Seven of the craziest trades in junior hockey history
There are certainly some oddities in junior hockey, but nothing can be stranger than the lengths general managers have gone to put together the best teams, among other things.
With the Western Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League trade deadlines wrapping up this week, let us take a stroll down memory lane and examine some of the biggest, and weirdest trades in junior hockey history.
London calling for Tavares
How about we start with the time John Tavares went away from the Greater Toronto Area?
In 2008-09, Tavares was well on his way to being the No. 1 pick in the NHL Draft, and just days after leading Canada to a fifth-straight World Junior Championship, the 18-year-old was on the move.
The struggling Oshawa Generals saw that they were a borderline playoff team, and the powerhouse London Knights were looking for more scoring for a lineup loaded with talent, which included Tavares’ future Toronto Maple Leafs teammate, Nazem Kadri. On Jan. 8, they made a deal to trade Tavares, future NHLer Michael Del Zotto and goaltender Daryl Borden to the Knights.
In return, the Generals received Christian Thomas, Scott Valentine and Michael Zador, four second-round picks (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and two third-round picks (2010 and 2011).
Unfortunately, the big swing did not pay off for London. Though Tavares led the OHL with 104 points, the Knights were no match for the eventual Memorial Cup champions, the Windsor Spitfires. The team that was led by Taylor Hall, Ryan Ellis and Greg Nemisz beat London in the Western Final in five games.
For the Generals, their picks never led much to either, as they ended up trading the 2011 second-rounder back to the Knights. The 2010 and 2012 second-round picks went to the Niagara IceDogs for Lucas Lessio, who was a solid scorer in the ‘O’ but never amounted to much in the NHL.
Robertson for a ton of draft picks
I was fortunate enough to be covering the CHL during the 2018-19 season, which was why when the Kingston Frontenacs moved on from one of their best players, I found the return to be a little…much?
Similar to the Tavares situation, Jason Robertson was tearing it up for a Frontenacs team that was not going to make the playoffs. The future Dallas Star was on his way to leading the OHL with 117 points but needed a new home to make a deep playoff run.
In November of that season, Niagara IceDogs GM Joey Burke made the call and ended up acquiring Robertson with Nashville Predators draft pick, Jacob Paquette.
Kingston ended up getting Billy Constantinou and Ian Martin, along with 11 draft picks, ranging from 2019 to 2024. Only five of those picks were originally Niagara’s.
The move only helped the IceDogs reach the second round, ultimately getting eliminated by the Ottawa 67’s, while Kingston finished with a league-worst 30 points.
Robertson has gone on to the great success, while Paquette never made it to the pros, choosing to enroll and play at Queen’s University.
Unfortunately, the Frontenacs’ draft picks have not panned out. Francesco Arcuri, who was drafted in the second round in 2019, was one of the team’s top scorers over the next few seasons, but only helped the team to a second round appearance in 2022.
Kingston made another blockbuster move last season, trading Shane Wright to the Windsor Spitfires…but we’ll save that for another day.
Ferraro and other NHLers for…who?
The Portland Winter Hawks were coming off becoming the first American franchise to win the Memorial Cup in 1983. They were a team filled with veteran talent that was set to return the following season.
However, GM Brian Shaw was looking to the future. He made a deal with the Brandon Wheat Kings to get 17-year-old Blaine Chrest. In exchange, Ray Ferraro, Brad Dugan, Derek Laxdal, Dave Tomlinson and Tony Horacek went to the Wheat Kings.
Ferraro went on to score 108 goals the following season with the Wheat Kings. He, along with Laxdal, Tomlinson and Horaceck ended up going on to play in the NHL. However, Chrest never made it into the pro ranks.
According to Hockeydb, Chrest played four seasons in the WHL, getting drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in 1984. He last played the with Saskatoon Blades in 1986-87.
Very strange to see four future NHLers traded for one who did not make it.
Thomas for McMichael, an eight-year-old and a seven-year-old
While there is no restriction on how far in advance teams can trade draft picks, this one was outrageous.
The Hamilton Bulldogs felt like they had something special during the 2017-18 season, so much so that they were willing to risk the draft bank to acquire Robert Thomas from the London Knights. Thomas had been drafted in the first round by the St. Louis Blues the previous offseason and was a big part of Canada winning gold at the World Juniors.
In exchange, the Bulldogs sent current Washington Capital Connor McMichael to London, along with five draft picks. Three of those picks carried from 2020 to 2022, with the Knights drafting future Philadelphia Flyer Oliver Bonk two years ago.
