The Pierre Turgeon Trade

[HuGort]

That trade is way up there as one of the worst our management ever made. Tremblay was madly in love with Koivu and clearly stated that he was now considering Turgeon as our 3rd C………..if I remember well, Turgeon replied with a 4 point game the day after that statement by Tremblay , and was traded a day or 2 after.
And to think that people are considering Bergevin as the worst gm in our history……… the Houle-Tremblay era is still haunting us.

It wasn't a good situation. Handled poorly by inexperienced front office personnel. Savard loved those offensive centers. From Bobby Smith to Kirk Muller to Turgeon.

 

[1909]

Lol, nope , not the best, but I think Corey wanted a guy who would just do what he was told. And I don't know about panic, I think it was calculated. Roy apologized as I understand it. That was the out if Corey wanted, but he didn't. Roy had disgraced the CH from Corey's view, and also Roy was up for a new contract after that year and tje Habs were cost conscious so may have been a great excuse to move Roy and his salary.

Corey had a very thin skin. If they would had waited few more days, the dust would had settled down. OR, they might had a better return. We also lost Mike Keane in the process. Rucinsky, Kovalenko and Thibeault were not enough for these two.

 

[yianik]

Corey had a very thin skin. If they would had waited few more days, the dust would had settled down. OR, they might had a better return. We also lost Mike Keane in the process. Rucinsky, Kovalenko and Thibeault were not enough for these two.

It was a disaster of a trade. And yes, often not mentioned, Houle also traded away our captain, Mike Keane.

 

[SakuKoivu11]

Different era of hockey.
The league was moving toward a more physical game.
Turgeon was a no show in the playoffs against the Rangers.
Combination of team needed toughness.
Corson-Koivu-Recchi dominated.

Conroy later became a great two way center.
Fitzpatrick was a joke for all stars voting.

If you considers current comparisons, considering most people are young on this board.
Baron was like Gudas type. Baron can match anyone in fight. Baron was more established than Conroy and Fitzpatrick. He was later traded for Dave Manson who had one of the hardest shot and one tough fighter.

Corson was like having a Tkachuk on the team. Not as skilled as Keith Tkachuk but within that zone but near the end of his career.

Turgeon at the time was producing soft points. If I had to compare someone it would be a Matt Duchene type in current NHL.

It wasn’t a bad trade, it was just that we didn’t get enough since Corson was like 30 at the time of the trade. Turgeon was 26-27.

I probably would have asked for St Louis to throw in a prospect like Michal Handzus.

 

[HuGort]

Corey had a very thin skin. If they would had waited few more days, the dust would had settled down. OR, they might had a better return. We also lost Mike Keane in the process. Rucinsky, Kovalenko and Thibeault were not enough for these two.

Savard already had deal in place returning Owen Nolan. Plus more, can't remember the rest. Idiot Houle could of had Nolan

 

[barbu]

They judged Turgeon was one center too many with Damphousse and Koivu on board. Turgeon did not want to play LW. They should had waited a bit and keep Koivu on a 3rd line for a little while. At least until the end of that season. The return for Turgeon was laughable.


They both have First NatIons roots.

I seem to remember that Turgeon was shocked after the trade and said that he, in fact, offered to play wing.

 

[1909]

I seem to remember that Turgeon was shocked after the trade and said that he, in fact, offered to play wing.

In his last game for MTL, he was playing LW and got 4 points. But that was not his favourite position.

Savard already had deal in place returning Owen Nolan. Plus more, can't remember the rest. Idiot Houle could of had Nolan

The difference ? Savard was is no rush to trade Roy away. Houle, yes. AVS GM Lacroix just fleeced the Habs. Finally AVS traded Nolan to SJ for Ricci, another key component in theur SC run.

 

[Vachon23]

Savard already had deal in place returning Owen Nolan. Plus more, can't remember the rest. Idiot Houle could of had Nolan

Should have trade Roy vs Sundin !

That would have been awesome for both teams

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

Ah the good old 90s where Habs were trading assets and big name forwards for a bag of pucks.

I seem to remember that Turgeon was shocked after the trade and said that he, in fact, offered to play wing.

Apparently, Turgeon wanted out of MTL and was shocked he was traded here in the first place.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

Souray was a good young player this was one of his few trades that was not universally hated day 1.

He got some wins towards the end of his tenure. A little too late.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

It's crazy to think that we had Turgeon/Damphousse/Koivu/Conroy as our centers at the same time.

Like that's absolutely bonkers.

