Burnside: Favorite trade deadline moments
There are all kinds of reasons to remember NHL trade deadlines. They might have been moments that helped restock a barren shelf for a team at a low ebb or added that small, missing piece to the playoff puzzle. Occasionally – and this is rarer than you might imagine – they added that big-name piece that made all the difference.
Maybe the reasons to remember the deadline are more subtle or personal.
And since it’s always about me, here are six deadline memories that stand out.
February 26, 2008
Dallas acquires Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist from Tampa Bay for Mike Smith, Jeff Halpern, Jussi Jokinen and a fourth round pick.
A few things about this particular deal always stick out for me. I arrived in Dallas at roughly the same time as the former playoff MVP Richards as the tear-down in Tampa following their 2004 Stanley Cup win was in full force under new ownership. I talked to former Tampa GM Jay Feaster this week and you can still see the pain on his face and hear the anguish in his voice as he recalls having to trade one of the three franchise players that made Tampa a hockey town along with Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier. (You can listen and watch my conversation with Feaster on a special trade deadline edition of The Suitcase And The Scribe podcast this weekend.)
The Stars were a solid mid-range team that finished fifth in the Western Conference with 97 points. Richards made an immediate impact with 11 points in 12 regular season games and then 15 playoff points in 18 post-season games as the Stars knocked off defending Cup champ Anaheim and then San Jose before losing in the conference final to eventual Cup champ Detroit. The trade was orchestrated by co-GMs Brett Hull and Les Jackson during a brief period of time when the two were in charge of personnel decisions, a model that, for lots of reasons, has not to our knowledge been replicated. But the lesson that always stuck with me was being in the locker room in Dallas the day after the trade. I sat with veteran netminder Marty Turco already mapping out my story on how excited everyone in Dallas was to add a proven winner like Richards and he stopped me. Yes, everyone was excited about Richards. But Turco noted that there were three players who left the Stars room and weren’t coming back. One of those players, Smith, was like a little brother to Turco. Turco had been instrumental in Smith meeting his future wife at a charity golf tournament in Sault Ste. Marie and Smith lived with Turco and his family in Dallas early in Smith’s career. Turco’s point to me was this: never forget there are actual human beings on both sides of these kinds of transactions and I always remember at this time of year Turco’s heartfelt lament at seeing good friends depart.
Feb. 26, 2008
Pittsburgh acquires Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis from Atlanta for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito, and a 2008 first-round draft pick
Same date, different deal. We remember this one for a number of reasons, most notably that it marked the first of what would become an almost annual swing for the fences by Pittsburgh GMs in the Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin/Kris Letang era. The Penguins had surprised by making the playoffs in 2007 and the next year GM Ray Shero added future Hall of Famer Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, although it cost Crosby’s road roommate Colby Armstrong. The deal would mark the first of three straight trips to the final for Hossa who would lose to Detroit in the 2008 final and lose to the Pens with Detroit the following year before winning the first of three Cups with Chicago in 2010. The real hidden gem in the deal turned out to be Dupuis, who often played with Crosby and became an integral part of the Penguins’ teams through his retirement in 2015-16. Shero would ultimately give way to Jim Rutherford who would wheel and deal the Pens to back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017, and now it’s up to GM Ron Hextall and president of hockey ops Brian Burke to keep the Cup dream alive with that Hall of Fame core.
One side note about this deal that we were reminded of when we spoke to Armstrong this week (which you can also catch on the special The Suitcase And The Scribe pod edition) was that Armstrong found out about the trade from his mother. Crosby was injured, so Armstrong had a solo room and was in the middle of his pre-game nap when his mother called to tell him that he was going to Atlanta. Needless to say the news, no matter how it was delivered, was upsetting. A few days later, Armstrong flew ahead of the Thrashers to Pittsburgh for a game against the Pens. He was expecting his fiancé, with whom he’d just bought a house in Pittsburgh, to pick him up, but when Armstrong walked out of the terminal there was Crosby who had asked if he could chauffeur Armstrong home and hang out. I always think of that when I think of Crosby’s leadership and his sense of what needs to be done.
Feb. 27, 2017
Washington acquires Kevin Shattenkirk and Pheonix Copley from St. Louis for Brad Malone, Zach Sanford and conditional first and second-round picks in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
Feb. 19, 2018
Washington acquires Michal Kempny from Chicago for a third-round pick in 2018.
This is a memory in two parts. We’d gotten to know Kevin Shattenkirk over a number of years dating back to his time in Colorado, and in fact he once helped do an All-Star weekend diary for me as well as agreeing to interview teammate Vladimir Tarasenko at that All-Star event. The interview was classic. The smooth-skating, puck-moving defenseman was coming to the end of his deal in St. Louis and became the hot commodity on the ’18 trade market. The Caps, still searching for their elusive Cup recipe, snapped up Shattenkirk at a heavy price. We remember having lunch with Shattenkirk in Arlington a day or two after the trade. He recalled how everyone in the Blues’ room knew he was going to be traded and often ended up making good-natured jokes at his expense, including Blues netminder Carter Hutton, who accused Shattenkirk of holding the league ransom every time he got a point.
