Some trades in NHL history are so infamous, they get their own unique name. Usually, they involve superstars who have just won awards, such as Quinn Hughes or Joe Thornton. The Edmonton Oilers may have had something similar happen once upon a time.
On rare occasions, you get trades that become known by a comment, not a name. This seems to happen quite a bit to the Oilers, who dealt with “no salary retained” when acquiring Duncan Keith. One that has stood the test of time so far, though, is “one for one.”
Ten years ago, the Oilers and the New Jersey Devils both gave each other one impactful player. It was Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson, straight-up. A decade on, let’s see how that trade impacted both franchises, and see if there’s a “winner” that can be determined.
The trade was part of a bonkers offseason league-wide
If you want to point at one offseason in NHL history and say “that was one heck of a trip,” 2016 is your go-to. The chaos around the league resembled SpongeBob’s brain after Squidward told him to empty his mind. Subsequent offseason have had their own blockbuster moves, but 2016 was nothing but hits.
Steven Stamkos was going to leave Tampa Bay in free agency, until he pulled a Jordan Belfort and stayed. Two fan-favourites, in P.K. Subban and Shea Weber, were traded in their own one-for-one stunner. Pavel Datsyuk’s contract was shipped off to Arizona, while Pavel Datsyuk himself bowed out of the NHL altogether. And, of course… Luke Gazdic departed the Oilers for the Devils in free-agency, breaking this observer’s 17-year-old heart.
That magnitude of chaos is already pretty high, and that’s not even getting into the other free-agency moves. But then, you take Gazdic’s former, and new, teams into account, and what they were about to do. And that extra move would cement 2016 as one of the most chaotic off seasons in recent memory.
Oilers and Devils were in playoff droughts and had to do something
The Devils had just missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season, and were a full year removed from the reign of Lou Lamoriello. Meanwhile, the Oilers had missed the playoffs for ten seasons to this point. Losing wunderkind Connor McDavid for half of the 2015–16 season was a big part of that. However, take a look at that team’s defence corps, and you’ll see the other big part.
New Jersey needed more offensive talents. Edmonton needed better defensive help. Removing the hysteria surrounding this trade, both teams were trading from positions of strength, for positions of need. In a vacuum, it kind of made sense for General Managers Ray Shero and Peter Chiarelli to do this deal.
How have the two teams fared in its aftermath?
While stunning at first, its impacts have been a real mixed bag, for lack of better terminology. The trade has had a love-hate relationship within the Oilers fan base. And no two seasons have epitomized Oil Country’s feelings about it more than the very first two following its execution.
The 2016–17 season saw the Oilers end the Decade of Darkness, through a season with good health throughout. Milan Lucic having the only good season of his monster contract signed in that same offseason sure helped. His 23-goal, 50-point campaign filled a large portion of the gap left by Hall, while adding snarl that the Oilers needed more of. All the while, the Devils continued their own streak of futility.
However, in 2017–18, the tides shifted. The Oilers suffered “death by a thousand cuts,” as Chiarelli put it, and missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, Hall helped drag the Devils to the postseason (though they were quickly eliminated). And Hall, for his efforts, somehow won a Hart Trophy that many had labeled for Colorado Avalanche phenom Nathan MacKinnon.
Retrospectively, the trade technically favours the Devils
Looking back on this all, the Devils technically win because they ultimately traded Hall a season and a half after his MVP campaign. The Oilers, meanwhile, saw Larsson be selected by the Seattle Kraken in their Expansion Draft. And some of the assets the Devils got have helped them immensely.
Nick Merkley, and the guy he was traded for, Christian Jaros, combined to play just 15 games for the Devils. Nate Schnarr is long forgotten. But Kevin Bahl played plenty of games for the Devils. Furthermore, New Jersey selected Dawson Mercer with the 2020 first-round pick, and flipped the third-rounder for Jonas Siegenthaler.
For Edmonton, the solace is that they were able to pick up a different veteran defenceman, that being Keith. Coming over via trade, Keith provided the guidance that helped Evan Bouchard become the player he is today, and when Keith retired after his lone Oilers season, the Oilers did not incur any cap penalties. Having that cap space ultimately allowed them to assemble the rosters that would go on to make consecutive Stanley Cup Finals.
Both teams ultimately had one season of direct benefit from their respective acquisitions. New Jersey can say they officially “won” the trade by getting really good assets for Hall. Edmonton can unofficially claim a victory, in having the cap space freed up to first acquire an NHL100 Greatest Player, and then retaining and complementing their stars.
Hall and Larsson have had success with their current teams
So how have Hall and Larsson done? Well, for one player, it’s pretty straightforward. With the other? You could call it an odyssey, of sorts.
Larsson is one of the multiple original Kraken players still with the team to this day. The Kraken haven’t been world-beaters yet, but their 2023 run to Game 7 of the second round captivated many hockey fans. That run doesn’t happen, arguably, without Larsson helping to form part of a solid Kraken defence corps.
Hall, on the other hand, turned into a journeyman for quite some time. His Puckdoku-saviour trek first took him to Buffalo, then on to Boston, and through to Chicago. Neither of those teams saw much success during Hall’s stints with them.
Only upon landing with the Carolina Hurricanes has he finally found success as a middle-six forward. He scored the clinching goal in this year’s Stanley Cup Final, as a matter of fact. Besides pure spite for a division rival, Hall was arguably the only reason Oilers fans cheered for the same team that beat the Oilers for the Cup two decades ago.
The book is largely closed on this trade. It is certainly one of the trades of all-time, and will be debated for a long time to come. But for all sides except New Jersey, it has a mostly-satisfying ending.
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