Less teams = more talented forwards. Expansion franchises in the early 90s were set up to fail, unlike the Kraken and Golden Knights who were given all the flexibility for instant success.

 

[HuGort]

Should have trade Roy vs Sundin !

That would have been awesome for both teams

Was that on table?

 

[JianYang]

Savard already had deal in place returning Owen Nolan. Plus more, can't remember the rest. Idiot Houle could of had Nolan

Nolan was already traded at the time of the incident.

 

[Vachon23]

Was that on table?

Wasn’t even born during those time so not a clue

 

[ZUKI]

Savard already had deal in place returning Owen Nolan. Plus more, can't remember the rest. Idiot Houle could of had Nolan

It was Nolan + Fiset.

 

[JianYang]

It was Nolan + Fiset.

Yeah, Savard was ready to pull the trigger but he was about to be fired, so the keys were no longer in his hands.

There was massive pressure that year because the Habs started the season 0-5. It was enough to get Demers and Savard canned just 5 games in, but it was also coming off the heels of missing the playoffs in the season before.... Back when the habs simply didn't miss at all.

But it provides some insight that even before the tremblay incident, Roy was likely already contemplating a change. Otherwise, I have a hard time believing Savard would even entertain the thought of trading him.

 

[FerrisRox]

Pierre was one of the top players of the NHL and those clowns traded him for an old Corson .

Only three years separated Turgeon and Corson.

The reason behind the trade was pretty simple. The Canadiens had three top line centres in Turgeon, Damphousse and Koivu and the club needed to get tougher and more difficult to play against.

They traded from an area of strength (centres) to address an area of weakness (toughness.)

Corson and Baron were both hard nosed physical players so the idea was to slot in Koivu and Damphousse as the top two centres and add a rough and tumble top six forward in Corson and some major physicality to the blue line with Baron.

 

[HuGort]

It was Nolan + Fiset.

Right on. Nolan was physical 50 goal scorer. He'd been right fit. Things been much different last 25 years if we had made that trade.

 

[FerrisRox]

Idiot Houle could of had Nolan

Considering Nolan was traded to the Sharks on October 26th, just five days after Houle was hired as GM, I think it's a pretty long shot that Houle "could have had him."

The notion that five days into being a general manager of the Montreal Canadiens the new GM would trade an all-time franchise great seems extremely unlikely.

 

[HuGort]

Considering Nolan was traded to the Sharks on October 26th, just five days after Houle was hired as GM, I think it's a pretty long shot that Houle "could have had him."

The notion that five days into being a general manager of the Montreal Canadiens the new GM would trade an all-time franchise great seems extremely unlikely.

This was Savard trade though I believe. He was about to make it and got fired day that day.

 

[FerrisRox]

This was Savard trade though I believe. He was about to make it and got fired day that day.

I understand that.

But the post I was responding to was admonishing Houle saying he could have had Nolan and I'm pointing out how unlikely that was.

 

[schwang26]

Turgeon was one of my favorite Habs during the mid to late 90's along with Koivu. I even got his jersey then he was traded a year later . This was during the horrible Houle/Corey regime. Houle is responsible for 3 of the worst trades in the team's history.

Houle was over his head but he is such a nice gentleman and took on the GM job (which he wasn't qualified to do) out of loyalty to the organization. Supposedly the reason why he was traded was to add more grit to the lineup after losing to the Rangers in the first round in 1996. Turgeon was probably the most talented player we've had in the last 25 years.

Ya I remember now it was a grit based decision and Turgeon was seen as soft by the fans.still, they should've been able to secure better players.

 

[HuGort]

I understand that.

But the post I was responding to was admonishing Houle saying he could have had Nolan and I'm pointing out how unlikely that was.

Houle would have known Roy's trade value though, knowing of Nolan trade offer. Instead of giving him away.

Savard was removed at slightest dip in Habs, that team was only 2 years away from cup. Replaced by incompetent yes man. It lead to near 30 years destruction of greatest pro-sports team to that date. Habs have a few moments under Bergevin and a few under Gainey. But in large, last 30 years been a farce.

 

[LaP]

The whole Nolan thing was a rumor during the summer previous to the trade if i remember correctly. Roy's value should not be evaluated using this rumor. Goalies are always worth less and Roy was 29 and was coming off a bad season. The whole team was bad during the lockout season but Roy was not any better.

