What was the worst trade in Flames history?

[dissentowner]

You can always tell when summer has dragged on and it has been too long since we have seen our beloved team, the bickering and attacks go to the extreme.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

That mid-season holdout had lasted for all of 24 hours, and only happened because of the incompetence of the very same general manager who made the trade. You certainly can't use it to excuse him, with or without the benefit of hindsight.

As for Leeman, he had already fallen off the cliff. His track record made it clear that he was only a prolific scorer if you put him on a line with a top-quality playmaking centreman. The Flames had just one player on their roster who could have got the most out of Leeman: Doug Gilmour. So after they traded Gilmour for Leeman, all they had to do was put him on Gilmour's line… errr…

After that horrible beginning, the more players Risebrough added to the deal, the worse it got. Even on the day of the trade, it was obvious that it was a complete botch.

If you were to talk about a trade that seemed to make sense at the time but went sour in retrospect, that would probably do a better job of supporting your point.

And as far as I know, Risebrough has never really owned up to how badly he misjudged the talent he had and the "talent" he received. I agree with the opinion expressed earlier, that not only was this the worst trade in Flames history, it is a good candidate for the worst in NHL history. The multiplayer trade that gave the Bruins Phil Esposito is often mentioned as the worst, but at least Chicago got legitimate NHLers in return. The five that Calgary received were part of the reason the Leaves were flirting with last place at the time of the trade.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

And as far as I know, Risebrough has never really owned up to how badly he misjudged the talent he had and the "talent" he received. I agree with the opinion expressed earlier, that not only was this the worst trade in Flames history, it is a good candidate for the worst in NHL history. The multiplayer trade that gave the Bruins Phil Esposito is often mentioned as the worst, but at least Chicago got legitimate NHLers in return. The five that Calgary received were part of the reason the Leaves were flirting with last place at the time of the trade.

I think Risebrough was overthinking position. They were weakest (if you can call those Flames weak) at LW. They had Roberts and not much else. In hindsight easily the worst trade. A centre for a winger is bad enough, and while Risebrough was never going to get value for a holdout player, he did make it worse with player after player, especially Macoun.

[Commandant]

The History of Trade is a mini series going through each team’s best and worst trades of all time. Each team has their own history and some may cross over, but the series will try to stick to each team. This article will focus on the Calgary Flames trade history, finding the best and worst of all time.

http://lastwordonhockey.com/2017/08/...trade-history/

[Poe969]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

You can always tell when summer has dragged on and it has been too long since we have seen our beloved team, the bickering and attacks go to the extreme.

What the hell does that mean?!?! Oh wait, sorry. Ya, summer sucks for hockey

[David Struch]

I remember seeing the trade announced on the Broadcast News & Weather Channel. July 4, 1994

To Flames:

Phil Housley
1996 2nd round pick (#40-Steve Begin)
1997 2nd round pick (#42-John Tripp)

To Blues:

Al MacInnis
1997 4th round pick (#86-Didier Tremblay)

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by David Struch

I remember seeing the trade announced on the Broadcast News & Weather Channel. July 4, 1994

To Flames:

Phil Housley
1996 2nd round pick (#40-Steve Begin)
1997 2nd round pick (#42-John Tripp)

To Blues:

Al MacInnis
1997 4th round pick (#86-Didier Tremblay)

That was one that really bothered me. The Flames had traded Gary Suter, ostensibly because they couldn't afford to keep both him and MacInnis when their contracts finished. Then they turned around and decided they couldn't afford MacInnis, whom the Blues were able to sign for an amount that within 2 years turned out to be a bargain - even for the Flames.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

That was one that really bothered me. The Flames had traded Gary Suter, ostensibly because they couldn't afford to keep both him and MacInnis when their contracts finished. Then they turned around and decided they couldn't afford MacInnis, whom the Blues were able to sign for an amount that within 2 years turned out to be a bargain - even for the Flames.

Thing is, the Blues had already signed MacInnis at the time of the trade. Rather than take the compensation in the form of draft picks, the Flames matched the offer (which they did not have the money to do) and traded him to St. Louis for Housley. Their hands were pretty much forced; and if you look at their draft history from those years, you'll probably sigh and agree that compensatory picks would have been wasted anyway.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

Thing is, the Blues had already signed MacInnis at the time of the trade. Rather than take the compensation in the form of draft picks, the Flames matched the offer (which they did not have the money to do) and traded him to St. Louis for Housley. Their hands were pretty much forced; and if you look at their draft history from those years, you'll probably sigh and agree that compensatory picks would have been wasted anyway.

This is true, but this one was really a case of penny wise and pound foolish, because the salaries were obviously moving up, and the contract MacInnis got (as one of the premier defensemen in the league) was very quickly within the Flames' range. The trade really exemplified the era of Canadian teams being unable to compete with the budgets of American teams, and, of course, the loss of the Quebec and Winnipeg teams .

