St. Louis Blues: Top 10 Worst Trades
The St. Louis Blues, like any team, do their best to improve their team via a smart trade. With very few exceptions, no GM ever tries to make a bad deal. However, this list proves that some trades needed to be thought through a little more.
*note* the Blues actually haven’t made too many bad deals at the deadline, so this will be a list of all bad trades.
The St. Louis Blues have been a bit more quiet at the deadline in the last decade, but during the Ron Caron years they were always making a flurry of deals.
Making a good trade usually depends on what you were trying to do at that moment in time. On the same account a bad trade can be determined by the eye of the beholder and has many determining factors, i.e. salary concerns, trying to acquire prospects or draft picks etc.
All of those things applied to many trades the Blues have made over their history and sometimes you end up on the short end of the stick. Some trades were made just to make a trade and some just left you wondering. All that said, the following deals just did not pan out for the ‘Note.
Next: Big Ben Chimes in the Cup Finals
10. Ben Bishop
On February 26, 2012 the Blues traded Ben Bishop, who was then a highly touted goaltender in their minor league system, to the Ottawa Senators for a 2013 second round draft pick.
Now this trade is really yet to fully be evaluated. It all boils down to what Jake Allen does in his career. If he becomes what the Blues believe and hope he will, then this trade will be a wash at worst.
However, since the Blues have yet to see Thomas Vannelli in the NHL and Bishop eventually went on to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup Finals. So, for now, this trade does not shine the best of lights on the Blues’ management.
At the time it made sense to send Bishop away since the Blues had Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott and Allen. As is usual in St. Louis, the player that got sent away has had the most success.
Next: Jimmy Bluenote to the Canadiens
9. Jimmy Roberts
On December 13 1971, the St. Louis Blues traded away Jim Roberts in exchange for Phil Roberto.
The younger people in the audience will be wondering who the heck these people are. They played in the 60’s. Jimmy Roberts was one of the cornerstone players the Blues built their franchise around. As a defender, he wasn’t flashy but he was still a well-liked player.
Roberto was brought in for offense and, at first, he provided. He scored 25 points in his first half year following the trade and 42 the next season. However, injuries derailed much of the rest of his career and he petered out.
Roberts, on the other hand, remained a steady force until the 1977-78 season. He was always a good defender, but averaged point scoring in the 30’s with the Blues in a period when defensive scoring was more uncommon.
While the deal might have made sense at the time, with the team trying to add offense, it just didn’t quite work out. Roberts remained on winning teams with the Canadiens and Roberto never quite panned out.
Next: Are They Saying Boooo or Liuuuuut?
8. Mike Liut
On February 21 1985 the Blues got Mark Johnson and Greg Millen from Hartford for Mike Liut.
Up to this point, Liut was the one of the Blues’ most popular goaltenders since Glenn Hall and Jacques Plante. Liut had the team record for shutouts for nearly 30 years.
Millen was not a bad goaltender, but he wasn’t a suitable replacement. Millen averaged about 3.4 goals against with the Blues and ended his tenure with the Blues two games under .500.
The addition of Johnson made sense at the time. Johnson still had the shine of being a member of the Miracle on Ice team and was coming off an 87 point season with the Whalers. Unfortunately, Johnson only had 47 points with Hartford prior to the deal and only scored 10 with the Blues. He left for the New Jersey Devils in the summer and had a fairly productive career following that.
So, the Blues got a rental player and an addition to their laundry list of goaltenders that were ok but not good for a goaltender that had been quite productive during his time in St. Louis. While Liut did not do much with Hartford or Washington afterward, Millen was not an upgrade.
Next: Blues Deal with an Old Rival
7. Rod Brind’Amour
This deal was made right as the 1991-92 season was on the cusp. On Sept 22, 1991 the Blues got Ron Sutter and Murray Baron for Rod Brind’Amor and Dan Quinn, who were sent to the Blues’ old rival, the Philadelphia Flyers.