Shattenkirk had just put on steaks the night of the deal, but soon after the news broke, the team’s equipment manager brought Shattenkirk’s gear to his place and then a collection of teammates showed up for an impromptu goodbye over beers. The deal was lauded around the league. No reason to think the addition wouldn’t be the Caps’ missing Cup piece. Except it wasn’t. Shattenkirk never really fit for Barry Trotz and the Caps bowed out in the second round to arch-nemesis Pittsburgh. Shattenkirk went on to sign with the Rangers and after being bought out by them won a Cup in 2020 with Tampa. The next year, 2017-18, the Caps were, in a way, under the radar. Trotz had not had his contract extended. The team struggled through the first half of the season. Expectations were low. At the ’18 deadline GM Brian MacLellan made a small move, adding defenseman Michal Kempny from Chicago. It turned out to be a masterstroke. Kempny ended up being paired with top defenseman John Carlson. It allowed the rest of the defensive alignment to fall into a natural order and the Caps celebrated in unprecedented fashion in Vegas after beating the expansion Golden Knights in five games. Funny how this all works out, no?
Feb. 6, 2019
Nashville acquires Brian Boyle from New Jersey for second-round pick in 2019.
You might see a trend where I play a minor role in some of these deadline memories. Get over it. But one of my most memorable trade deadline experiences took place three years ago. The Nashville Predators were good enough to allow me to tag along in the hours after Boyle was acquired from the Devils. I was with team services guru Brandon Walker (again you can listen to my conversation with Walker on the podcast) at the airport in Nashville when Boyle arrived. The veteran forward had a crazy day. His son Declan had some health issues and Boyle’s wife, Lauren, was on the road to a medical appointment in Boston when Boyle texted to say he’d been traded to Nashville and wouldn’t be there when she returned. Cory Schneider and his wife had loaned their nanny to help look after the Boyle’s daughter, Bella, and listening to Boyle describe saying goodbye to the toddler was heartbreaking.
Schneider and Boyle drove to the rink every day and their families were close, and the next day Schneider sent a picture of an Starbucks coffee cup to show how much he missed his pal. In the car on the way to the hotel in downtown Nashville, Boyle and Walker chatted about all kinds of things related to joining an NHL team in mid-season, including the routine for the next morning’s pre-game skate and how head coach Peter Laviolette liked his players to dress. Boyle was doing his pre-scout and we were lucky to have been given a bird’s eye view of the inner workings of that kind of transition. Oh yeah, I helped a little carrying Boyle’s sticks which, yes, seemed to be about seven feet long.
March 8, 2006
Edmonton acquires netminder Dwayne Roloson from Minnesota for future considerations and a first-round pick in 2006.
Jan. 1, 2011
Tampa Bay acquires Roloson from the New York Islanders for Ty Wishart
At the time of this first Roloson deal I remember thinking, why on earth would you trade a No. 1 goalie within your division? No one asked me, though, and so Roloson ended up an Oiler and played a critical role in what would be the last bit of Oiler playoff magic, falling one win short in the 2006 Stanley Cup final to Carolina. Roloson, as it turned out, grew up in Simcoe, Ontario and knew my cousin, whose family ran the local funeral home. Over the years we always found lots to talk about whenever our paths crossed. It’s a mug’s game but hard not to believe that maybe the Oilers’ fate would have been different had Roloson not been injured in Game 1 of that final.
But my favorite Roloson moment came five years later after he’d become another in-season pickup, this time going from the New York Islanders to Tampa. Tampa GM Steve Yzerman got his deadline shopping done early that year and Roloson’s fit with the Bolts was perfect. During the Eastern Conference final against Boston I was in a scrum with Roloson who, along with Boston’s Mark Recchi, were nearing the ends of superlative careers. I asked a long-winded question (are there any other kind to ask, really?) about whether it bothered Roloson that, as was the case for Recchi, his age had come to define in him during this playoff run? He glared at me and refused to answer. People were a little taken aback. I was a little taken aback. A little while later I was working in a pretty much deserted press room at what is now Amalie Arena, and Roloson poked his head in and started laughing. He thought it amusing that everyone thought he was mad at me. That seemed to have made his day. Later he and Tim Thomas would duel in Game 7 a game that stands out for me as one of the greatest playoff games I’ve ever covered.
March 24, 2013
Pittsburgh acquires Brenden Morrow and a third-round pick in 2013 (that would turn out to be Jake Guentzel by the way) from Dallas for Joe Morrow and a fifth-round pick.
March 25, 2013
Pittsburgh acquires Douglas Murray from San Jose for a second-round pick in 2013 and a second-round pick in 2014
March 27, 2013
Pittsburgh acquires Jarome Iginla from Calgary for Ben Hanowski, Kenny Agostino and a first-round pick in 2013
Everyone wants their team to go all-in, right? And who didn’t like Pittsburgh’s chances in 2013 after adding a future Hall of Famer in Iginla, rock-solid defenseman Murray and a heart and soul guy in Morrow who had been captain in Dallas? But if all-in means going all the way, this one ended with a thud as the Penguins advanced to the Eastern Conference final but were swept by Boston and ended up scoring just two goals in the brief series. But what I remember of that deadline is talking to Morrow and his wife Anne-Marie, who happens to be Guy Carbonneau’s daughter, about the deal and what it was like for the family who at that time had three small children. Morrow refreshed my memory this week but the Pens sent jerseys for all three Morrow kids, stuffed penguins for the younger two who are twins (Morrow admitted he couldn’t remember what gift his older daughter received), along with flowers for his wife. There was also all kinds of information about the city helping to ease the transition. I think my plan was to use the trade story during the conference final. Or maybe as a lead-in to the final. As it turns out I’m pretty sure the story never got written.