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

2: Edmonton Oilers

There’s no other way to describe this trade than the end of an era. Nobody thought it was possible for Wayne Gretzky to get traded, and considering the countless number of records and trophies he won plus the objective fact that he was the greatest of all time, it was inconceivable. Yet when the move was announced, it sent out a warning to the rest of the league that no player is untouchable.

“The Trade” was the beginning of a tear down. While the Oilers ruled the last half of the 80s, they knew that it was financially unsustainable to keep the team together. Of all the people in the Oilers organization, Gretzky was the last person who wanted to go. The only reason McSorley and Krushelnyski were included in the deal was because as teammates he demanded that they be included. While the rest of Canada was quick to deem him a traitor, Gretzky clearly wanted to retire as an Oiler.

And of course, there was that infamous press conference where the always smiling Gretzky failed to fight back tears, and “promised Mess[ier] I wouldn’t do this”:

In the short term, the Oilers were fine. The package they received was substantial – as it should’ve been – and even without Gretzky, they were able to win a Cup again in 1990. That was largely because of Messier, but Martin Gelinas was also instrumental in the team’s success. But within a few years Messier was gone, and so were all the players involved in the trade because of the pressure that came with replacing Gretzky. Jimmy Carson came after the team failed to negotiate for Luc Robitaille, and he demanded a trade while the two players the Oilers drafted down the road with the picks didn’t have very long NHL careers.

If the Oilers were looking to get out of financial trouble and continue being a Cup contender by dealing Gretzky, they succeeded in the former but failed in the latter. Had Gretzky retired with the Oilers, he could’ve solidified his legacy by winning a few more Cups but they never got back to being a Cup contender since this deal and have never been able to replace the Great One, although we could be witnessing the start of something great with Connor McDavid.

The Kings were hoping to build something with Gretzky and Robitaille, and while his time there never brought a Cup – and his most famous moment with the Kings may have been a phantom high stick – he was instrumental in growing the game of hockey in California – something the league is forever grateful for today.

Gretzky still has close ties to the Kings organization and they invited him to drop the puck in an outdoor game against the Sharks, while Oilers fans were willing to forgive him after he swapped uniforms. In his first game in Edmonton after The Trade, he received a four-minute standing ovation, and even when his Kings knocked out the Oilers in the playoffs in 1989, the fans still treated him with respect. Gretzky is the only player to have his number retired across the league.

Next: 1: Philadelphia Flyers