Ed Stein – Expert, Pucks of a Feather
Greg really stole my thunder on this one. The William Karlsson trade was the one that came to my mind immediately. I had to do some serious research to find something else. This question is restricted to active players, so I didn’t think I’d have to go back that far. I was wrong.
The way-back machine is set to February 9, 2011, the Ducks are in a dogfight to make the playoffs after missing out the previous year. In order to solidify their position, GM Bob Murray felt the addition of another quality defenseman was a good place to start. He turned to Ducks frequent trade dance partner Toronto for help.
The Return of Beauchemin
In the first of eight deals he would make in the next 16 days, Murray re-acquired defenseman Francois Beauchemin, but the price was high. Anaheim sent their 2008 first-round pick Jake Gardiner, Joffrey Lupul and a fourth-round pick in the deal. After the deal, Murray told the CBC, “We are thrilled to be able to re-acquire Francois. He is a physical, puck-moving defenseman with tremendous character.”
No one disputes Beauchemin’s heart, character, or contributions to the organization. It was too much to pay to get him. I’m going to leave Lupul out of the discussion, even though he scored 67 points the next season. Murray gave up a potential star in Jake Gardiner.
Gardiner made his debut with Toronto in 2011-12. Since the lockout in 2012-13, he has missed a total of eight games while steadily improving his game. As a matter of fact. the 27-year-old is on pace to break his career high of 43 points. Currently, he has 40 points with 13 games left. What is most impressive about his career is that he is -13 overall, despite playing on some awful Leafs teams.
It would have been interesting to see what Gardiner could have done if he had been a Duck this whole time. A fab five with Lindholm. Vatanen, Fowler, Manson, and Gardiner would have been something to see.