, Marotte and Norris.

[GameShowMike]

How the hell did you not include the March 1991 trade where the Hartford Whalers traded Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson to the Pittsburgh Penguins for John Cullen, Zarley Zalapski and Jeff Parker?! The Hockey News said that the Whalers won the trade; but it turned out to be a lopsided win for the Penguins as they went on to win their first Stanley Cup in May 1991 (with Ulf Samuelsson scoring the cup winning goal) and winning a second in June 1992. The Whalers ultimately faltered and relocated to North Carolina in 1997. Francis became the perfect number two center in Pittsburgh, winning the Selke and Lady Byng Trophies on his way to the Hockey Hall of Fame.

[gaberkosir]

WORST trade in NHL History is Eric Lindros trade. Lindros for Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, the rights to Peter Forsberg, the Flyers' first-round pick in 1992 (seventh overall) and 1993 and $15 million. Only Forsberg himself was way better than Lindros ever was. Quebec later won Stanley cup as Colorado.

[LordBitememan]

Another crazy detail about that Gretzky trade: the Red Wings were in serious talks to bring him on board. Legend has it that Gretzky initially wanted the Wings too since he grew up idolizing Gordie Howe and wanted to play for Gordie's old team, but the prospect of growing the game in LA ended up winning him over.

[FrenchToast_]

This list ignores some pretty important context particularly Gretzky and Roy

[walkingcorpse]

I find it funny how the Habs fans felt betrayed when Roy left them when he was being blatantly mistreated by the new head coach by being left in until the red wings had scored 9 goals on him.

[dstcoyoterants]

As a SoCal hockey fan who grew up in the 90s, it was definitely fun seeing the duo of Kariya and Selanne and seeing them both get 100 points a season... but the Ducks were mediocre at best because they relied almost exclusively on their first line to produce.

The Gretzky trade TO the Kings in 88 ultimately was good for both parties... the Oilers traded Carson (at his request) for players that showed Edmonton they could win another Stanley Cup without the Great One in 90, and the Gretzky led Kings inspired a lot of new hockey fans in a non-traditional market... myself included... and they came close in 93...

The Gretzky trade from LA to STL on the other hand... trading the great one for a 3rd liner, two nobodies, and two draft picks that never played a single NHL game.... THAT was one of the worst trades in NHL history. Thanks a lot, McMaster the Disaster!

[fusoya]

Chicago have a made a string a bad trades first in the mid to late 90's trading away all their talent (Roenick, Chelios, Amonte, Belfour) and then again from 2016 onwards when Stan made a knee jerk reaction when they lost in the first round.

[dilididli]

I'd say the Bruins trading Joe Thorton deserve an honorable mention. Trading him for a bunch of averages players was horrible. I know that Boston blamed Joe for their early playoff eleminations, but they traded a 1ppg big centerman for averages players.

[alfiesmullet]

Habs didn't have much of a choice in the Roy trade. He told them he wasn't playing for them anymore

[ericfett]

The Flames traded Gilmour to the Leafs in the 1991-92 season, they acquired him from the Blues in 1988

[DannyMittleman]

All bad trades, but in 1992 the Chicago Blackhawks traded Dominick Hasek to the Buffalo Sabres for Stephane Beauregard and a fourth round draft choice. Beauregard played in 29 NHL games after the trade compiling a record of 3-13-1. Hasek, after the trade, won 376 NHL games including 80 shutouts. And he won 6 Vezina Trophies, 2 Hart Trophies, 3 Jennings Trophies, and 2 Stanley Cups.

But, go ahead, and not consider this one of the seven worst trades in NHL history.

[father]

The worst trade of al time is Pittsburgh trading Markus Naslund for Alek Stojanov

[jeremykraenzlein]

No where near as big of a trade, but extremely one-sided: the trade that sent Kris Draper from Winnipeg (the franchise that is now the Coyotes) to Detroit. Detroit got the best third-line center in the league at the time, who consistently made life miserable for the opposing top line. He rarely scored, except when it really mattered, but he led the Grind Line which played a key role in powering Detroit's dynasty of the late 1990's and early 2000's.

And what did Winnipeg get in exchange? Exactly $1. Actually, a bit less, because it was a Canadian dollar. I don't know what they spent that dollar on, but I hope that it was important, because they sure gave up a lot to get it!

[rlosangeleskings]

The Kings traded for a gimp named Rick Martin for a draft pick that wound up being Tom Barrasso...

The Kings traded for a sieve named Simmons for the pick that became Ray Bourque...

[jimmiller]

Worst trade made has to go to the Leafs for trading Wendal Clark S. Lafavre trade for Sundin.
The Leafs went from a team that had made it to the third round two years in a row to a team that didn't win another playoff series for 5 years.
They made two quick playoff exits followed by two years of no playoff appearances at all.
It took them 5 years to recover.
Clark would have played easily 50 games a year, got them into the playoffs year after year, looking at his record after the trade that's how many games he played. I checked.
They were wrong about his back.
50 games a year would have got them into the playoffs year after year and likely winning several series. Maybe a Stanley Cup.
Mats played mostly all season long, almost every game, they didn't make it out of the first round for 5 years. Without the trade they would have made it farther than being out of the first round and been contenders.
A few small tweaks was all that team needed.
But it wasn't just Clark and Mats in the trade.
Stephen Lefavre was involved and he was as important a player as Clark and Sundin.
After the trade up went Toronto's goals against. They had lost a great defenceman in that trade.
That was the killer part of the deal.
Stephen Lefavre who played another 9 years while the guy we got, defenceman Butcher played a year and retired. Up went their goals against.
Yes they gave up too much to get Clark back-at that point he had lost his heart because of the trade and was no longer the same player. That's on poor Leaf mgt. for trading him when they were so close to being contenders.
I'm looking at the whole deal, not just Clark and Sundin when I say it was one of the worst trades in league history. Stephen Lefavre played a bigger role than many realized in it.
They made it to the third round two years in a row prior, after they didn't win a series for five years.
I stand with my assertion "It was one of the worst trades in League history".