Worst Habs trade in the last 15 years

[Habs Halifax]

I’m taking prime McDonagh before Sergachev personally

Good debate there. Not many remember how good McDonagh was in his prime. A legit top paring quality who was effective at both ends.

 

[nhlfan9191]

The reason people hated it was because
1st - Markov was gone and Sergachev was clearly NHLer for his replacement
2nd - We needed a Center badly , yet Drouin is mostly a winger which didnt fix anything
3rd - Drouin was a known rock head manchild and as we saw . We were all right.

We need a legit center , yes Barginbin managed to make the impossible , make a winger into a great center ... oh wait.

Watching Drouin play center the year he was acquired was one of the single most frustrating things I’ve experienced as a fan. I remember the team announced he’d be a center the summer of 2017 well before training camp even started and I still have no idea how they came to a decision like that. Bergevin shouldn’t have made it past that season.

 

[Harry Kakalovich]

The Gomez trade was unjustifiably terrible. Anybody who understood the salary cap understood that Gomez had no value.

The Drouin trade turned out very poorly, clear #2 on the list IMO. But the poll is skewed because the OP misstated the trade. It was Drouin for Sergachev straight up. Including conditional picks that didn't translate as part of the compensation of a trade is almost as idiotic as these trades and just a bush league way to have a poll IMO.

 

[WeThreeKings]

It's close between Gomez and Drouin.

I went with Drouin because at least Gomez was part of a team that went to the conference finals. Drouin had to leave the Habs indefinitely for them to be successful at all.

 

[BLNY]

I picked the Cammalleri to Calgary trade for the return and how it was handled. Traded in-game, in a seemingly panic move, for what we got, was bad. I get that Mike wasn't happy, but you scratch him and work the league. I have a hard time thinking there weren't better options out there. That one rests squarely on the pro scouting team imo.

Dvorak for a 27th overall and a second. I think his usage and line mates have been the biggest reason for his lack of success. I'm not overly concerned that either pick ends up being a better player. Time will tell.

Drouin for Sergachev. Blame the pro scouts again and the desire for the great French hope. I still contend it's very hard to predict where Sergachev would be in his development if he were with Montreal. IMO he's been far more sheltered in Tampa and benefited from playing for Cooper. The idea of the trade was valid at the time, but it was for the wrong piece.

Shaw trade. Was sort of balanced out with the Eller trade.

I look at the Gomez deal as one that facilitated a number of acquisitions that summer. It wasn't just him. They wanted to change the culture of the room. Gomez, Gionta, Gill, Cammalleri, and Moen were a big shift that was precipitated by the Gomez deal. He had a decent first year and then fell off the rails. I don't think anyone could really predict he'd have packed it in like he did. Losing McDonagh hurt, but I've never considered him an irreplaceable piece.

 

[Gainesvillain]

Gomez trade was the worst of those two by far.

We let Glen Sather off the hook for that stupid contract he gave Gomez. Should've received a draft pick or prospect for taking on that contract from the NYR. Just a head-shakingly bad trade.

Drouin trade at least made sense. Young cost-controlled top 6 F for young cost-controlled top 4D. Drouin already had one strong playoff performance with TBL and was a 3OA pick, so there was really no reason to think he wouldn't pan out.

Both trades were an attempt to get some desperately-needed offensive talent, something that we'll probably need to do again after passing over Michkov.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

The Gomez trade was horrible, but there was a plan around it. It wasn't the best plan, but they wanted to attract the UFA players and were in the end able to sign Gionta, Cammalleri etc...

The Drouin trade for me hurts more considering how much of a weapon we could have had in Sergachev. He could have been the difference for us against Tampa in the SCF 3 years ago...

 

[Whalers Fan]

Gomez trade was the worst of those two by far.

We let Glen Sather off the hook for that stupid contract he gave Gomez. Should've received a draft pick or prospect for taking on that contract from the NYR. Just a head-shakingly bad trade.

