According to Pittsburgh Penguins beat writers Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe (The Athletic), in February of 1988, Oilers GM Glen Sather and Pens GM Eddie Johnston had a deal in place that might’ve changed the immediate future of the Pens and long-term one of the Oilers had it gone through.
This is the story of a trade that never happened,
In February 1988, the Penguins were building a talented team. They had acquired Paul Coffey earlier that season and, at 22, Mario Lemieux was surpassing Wayne Gretzky as hockey’s dominant player. But they didn’t have much in the way of a goaltender. (Eddie) Johnston, himself a former goaltender, knew this was a concern.
Andy Moog had demanded a trade from the Oilers months earlier, as Edmonton had chosen Grant Fuhr to be its No. 1 goaltender. Moog had Stanley Cup playoff experience and was still fairly young, making him a sensible choice to join the Penguins.
Johnston and Oilers general manager Glen Sather had a deal in place. The Penguins agreed to send young goaltender Steve Guenette and their first pick in the 1988 draft to the Oilers in return for Moog. At the last minute, however, Penguins owner Edward DeBartolo nixed the deal. (source)
Now, what isn’t said is where the Pens were selecting at the 1988 NHL entry draft…
At 4th overall, Pittsburgh selected left-wing Darrin Shannon from the Windsor Spitfires, a Memorial Cup All-Star and Major Junior Scholastic Player of the Year winner, ahead of future hall-of-famers Jeremy Roenick (8th ov), Rod Brind’Amour (9th ov), and Teemu Selanne (10th ov).
Who knows which player the Oilers might’ve selected 4th overall that year had they made the deal to send Moog to the Pens. They had a shit draft that year anyhow. Out of the THIRTEEN picks they possessed, only FOUR made it to the show, Shjon Podein, Len Barrie, Trevor Sim, and Francois Leroux.
Len Barrie’s kid Tyson is now an Edmonton Oiler… How’s that for coming full-circle?
So, not only could the Oilers have added another hall-of-famer to their dynasty in the first round, they could’ve picked Tie Domi in the first, he went 27th to the Leafs. If they wanted another tough guy, Link Gaetz was picked right after Edmonton went in the 2nd round. In the 3rd round, Mark Recchi, Rob Blake, or Tony Amonte were available. In the 4th, Alexander Mogilny was sitting there. Another Russian could’ve gone in the 5th, Dmitri Kristich. Why stop at two Russians in the 6th round? Valeri Kamensky was there to take. Eventual 700+ game player Marty McInnis might’ve made a good selection in the 7th round. Not convinced with either Tie Domi or Link Gaetz, Tony Twist in the 8th round was an option. Bret Hedican in the 9th was around, Alexei Gusarov in the 10th, Claude Lapointe in the 11th…
I think you get the point. Edmonton’s scouting staff was out to lunch that year… But I think every club has a dry spell at the draft podium from time to time. So we won’t hold it against them too much.
Anyway, I thought that you might like this little story. Funny how we haven’t heard it from Bob Stauffer in all these years.
The Athletic is having a promotion right now on subscriptions and I reckon that if I’m going to “borrow” some content from them, it’s only fair that I give them a shout-out.
Another team-up with @JoshYohe_PGH …
We dive into trades, signings and hiring @penguins almost made. Some really interesting (and funny) details from these tales.
🚨 #BlackFriday offer: @TheAthletic subscription for $1/month 🚨
https://t.co/JdjWMoZzoP— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) November 27, 2020
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