Baron was a steady defenseman who spent parts of seven seasons in St. Louis (six consecutive and one in 2003-04) and Ron Sutter played three years with the Blues and had 91 points. Again, for the Blues, it was a matter of adding some pieces they thought would be a good fit and they just never measured up.
While Quinn never lived up to his seasons with the Penguins, he was still a serviceable player. However, this deal stings because Brind’Amour was another among a list of players that went on to win a Stanley Cup once they left the Blues.
Additionally, Brind’Amour had 601 points with the Flyers alone, before moving on to the Carolina Hurricanes where he played another nine seasons and won the ultimate prize.
A lot of this deal boils down to Ron Caron. The man produced some of the most entertaining and fun Blues teams ever, but he loved to make deals. Brind’Amour might have only had two seasons under his belt to that point, but the return was not anywhere equal to what was sent out.
Next: Joey for Gino
5. Doug Gilmour
On September 6, 1988 the Blues made a trade with the Calgary Flames…again. Gee it’s a good thing these trades didn’t really benefit…oh wait, they did. Calgary won a Cup with both Gilmour and Mullen.
On this gem of a deal, the Blues sent Gilmour out along with Steve Bozek, Mark Hunter and Michael Dark in exchange for Mike Bullard, Tim Corkery and Craig Coxe. If you haven’t heard of any of those players in the Blues’ history, there’s a reason.
Bullard played 20 games and bolted for the Flyers. Corkery never made the league and didn’t get higher than the ECHL. Coxe played half a season with the Blues and only scored seven assist. After that he bounced around the minors and other NHL clubs.
Sadly, part of this deal had to do with allegations that Gilmour had sexually assaulted a 14-year old. While that should not be glossed over, the Blues did not handle it all well. They supposedly failed to alert the Flames of the legal issues and on top of that got absolutely nothing for a top-line center.
Next: Blues Gift Vancouver a Finals Spot
3. Ryan Miller
For years, St. Louis Blues fans had been clamoring for a trade for a proven goaltender. While the team had several names that filled the net with reasonable talent and skill, they didn’t fit that top billing.
On Feb 28, 2014 those fans got what they wanted. The Blues got Ryan Miller and Steve Ott from the Buffalo Sabres for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, William Carrier, a 2015 1st round and 2016 3rd round draft picks.
Injuries had slowed Miller the season and a half prior to the trade, but before that he had averaged 30 wins or more in every season since he took over as the starter in Buffalo. He was often the sole reason the Sabres were as good as they were as well.
So, Blues fans got their hopes up and thought they finally had the missing piece to their long unsolved puzzle that was the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, it didn’t play out that way.
The Blues matched up against the Chicago Blackhawks in the playoffs and lost four straight after winning the first two of the series. Miller gets a lot of guff from fans about the entire thing, but in reality he wasn’t solely to blame for the loss. The entire team did not perform well enough to win.
So, if Miller is not to blame then why is this trade so high? Mainly due to collateral damage. The Blues went all-in with this deal and it pretty much blew up in their faces by not getting out of the first round.
Ott remained with the Blues and Stewart has somewhat fizzled out, so that was not a huge loss. However, Halak has remained a steady goaltender. Regardless of people’s feelings on Halak, Miller did not prove to be worth the deal and the trade came off more as a result of the earlier discord between Ken Hitchcock and Halak. Additionally, the deal was somewhat of a slap to the face of Brian Elliott.
Elliott was not given a real shot in that playoff run. Then he was asked to play his way back into a potential starting spot the following season when Miller was not re-signed in the offseason.
The deal itself is understandable, but the aftermath was too much of a mess to really justify it with hindsight fully behind us.
Next: Hull and Oates
2. Adam Oates
February 7, 1992 was a date that would live in infamy for the St. Louis Blues fanbase. Prior to that, despite only playing two full seasons together, Adam Oates and Brett Hull had formed one of the most formidable duos in NHL history.
