Quote:
Originally Posted by New Era
I think when Quebec traded away Lindros they set up their franchise for 10+ years of success. There are no guarantees a kid hyped as a generational talent is going to be just that. I'm skeptical that McDavid will be that good.
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The Lindros trade is a really interesting beast. By itself, I think it is vastly overrated in terms of impact in turning the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise around. It was, however, part of a series of smart, and occasionally fortunate, moves that demonstrate how building a successful franchise requires good drafting, smart trading and a lot of luck.
The Lindros deal ultimately boiled down to Peter Forsberg and a bunch of role players, most of whom were gone within a year or two. Mike Ricci was a useful player for the Nords/Avs for six seasons. But while Steve Duchesne played a major role in Quebec's immediate turnaround in 1992-93, they traded him to St. Louis after one season for some magic beans. Ron Hextall was also useful in 92-93, and the Nords did better in trading him after one year - he was turned into a first rounder that became Adam Deadmarsh.
But in terms of the franchise's following decade, they had Joe Sakic already from the 1987 draft. They already had Adam Foote from the 1989 draft. They had Mats Sundin whom they traded for Sylvan Lefebvre and Wendel Clark. The former was a serviceable defenceman, the latter was turned into Claude Lemieux after one season. They had Owen Nolan, who was turned into Sandis Osolinsh.
Stephane Yelle was acquired from New Jersey for almost literally nothing. Valeri Kamenski was a 7th round pick that came into his own. First round bust Brian Fogarty was turned into Scott Young. And, of course, Pat Roy had a really bad night against Detroit that altered the course of NHL history.