Drouin trade at least made sense. Young cost-controlled top 6 F for young cost-controlled top 4D. Drouin already had one strong playoff performance with TBL and was a 3OA pick, so there was really no reason to think he wouldn't pan out.

Both trades were an attempt to get some desperately-needed offensive talent, something that we'll probably need to do again after passing over Michkov.

Actually, the Drouin trade was also letting Tampa off the hook, but in a different way. The Lightning wanted to get rid of Drouin, both because of their expansion draft protected list and because of the incident where he refused to report to their AHL team. Bergevin should have been negotiating from a position of strength, yet he gave away more than he should have. Also, Drouin didn't really fit their need, which was a #1C. If they were going to offer up a prime prospect like Sergachev, it should have been done to acquire a legitimate center, and not a winger that they would try to convert into a center. That was just stupid.

The Gomez deal was bad (flip a coin as to which was worse), but anyone claiming that one was far worse than the other isn't really considering all the "badness" of each deal.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The Gomez trade was horrible, but there was a plan around it. It wasn't the best plan, but they wanted to attract the UFA players and were in the end able to sign Gionta, Cammalleri etc...

The Drouin trade for me hurts more considering how much of a weapon we could have had in Sergachev. He could have been the difference for us against Tampa in the SCF 3 years ago...

Not only this, but we traded McDonagh knowing we would have a top4 that included Markov, Subban and Hamrlik.

When we traded Sergachev, a lefty, we had nothing other than Weber and Petry, both righties.

 

[1909]

Of course, the Drouin-Sergachev trade is the worst, but at the time it was made, Drouin was progressing well. Asking him to play as the #1 centerman, and with Montreal pressure, the train derailed pretty fast for him.

 

[JianYang]

What's wild is Sergachev just turned 25. His career will eclipse McDonagh's, if it hasn't already.

Bergevin f***ed up

Mcdonagh was already a bonafide 1D by that time.

Sergachev is good, mcdonagh was really good.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

The Gomez trade was unjustifiably terrible. Anybody who understood the salary cap understood that Gomez had no value.

Anybody who understands hockey knew Gomez still had a lot of value. Whether you go back 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, up to 5, 6 and 7 years back after the trade, Gomez was one of the league's better playoff producer.

If Gainey had to pay it's because there were likely other teams wanting Gomez, but hey, feel free to conclude anything you like to maintain that narrative.

People also forget McDonaugh had a tough year in 2009. His stock was at its lowest. Same for Higgins who never ever got back to 20 goals.

 

[pepperMonkey]

When I first saw the title, I immediately screamed ROY!!!
.
.
.
Then realized that was a long long time ago...and immediately felt really really old...
.
.
.
With that said, although the McDonagh trade hurts more long term, at least Gomez was decent and useful for a little while and helped bring Gionta and Cammy on board. But...the Drouin trade, even though the impact is less, is probably worse as we gave up a good, young (and needed) D for essentially garbage. I.e. gave up an asset and got nothing back. So I vote Drouin.

 

[Bacchus1]

Gomez trade by far. When I heard that we traded for Gomez I was expecting that we would receive a 1st or an interesting prospect for helping the Rangers unload their crap and clear their cap issues. When I found out that WE actually gave up OUR top prospect, I almost vomited.

Sergachev trade is 2nd because Drouin was at least a productive player at first, a high ranked draft pick only a few years earlier, and a fairly safe gamble. Should have kept Sergachev as we badly needed an offensive dman, though.

 

[Andrei79]

The Gomez trade had so much context around it too.

Dumbass Molson had just bought the team days earlier, so you knew he wasn't going to rebuild at a time when the team absolutely needed to rebuild.

It kept the Habs just mediocre enough to make the playoffs and stay in no man's land.

It was one of the very worst contracts in the league. It was brutal the day he signed it and NY fans actively wanted him gone by that point. He basically signed for the same cap% as Matthews did. Imagine signing Gomez this summer for like 12M$. Disgusting.

A lot of people thought he would be given away, instead Gainey gave up one of the three best prospects in the organization.

