St. Louis Blues: Top 10 Worst Trades

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.

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