THE GREAT ONE: How The 1988 Wayne Gretzky Trade Is Still Evolving Today | NHL Trade Trees

[Anguyen92]

I don't know if this allowed here, but let's see and let's look back at history.

So, finally. Sportsnet has released a video of Steve Dangle analyzing the biggest NHL trade tree of all. The Gretzky trade to LA in 1988 and what has happened to all of the pieces and all of the trades that came along with it. This video is 50 minutes long. To compare, they did another video of the Lindros trade tree and that lasted 40 minutes. I'm pretty excited. I don't know much about this kind of history, but I'm curious.

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[All The Kings Men]

Is that really how you pronounce Drake Rymsha???

 

[Anguyen92]

^^ As a disclaimer, Dangle probably mispronounced some of these names as he's done in previous trade trees.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

My biggest "What If?" with the Gretzky trade is what the team did afterwards.

Three years after Gretzky was traded, the Oilers dealt Mark Messier to the Rangers. The main piece that the Oilers received in that trade from New York was Bernie Nicholls.

What if the Kings had pursued Mark Messier from Edmonton? Although I love what Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato brought to the Kings, and gave Gretzky two legit wingers to play with, it seems like the Kings always had a glaring hole down the middle.

After Nicholls was dealt, the #2 center spot was filled in by Todd Elik, who did an admirable job and was actually productive in that role. But he'd be dealt to Minnesota in 1991 for Charlie Huddy.

With Elik gone, Bob Kudelski assumed the #2 center role, but he'll end up being moved to Ottawa the following year, and Jari Kurri is shifted to center to start the 1992-93 season with Gretzky on the sidelines. With Gretzky out of the lineup, the top four centers were Kurri, Millen, Conacher and McIntyre. Shortly Gretzky returned to the lineup, the Kings dealt Paul Coffey to Detroit to reacquire Jimmy Carson, who everyone assumed would become the #2 center. However, Barry Melrose had an unexplained disdain for Carson, and Kurri kept playing center, with Millen and Conacher as the other two remaining centers (McIntyre was dealt to the Rangers to bring back Mark Hardy as a depth defenseman).

Although Sandstrom and Granato were pivotal to the Kings' success for a number of seasons, you have to ask yourself, what would have happened had the Kings dealt Nicholls to Edmonton for Mark Messier?

 

[Herby]

My biggest "What If?" with the Gretzky trade is what the team did afterwards.

Three years after Gretzky was traded, the Oilers dealt Mark Messier to the Rangers. The main piece that the Oilers received in that trade from New York was Bernie Nicholls.

What if the Kings had pursued Mark Messier from Edmonton? Although I love what Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato brought to the Kings, and gave Gretzky two legit wingers to play with, it seems like the Kings always had a glaring hole down the middle.

After Nicholls was dealt, the #2 center spot was filled in by Todd Elik, who did an admirable job and was actually productive in that role. But he'd be dealt to Minnesota in 1991 for Charlie Huddy.

With Elik gone, Bob Kudelski assumed the #2 center role, but he'll end up being moved to Ottawa the following year, and Jari Kurri is shifted to center to start the 1992-93 season with Gretzky on the sidelines. With Gretzky out of the lineup, the top four centers were Kurri, Millen, Conacher and McIntyre. Shortly Gretzky returned to the lineup, the Kings dealt Paul Coffey to Detroit to reacquire Jimmy Carson, who everyone assumed would become the #2 center. However, Barry Melrose had an unexplained disdain for Carson, and Kurri kept playing center, with Millen and Conacher as the other two remaining centers (McIntyre was dealt to the Rangers to bring back Mark Hardy as a depth defenseman).

Although Sandstrom and Granato were pivotal to the Kings' success for a number of seasons, you have to ask yourself, what would have happened had the Kings dealt Nicholls to Edmonton for Mark Messier?

I wonder how happy Messier would have been playing in Gretzky's shadow again. He became a massive star in NY, one of the few hockey players who ever transcended into the mainstream for a bit there in the mid 90's.