Everyone and their dog knew they would be in on Gaborik. So on top of ridding themselves of Gomez, getting their future captain, it also allowed a conference rival to sign a premium forward.

What a brutal trade.

The thing is, Drouins trade also had a lot of context around it. Man does it suck to have had so many bad GMs.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Weber for Subban was a joke
Subban was at the top while we traded him. He was everything the fans wanted. Superstar , Great with fans , amazing with the community , playoff warrior. Amazing to watch. Give a reason to visit the bell center.

Then we traded him for a guy that was starting on his decline.

Habs refused crazy offers (google Subban trade that were refused if u wanna know) , example Draisailt.

Weber did not make us a better team at the present or at long term. Please don't bring the stupid ''Leadership'' .

The Gomez and Sergachev were both bad but the Subban trade did absolutely nothing to us except getting older while Price had to do everything with or without Weber.

You can call me a troll all you want , because i have a diferent opinion than urs don't make you god amighty on this forum and the voice of reason

Subban had 1 more good season after he was dealt.

Nashville tried to trade Subban the next offseason, the offseason after that and finally dumped him.

The trade offers, or rather offer that is most talked about was with the Oilers and the Habs should have pulled it either way, but didn't. And that's if it's truly Nurse, Drai and the 4th overall pick.

Weber had definitely taken a step back from where he could play, but where he can play the Habs wouldn't get Weber for Subban 1 for 1.

Subban 2 seasons after being dealt was almost done and just continued to go downhill from there. Doesn't seem like injury is the case with Subban as for the reason.

Weber would likely still be a number 4 on most teams in the league if not for his injury.

This trade is nowhere near being terrible for Montreal.

 

[LaP]

I'd say it's very close to a tie between the Drouin and Gomez trade. I voted Gomez cause we gifted Higgins in the trade and the cond on 2nd round pick was not met in the Sergachev trade but they are both significantly worse than the others listed.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

There is an old saying in hockey: it’s better to trade a player one year too early than one year too late. In Subban’s case, we traded him several years too late. Once he decided to bulk up, he lost the dynamic skating ability that made him one of league’s best and most exciting players. He was unable to avoid the forecheck and was often reduced to just flipping the puck out of our zone. With the loss of his mobility, he became a largely static playe, and it was the reason he was rarely chosen for Team Canada. We traded one diminishing asset for another. The delay in trading Subban robbed us of an opportunity to maximize on a well established reputation.

I agree we could have reached a deal earlier for him, but we still had amazing offers that we refused

Watching Drouin play center the year he was acquired was one of the single most frustrating things I’ve experienced as a fan. I remember the team announced he’d be a center the summer of 2017 well before training camp even started and I still have no idea how they came to a decision like that. Bergevin shouldn’t have made it past that season.

100percent agree. He even said when he arrived he was more like a winger... Like wtf did Bergevin do

 

[Fish on The Sand]

I'd say it's very close to a tie between the Drouin and Gomez trade. I voted Gomez cause we gifted Higgins in the trade and the cond on 2nd round pick was not meat in the Sergachev trade but they are both significantly worse than the others listed.

Higgins was total dogshit though. Including him in the deal probably cost us more.

For some reason Higgins just totally lost it at age 25. He was trending well and then had an awful 2009 season and Gainey correctly saw that he was totally washed and that it wasn't just an off year.

Sather had seen enough and couldn't get Higgins off the team fast enough and he just bounced around team to team until landing with the Canucks where he finally found a small part of success.

I remember being very surprised at his drop off given his age, but getting away from Higgins when we did was the right move.

 

[LaP]

Anybody who understands hockey knew Gomez still had a lot of value. Whether you go back 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, up to 5, 6 and 7 years back after the trade, Gomez was one of the league's better playoff producer.

If Gainey had to pay it's because there were likely other teams wanting Gomez, but hey, feel free to conclude anything you like to maintain that narrative.

