How does it work out when a player demands a trade?

Other trade demands

In 1995 Patrick Roy gave up nine goals in a loss to Detroit.  Humiliated, the goalie told the Canadiens he would never play for them again. A few days later he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche along with Mike Keane in exchange for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. The three players were just okay for Montreal, but Roy won two Stanley Cups with Colorado and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2001 and the Jennings Trophy in 2002.

In 1987 Paul Coffey wanted a raise that the Edmonton Oilers couldn’t afford. He refused to report and was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins where he won a Stanley Cup in 1991. The Oilers did win the Cup without Coffey in 1988.

Mentioning Alexei Yashin induces nausea for Islander fans.  After a 44 goal, 94 point season, Yashin actually sat out a season in a contract dispute with the Ottawa Senators.  He returned to play one season in Ottawa after an arbitrator’s ruling, but was then sent to to Nassau in exchange for Zdeno Chara and a draft pick that turned into Jason Spezza.  The Isles then gave him a 10-year, $87 million contract that they eventually ended up buying out.  The deal is regarded as the best ever by the Senators and one of the Islanders’ worst.

In 2015-16, Jonathan Drouin of the Lightning asked out of Tampa Bay when he didn’t get along with coach Jon Cooper.  With his ice time reduced, he demanded a deal and actually spent much of the season in the AHL in Syracuse.  He returned to Tampa in 2016-17 for a full season, but the Lightning never stopped looking for a trading partner and they found one in the Montreal Canadiens.  They were able to sell high as Drouin had a solid 21 goal, 53 point season at age 21.  In exchange the Lightning got top defensive prospect Mikhail Sergachev.  Drouin has seen his production slip in his four years in Montreal while Sergachev is a two-time Cup winner in Tampa.  Chalk another one up for Steve Yzerman and the Lightning.

The most famous trade demand came from Eric Lindros in 1992 before he even became an NHL player.  He refused to play for the Quebec Nordiques after they drafted him in 1991 and he ended up traded to the Flyers a year later.  While he found stardom in Philadelphia, it was the Colorado Avalanche (former the Nordiques) that ended up winning two Stanley Cup with Peter Forsberg, the primary return they got for Lindros.

The scorecard

When a star player asks out from a team the results are mixed. One thing is certain, teams should not overpay when a team is forced to deal an unhappy player. Unfortunately, the tendency is precisely the opposite. NHL general managers see it as an opportunity to acquire a generational player and they are willing to give up too much.

It’s a lesson to be learned by any team, including the Rangers, who may be looking at Jack Eichel and Vladimir Tarasenko as possible trade targets.