Hull’s three most productive seasons in his entire career were those played with Adam Oates. Hull had 72, 86 and 70 goals when Oates was by his side. Oates had 79, 90 and 59 assists as well before being dealt (he got 20 more with Boston for a total of 79 again). Why in the world would you ever break that up? Well, unfortunately it had to do with Oates himself.
Even though Oates had just signed a four-year, $3 million extension, he grew jealous of other rich deals given to several players including Brendan Shanahan. He threatened to walk out on the team after the All-Star game and the team felt compelled to trade him off instead of renegotiating.
So the Blues traded Oates for Craig Janney and Stephane Quintal. Both players had reasonably productive careers and Oates failed to recapture his glory after two spectacular seasons with the Bruins. However, this deal provides the biggest “what if?” in Blues history.
On principle, it’s understandable to not renegotiate with someone you just gave a new deal to. Conversely, the Blues might have had something beyond special if they had kept Hull and Oates together. The team was extremely talented with Hull alone, but just imagine what could have happened if he had his running mate.
Even the man himself has wondered that aloud. “The year he scored 86, it was just magical. It was one of those years, wherever we went Brett would score two goals or a hat trick. It was just fantastic. I can’t believe we only played together 2½ years because it felt like 10. It was just so special. We just really hit it off as buddies, friends. We played the game the same way; the chemistry was just excellent,” said Oates.
Next: Iron Mike Ruins it All
1. Mike Keenan
Iron Mike Keenan quickly brought one of the most hopeful periods in team history along with him. After getting into a dispute with the New York Rangers’ GM, Keenan left the Big Apple only weeks after winning the Stanley Cup.
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However, things quickly soured and the honeymoon period was extremely short. The Blues were forced to make a trade of Petr Neved for Esa Tikkanen and Doug Lidster as part of a compensation package to appease the league, which was not at all pleased with how all the events transpired.
In addition to losing Nedved, the NHL fined the Blues $250,000, which was the most a team could be fined at the time.
While Tikkanen still had gas left in the tank, Nedved went on to a very good career and would have been a quality piece to the Blues lineup. Additionally, Keenan went overboard in bringing in “his players.” The Blues immediately got older under Keenan with acquisitions of players like Adam Creighton, Craig MacTavish and Stephane Matteau.
He also seemed to take joy in picking the team apart. He traded ultra-popular Brendan Shanahan for a then-unknown Chris Pronger. He sent Curtis Joseph packing for draft picks. He traded away Guy Carbonneau, where he won another Cup with Dallas, for Paul Broten – Broten interestingly went from a steady NHLer to a minor leaguer after playing under Keenan.
All of that pales in comparison to his greatest or most infamous achievement. Shortly before the trade deadline in 1996, the Blues fleeced the LA Kings and picked up Wayne Gretzky. The Blues had the talent to win it all and might have if Toronto had not taken a run at and injure Grant Fuhr. The team had a friendship and potential duo in Gretzky and Hull that could have equaled or eclipsed Hull and Oates.
Instead, that sensational duo was ripped away from the fans quicker than you can say Hull and Oates. Rumors abound as to what transpired but Gretzky himself thought St. Louis was going to be his last stop. Instead, once the offseason came around, he made it clear that he would not re-sign with the Blues as long as Keenan was in charge. The team picked the coach/GM over the greatest player ever and it came back to bite them.
Keenan did his best to drive Brett Hull out of town as well, but the player ended up winning that battle. While this acquisition wasn’t a traditional trade, it was still the worst in Blues’ history. Keenan was fine as a coach, but once the Blues put him in a position of power, it was the death knell.
Keenan almost drove two of the best in NHL history away from the Blues. He traded away fan-favorites and players that went on to win elsewhere. He alienated almost everyone he came into contact with. He is still one of the most hated figures in team history. While Nedved wasn’t a mega-superstar, I’d like to see how history would have changed if the Blues kept him and hired someone else.
Next: Who should the Blues trade to keep Kevin Shattenkirk?
What do you think of this list? Did we miss any? Would you swap any rankings around? Let us know in the comments and get the conversation rolling.
*note* additional trade info found at nhltradetracker.com