People also forget McDonaugh had a tough year in 2009. His stock was at its lowest. Same for Higgins who never ever got back to 20 goals.

From what i remember Gomez value was greatly diminished by his contract. He was paid the money you would expect players like prime BigMac, Ovy and Crosby be paid and he was nowhere near as good as those guys. His contract was an anchor and he simply did not have the skills to make it work. I highly doubt any of the other offers was even close to our offer.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

From what i remember Gomez value was greatly diminished by his contract. He was paid the money you would expect players like prime BigMac, Ovy and Crosby be paid and he was nowhere near as good as those guys. His contract was an anchor and he simply did not have the skills to make it work. I highly doubt any of the other offers was even close to our offer.

You do remember both McDonagh's and Higgins's stock were quite low too? Both of them had underwhelming seasons in 08-09, to say the least. Weak WJC. Average season. Subban was regarded as a can't miss prospect while McDonagh became a hopeful. People act like McDonagh was some sureshot prospect. He wasn't. His stock was at an all-time low.

I wish I could bring back threads from jan to june 09.

 

[LaP]

You do remember both McDonagh's and Higgins's stock were quite low too? Both of them had underwhelming seasons in 08-09, to say the least. Weak WJC. Average season. Subban was regarded as a can't miss prospect while McDonagh became a hopeful. People act like McDonagh was some sureshot prospect. He wasn't. His stock was at an all-time low.

I wish I could bring back threads from jan to june 09.

McDo was a very good prospect. The whole McDo was not good was just fanboy trying to justify the trade. McDo had just turned 20 a few days prior to the trade and he was a 12th overall pick. Represented USA in the u20 six months before the trade was made. He became better than projected offensively but he projected as a solid two way guy (like at the end of his career).

Gomez was simply paid too much for what he brought to a team. You would have traded nothing for Gomez and it would have been an awful trade day 1. It would be like acquiring a 29 yo Duchene with a contract of 12 millions with 7 years remaining. Nobody sane would ever do that.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Subban had 1 more good season after he was dealt.

Nashville tried to trade Subban the next offseason, the offseason after that and finally dumped him.

The trade offers, or rather offer that is most talked about was with the Oilers and the Habs should have pulled it either way, but didn't. And that's if it's truly Nurse, Drai and the 4th overall pick.

Weber had definitely taken a step back from where he could play, but where he can play the Habs wouldn't get Weber for Subban 1 for 1.

Subban 2 seasons after being dealt was almost done and just continued to go downhill from there. Doesn't seem like injury is the case with Subban as for the reason.

Weber would likely still be a number 4 on most teams in the league if not for his injury.

This trade is nowhere near being terrible for Montreal.

The thing is my post was more likely the trade than the aftermath.

I still think we could have had way more than Weber.

 

[Grate n Colorful Oz]

McDo was a very good prospect. The whole McDo was not good was just fanboy trying to justify the trade. McDo had just turned 20 a few days prior to the trade and he was a 12th overall pick. Represented USA in the u20 six months before the trade was made. He became better than projected offensively but he projected as a solid two way guy (like at the end of his career).

No it's not. I remember it pretty well. He was underwhelming at the WJC in 09. The same WJC were Subban and Tavares dominated. You don't get to rewrite history. His 08-09 season was average. There was still hope for him, but it looked bleak compared to Subban

 

[Nashy]

Higgins was total dogshit though. Including him in the deal probably cost us more.

For some reason Higgins just totally lost it at age 25. He was trending well and then had an awful 2009 season and Gainey correctly saw that he was totally washed and that it wasn't just an off year.

Sather had seen enough and couldn't get Higgins off the team fast enough and he just bounced around team to team until landing with the Canucks where he finally found a small part of success.

I remember being very surprised at his drop off given his age, but getting away from Higgins when we did was the right move.

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember Higgins had a serious injury, a high-ankle sprain I think.
One of his attributes was his speed, but after that injury I remember that it seemed he'd lost a gear and was never the same player....shame, I liked him in his prime.