The other two picks…second rounders in 2025 and 2026. Now that might not seem drastic now, but in January 2018, the Bulldogs were pretty much trading away the rights to players that were at the ages of eight and seven. It is crazy to think NHL stars were traded for elementary school kids.
The move paid off for Hamilton, as Thomas, MacKenzie Entwistle and Arthur Kaliyev led the team to its first OHL Championship, and first Memorial Cup appearance.
Things should have worked out for the Knights, as McMichael and company finished with the best record in the Western Conference. Yet, they were stunned by Nick Suzuki and the Guelph Storm in the second round.
Lindros holds out, gets traded (Pt. 1)
Long before Eric Lindros was giving the province of Quebec the cold shoulder, he and his family were dictating his future in the junior ranks.
At 15, Lindros was coming off an impressive 1988-89 season in Jr. B. With high expectations, he was drafted by the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, despite Lindros’ family telling them not to take him.
Quickly cast as snobby kid, Lindros had clear intentions: he wanted to play close to home. After a stint playing with Detroit Compuware in the North American Hockey League, the Greyhounds finally gave in and sent the Toronto native to the Oshawa Generals.
In return, the Soo acquired forwards Jason Denomme and Mike DeCoff, goaltender Mike Lenarduzzi, a second-round pick in the 1991 OHL Draft, a fourth-rounder in 1992 and up to $80,000 in cash.
Lindros went on to be the most dominant player in junior hockey, winning WJC gold in 1990 and 1991, and the Memorial Cup in 1990. He then went onto the NHL…eventually.
The Boomerang Trade
Full disclosure, this is more than one trade, but our lone submission from the QMJHL spans over a year, involving the same cast of characters.
It all started in January 2003. The Halifax Mooseheads had a team to challenge for the President’s Cup. To bolster the roster, GM Marcel Patenaude struck a deal with Pascal Vincent of the Cape Breton Eagles to get Stuart MacRae, George Davis, and Steve Villeneuve.
The Eagles ended up getting back a series of players, including future NHLer Adam Pardy, and first-round picks in 2004 and 2005.
It almost worked for Halifax, who knocked Cape Breton out in the first round of the playoffs. However, the Mooseheads fell to the Hull Olympiques in Game 7 of the finals.
Then, the following June, the two picks were sent back to Halifax for Jean-François Cyr, Marc-André Bernier, Alexandre Picard, and François-Pierre Guénette.
As if it was not enough, Villeneuve (along with a 2005 fifth-round pick) was traded back to the Eagles on Christmas Eve, 2003. The return? Jared Vokey and the 2004 pick that Halifax first sent to Cape Breton.
Unfortunately, the Eagles’ buys did not pay off, as they were upset by the seventh-seeded Chicoutimi Saguenéens in the quarterfinals.
But wait, there’s more.
In June 2004, that ’04 first-round pick was on the move one more time, as Cape Breton sent Bernier, Picard and Guénette back to Halifax.
The story of this trade lives on, as the QMJHL instituted a rule that a player could not be traded back to his old team for a period of three years, though it has been reduced to two.
It is worth mentioning the first time the two teams met after the trades, Sept. 19, 2004, the Eagles and Mooseheads combined for 80 penalty minutes, including Bernier fighting against his former team, with his former team.
A human for a bus
Last but certainly not least, one of the strangest trades not just in hockey history, but in all of sports.
Tom Martin was taken in the 1982 NHL Draft by the Winnipeg Jets. After a couple of successful seasons playing Junior A in Kelowna, he decided to gain an education while playing at the University of Denver, instead of playing in the WHL for the Seattle Breakers, who held his rights.
Martin said he would not play for the Breakers, because they could not offer him an education. However, he said he would be willing to return to ‘The Dub,’ but only if he played for his hometown team, the Victoria Cougars.
As fate would have it, in early January 1983, on their way to a game in (coincidentally) Kelowna, the Breakers’ team bus blew its engine. The Cougars happened to have a second bus, one they purchased from the defunct Spokane Flyers less than a year earlier.
Victoria had left that bus in storage in the U.S., because they did not want to pay the taxes and fees to get it over the border.
One team wanted to add a future NHLer, the other needed a bus. A match made in…well, somewhere.
On Jan. 19, 1983, the Breakers traded the rights to Martin and $35,000 to the Cougars, for a used bus.
The nickname ‘Bussey’ would follow Martin from his final days in juniors to the pro ranks. He ended up playing 92 games for the Jets, scoring 12 goals and 11 assists, while amassing 249 penalty minutes. He won the Calder Cup in 1985 with the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Sherbrooke Canadiens.
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