Fansided

NHL Trade Deadline: Ranking every team’s worst ever trade

By David Rouben

SACRAMENTO, CA - APRIL 3: Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings in action against the Edmonton Oilers at the Arco Arena on April 3, 1994 in Sacramento, California. The Kings defeated the Oilers 6-1. (Photo by Rocky Widner/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - APRIL 3: Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings in action against the Edmonton Oilers at the Arco Arena on April 3, 1994 in Sacramento, California. The Kings defeated the Oilers 6-1. (Photo by Rocky Widner/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
18 of 31
Next
Feb 18, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) looks on from the ice in the first period against the San Jose Sharks at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2016; Sunrise, FL, USA; Florida Panthers right wing Jaromir Jagr (68) looks on from the ice in the first period against the San Jose Sharks at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports /

14: Pittsburgh Penguins

Name me a more well-traveled NHLer than Jaromir Jagr. You can’t. Over his career, Jagr has found himself on eight different NHL teams with some KHL teams sprinkled in there for added spice. But there was no team that he called home more than the Pittsburgh Penguins. After spending 11 seasons there, Penguins fans actually booed Jagr whenever he returned to Pittsburgh in a different jersey. But considering what the Penguins got when they traded him away, those boos should be at their own management group.

Trading Jagr was actually the right move; by his final season in 2000-01, his productivity was waning and Lemieux completed his return from a long cancer layoff. The team couldn’t afford to keep them both, so they decided to ship out Jagr. What they got for him, though, wasn’t close to fair market value.

Kris Beech scored 27 points in three seasons before being unceremoniously shipped off to the Predators. Michal Sivek lasted six games in the NHL before going to the Czech Republic and later retiring, and Ross Lupaschuk’s Penguins career lasted all of three games.

Granted, Jagr didn’t do too well with the Capitals. After signing a seven-year, $77 million contract, they missed the playoffs in the first season and lost in the first round the next season. They eventually traded him to the Rangers, retaining salary while Frantisek Kuchera bolted the NHL to go to the Czech Republic after one season with Washington. But considering that Jagr is still kicking after 28 seasons while these guys all flamed out is why this trade is so incredibly lopsided.

Of course, there was likely an extra angle to this deal, since it was well-documented that both the Capitals and Penguins were in financial trouble during this time and lost on purpose so they could stockpile draft picks. In 2004, the Capitals and Penguins selected Ovechkin and Malkin respectively before the Penguins won the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes in 2005. As such, trading away Jagr for movie tickets and popcorn was likely done to onset years of pain before Crosby would finally arrive on horseback and rescue the team’s fortunes.

Next: 13: New Jersey Devils

Home/Anaheim Ducks