Top Five Anaheim Ducks Offseason Moves of All-Time

Jan 14, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Edmonton Oilers right wing Jordan Eberle (14) watches his team take on the Dallas Stars during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeated the Oilers 4-2. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Pronger – July 3, 2006

Acquired from Edmonton for: Joffrey Lupul, Ladislav Smid, 2007 1st round pick (#30-Nick Ross), 2008 2nd round pick (#53-Travis Hamonic), 2008 Conditional 1st round pick (#22-Jordan Eberle)

It was a tough decision dropping this trade down to third in the top five, but that doesn’t take away the significance of it to the Anaheim Ducks organization.

Pronger was the missing piece that the Ducks needed to eventually secure their first Stanley Cup Championship. However, at the time he came at a pretty lofty price. Joffrey Lupul was coming off a career high 28 goals, something he would never match again, and Ladislav Smid was a solid top-4 defenseman who was also a former first round draft pick. The Oilers would end up trading both the 2007 1st round pick and the 2008 2nd round pick acquired from Anaheim, and would not pick up any impact players.

Looking back at the trade, the big name player going back to Edmonton was eventual 1st round pick Jordan Eberle. He has had four productive seasons with the Oilers putting up 221 points in 275 games. However, I think most Ducks fans would agree that they would rather have the Stanley Cup over Jordan Eberle.