The vast majority of July and August are synonymous with the off season in the National Hockey League. And with good reason. However, on this hot and sunny Sunday in the Montreal area, the general manager of the Canadiens, Kent Hughes, put on his tie and his jacket instead of slathering on sunscreen and putting on his bathing suit.
Sure enough, defenseman Erik Karlsson, who won the Norris Trophy last season, has taken over as manager of Pittsburgh, as the team’s new general manager, Kyle Dubas, has completed a trade with the San Jose Sharks. , and by the gang, the Montreal Canadiens.
Hughes may not have been in a jacket and tie after all, but he certainly donned his work flip flops as he brought in defender Jeff Petry, 25% off, and got his hands on goaltender Casey DeSmith, the forward Nathan Légaré and a second-round pick in the 2025 draft.
In return, Hughes traded forwards Rem Pitlick and Mike Hoffman. Then Hoffman was immediately sent to the Sharks in the Karlsson trade.
While major trades are fairly rare at this time of year, there have been transactions in the past that were made when fans, far from thinking about hockey, were camping, the swimming pool or preparing hot dogs on the barbecue.
Here are a few.
The biggest transaction
Who else than “La Merveille” to open the ball? On August 9, 1998, the Edmonton Oilers committed the unforgivable by trading Wayne Gretzky. Indeed, number 99, acquired for the Kings, had taken the direction of Los Angeles in the company of Marty McSorley and Mike Krushelnyski in return for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gélinas, three first-round picks and money.
Barely a year ago
Even though the transaction is rather recent, it was very important. On July 22, 2022, the Florida Panthers won forward Matthew Tkachuk and a conditional fourth-round pick against Quebecer Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt a conditional first-round pick. The result was almost instantaneous as the Panthers recently reached the Stanley Cup Finals.
Lindros in the “Big Apple”
After spending eight seasons in the Philadelphia Flyers uniform, forward Eric Lindros, after suffering numerous concussions and skipping the 2000-2001 season, was traded by the Pennsylvania team on 20 August 2001. In fact, Lindros’ trading rights and a conditional first-round pick, which ultimately did not change hands, were traded to the New York Rangers for Pavel Brendl, Jan Hlavac, Kim Johnsson and a third-round pick.
Canadians
The Montreal Canadiens also pulled off a few summer stunts.
First, on August 22, 1996, the Habs acquired forward Stéphane Richer from the New Jersey Devils in return for prolific defenseman Lyle Odelein. Even though Richer’s golden years were behind him, it was still a homecoming for the organization’s last 50-goal scorer.
On August 19, 1994, the Sainte-Flanelle traded Quebecer Guy Carbonneau to the St. Louis Blues in return for the current head coach of the Boston Bruins, Jim Montgomery.
On August 22, 1992, the Canadiens acquired Vincent Damphousse and a fourth-round pick from the Oilers in exchange for Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist and Vladimir Vujtek.
Luc Robitaille, the king of summer
If there is one who had got into the habit of being traded in the middle of the summer, it is Quebecer Luc Robitaille. Indeed, the most prolific left winger in the history of the NHL changed teams three times during the summer period.
First, on July 29, 1994, “Lucky Luke” was moved from the Kings to the Penguins in return for Rich Tocchet and a second-round pick.
Then, on August 31, 1995, the Penguins traded Robitaille and Ulf Samuelsson to the Rangers for Petr Nedved and Sergei Zubov.
Eventually, Robitaille returned to Los Angeles as the Kings acquired him from the Rangers for Kevin Stevens.
2023-08-06 21:39:15
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