This said Rucinsky and Kovalenko had next to no value. Both were struggling to fit in the NHL. Kovalenko was a 25 years old 8th round pick who had a great start and great first season but he struggled hard the previous two seasons. Also failed to deliver in playoffs twice at that point. He was a dime a dozen vanilla offensive player not so great at the only thing he could actually do on the ice.

Rucinsky was a end of first round pick who was 24 and had failed to do anything worthwhile. For the kids who have not seen him play think Thomas Tatar or Chris Higgins. Both Kovalenko and Rucinsky were underwhelming return and the kind of 6/7th forward mtl did not really need. I'd argue Keane (29) as a proven leader was worth more than Kovalenko by himself.

Houle should have targeted Deadmarsh. He was only 20 and was a 14th overall pick and was a much more interesting player than the other two. He did not have more potential offensively but he was a physical player that would have been a better fit. Nordiques had a bunch of good prospects Houle could have targeted too. Tbo + Deadmasrh + prospect would have made more sense than Tbo + two middle of 20ies guy who failed to deliver up to that point of their career.

I think it's hard to convey how underwhelming this return was. I'm from Quebec City and Kovalenko and Rucinsky were both the target of fans when the team failed to deliver in the previous 3 seasons. Both Kovalenko and Rucincsky were awful in 92-93 against Mtl. Yeah they were young but you could already see they did not have the killer instinct. At that point of their career in 95-96 it was crystal clear they did not have what it took to be legit top 6 players on a contending team but were mostly players who needed to be carrier by centers like Sakic or Damphousse if iced on a top 6.

 

[ZUKI]

Different era of hockey.
The league was moving toward a more physical game.
Turgeon was a no show in the playoffs against the Rangers.
Combination of team needed toughness.
Corson-Koivu-Recchi dominated.

Conroy later became a great two way center.
Fitzpatrick was a joke for all stars voting.

If you considers current comparisons, considering most people are young on this board.
Baron was like Gudas type. Baron can match anyone in fight. Baron was more established than Conroy and Fitzpatrick. He was later traded for Dave Manson who had one of the hardest shot and one tough fighter.

Corson was like having a Tkachuk on the team. Not as skilled as Keith Tkachuk but within that zone but near the end of his career.

Turgeon at the time was producing soft points. If I had to compare someone it would be a Matt Duchene type in current NHL.

It wasn’t a

The whole Nolan thing was a rumor during the summer previous to the trade if i remember correctly. Roy's value should not be evaluated using this rumor. Goalies are always worth less and Roy was 29 and was coming off a bad season. The whole team was bad during the lockout season but Roy was not any better.

This said Rucinsky and Kovalenko had next to no value. Both were struggling to fit in the NHL. Kovalenko was a 25 years old 8th round pick who had a great start and great first season but he struggled hard the previous two seasons. Also failed to deliver in playoffs twice at that point. He was a dime a dozen vanilla offensive player not so great at the only thing he could actually do on the ice.

Rucinsky was a end of first round pick who was 24 and had failed to do anything worthwhile. For the kids who have not seen him play think Thomas Tatar or Chris Higgins. Both Kovalenko and Rucinsky were underwhelming return and the kind of 6/7th forward mtl did not really need. I'd argue Keane (29) as a proven leader was worth more than Kovalenko by himself.

Houle should have targeted Deadmarsh. He was only 20 and was a 14th overall pick and was a much more interesting player than the other two. He did not have more potential offensively but he was a physical player that would have been a better fit. Nordiques had a bunch of good prospects Houle could have targeted too. Tbo + Deadmasrh + prospect would have made more sense than Tbo + two middle of 20ies guy who failed to deliver up to that point of their career.

I think it's hard to convey how underwhelming this return was. I'm from Quebec City and Kovalenko and Rucinsky were both the target of fans when the team failed to deliver in the previous 3 seasons. Both Kovalenko and Rucincsky were awful in 92-93 against Mtl. Yeah they were young but you could already see they did not have the killer instinct. At that point of their career in 95-96 it was crystal clear they did not have what it took to be legit top 6 players on a contending team but were mostly players who needed to be carrier by centers like Sakic or Damphousse if iced on a top 6.

Yeah ,it was Serge Savard that started this rumour . I don’t know who he was But everyone working in the medias were quoting him as the source of that probably fake news

and i remind that that Savard guy said that the gm was going to get the approbation of Corey for the trade when this last told him he was fired . But don’t bet on this, it’s just a rumour

Another thing is that everybody and their mother blame Houle for the trades . To me he was just a muppet in the hands of Corey