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Savard was a terrible trade, but at least you look at it in that the Flames were shipping out a 'malcontent' who didn't get along with the coach (who they then fired anyways, but that is beside the point).

That's not beside the point at all. The only thing that could possibly explain that trade is if they truly had chosen the coach over the player to move forward with the coach's team.

Firing the coach took away any possible justification for the trade.

[jayswin]

I actually like Button as an analyst, but it's pretty scary to look back on what he did and attempted to do during his tenure.

1. Savard traded for nothing
2. St. Louis waived and claimed
3. Rumoured to try to trade Iginla for Peca

Three star/future star players traded or attempted to be traded. Crazy.

[Macindoc]

Man, just looking at this thread makes me feel depressed. The Flames' drafting and trading history are terrible, with the exception of the last few years.

[GaiJin]

Wasn't it Phil Housley that had headfake-itis? It was in that time period that there was one player who went into this convulsive headfake move every time he got the puck. I remember it being Housley, but I could be wrong.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Steve Bozek

This is true, but this one was really a case of penny wise and pound foolish, because the salaries were obviously moving up, and the contract MacInnis got (as one of the premier defensemen in the league) was very quickly within the Flames' range. The trade really exemplified the era of Canadian teams being unable to compete with the budgets of American teams, and, of course, the loss of the Quebec and Winnipeg teams .

This also is true.

Unfortunately, in 1994 the Flames' management still had their heads in the sand and did not understand that $4 million a year for Al MacInnis was going to be a bargain price before the contract was over. They should have sucked it up, matched the offer and then kept the player. Instead, they began a practice of cheaping out on every aspect of the team's operations, which quickly spiralled downwards into the sucking mudhole of the ‘Young Guns’ years.

[David Struch]

^ Yes, getting something now and something for the future was the motto.

[FireGilbert]

The trades made in the early 90s overhauling the defence were just bizarre and depressing.

-Matteau traded for Yawney: A player with 34 points in their rookie season is traded for one with a career high of 24. Yawney struggles in 5 seasons with the Flames, capped off by his giveaway to start the playoff drought, while Matteau has a solid career as a 2nd pairing D including being an important part of the Rangers cup win.
-Macoun swapped for Petit in the Gilmour trade: While the reasons for trading Gilmour are obvious it is unknown why a top defensive Dman was also traded. Macoun becomes an important part of the Leafs turnaround and latter helps Detroit win a cup, while Petit has 3 underwhelming seasons with the Flames before becoming a journeyman/replacement level player .
-Suter, Ranheim, and Drury traded for Nylander, Zalapski and Patrick: On paper this wasn't a horrible trade as Nylander was a good young player, Zalapski was coming off a 65 point season, and Patrick had a solid career. Unfortunately for the Flames Nylander was later let go in a really bad trade while Zalapski and Patrick drastically regressed. Suter went on to play another 8 seasons as a top pairing Dman including one All Star game.
-Vernon traded for Chaisson: In order to fill the loss of Suter and make way for Kidd the Flames trade away their cup winning goalie. Vernon wins the cup in Detroit while Chaisson regresses in three seasons and the Flames spend 10 years trying to find a goalie. I still argue the Flames win the Western Conference in 1995 if they don't make this trade.
-MacInnis and a 4th for Housley and 2 2nds: Nothing was going to replace MacInnis who was and continued to be one of the best all around defencemen in the game however Housley, a close to PPG offensive Dman, was a decent return. Unfortunately Housley was also shipped out of town two years later in a deal which returned Albelin and Hulse.

To summarise:
Out: MacInnis, Suter, Macoun, and Matteau
In: Yawney, Petit, Zalapski, Patrick, Chaisson, Albelin, and Hulse.
The Flames go from having one of the best defences in the league to one of the worst.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by FireGilbert

The trades made in the early 90s overhauling the defence were just bizarre and depressing.

-Matteau traded for Yawney: A player with 34 points in their rookie season is traded for one with a career high of 24. Yawney struggles in 5 seasons with the Flames, capped off by his giveaway to start the playoff drought, while Matteau has a solid career as a 2nd pairing D including being an important part of the Rangers cup win.

I thought Stephane Matteau played LW.

[timbit]

You are correct.
He never played D in the NHL.

[monkeyman]

yeah, Stephane Matteau was a winger. His trade from Calgary is often overlooked, but Mike Keenan considered him such an integral part of a winning team, he advocated for his acquisition wherever he coached. Chicago, NY(won cup), St.Louis and Florida.

[Steve Bozek]

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I thought Stephane Matteau played LW.

Matteau was a forward, but it was still a terrible trade for the Flames - a heart and soul winger for a turnover machine. Great trade for Matteau, though.