The Battle of Alberta had seen better days in 2014. Both the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames were mired in rebuilds, which is where we find the origins of the Jeff Petry trade web.
If you missed it, I highly recommend reading the preamble for some information on how to follow the trade web before moving on.
The Oilers Decade of Darkness
We’ll start our story in Edmonton, with the Oilers mired in the ‘Decade of Darkness’. Following their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2006, the Oilers missed the playoffs the following year and didn’t return to the postseason until 2017. The interim was filled with plenty of high draft picks and draft lottery luck although the team was unable to translate that into even regular season success.
In 2014, the Oilers were were still very much in a rebuilding mode. Veterans on expiring contracts were expendable with an aim to add future assets and we find our first entries in the trade web under these circumstances.
At the 2014 trade deadline, longtime Oiler and fan favorite Ales Hemsky was traded to the Ottawa Senators for a 2014 5th round pick and a 2015 3rd round pick. A year later, the Oilers dealt pending UFA Jeff Petry to the Montreal Canadiens at the 2015 trade deadline, with a 2015 2nd round pick and a 2015 4th round pick received in return.
The Oilers made a move using some of the picks acquired in the Hemsky and Petry trades in the summer of 2015 that would help end their playoff drought. With Henrik Lundqvist firmly entrenched as the #1 goaltender for the New York Rangers, Cam Talbot became available after putting together some strong numbers as King Henrik’s backup. The Oilers flipped two of the draft picks they acquired in the Hemsky and Petry trades to the New York Rangers in exchange for Cam Talbot, while the teams also swapped 7th round picks in the trade.
The Rangers subsequently traded down in the 2015 draft, sending the 2015 2nd round pick to Washington in exchange for a 3rd and a 5th and the Blueshirts failed to draft a player of note with their resulting 3 picks. With the 3 draft picks the Oilers kept, they landed one notable future NHLer: Caleb Jones.
Flickering Flames
While their provincial rivals muddled through a decade long playoff drought, the Calgary Flames had trouble of their own. Declining results following their own run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2004 led to a rebuild, marked by the 2013 trade sending superstar Jarome Iginla to the Penguins. The selloff continued into the 2014-2015 season which is where we find another entry point into the trade web.
The Flames jettisoned fan favorite Curtis Glencross to the Washington Capitals at the 2015 trade deadline, receiving a 2015 2nd round pick and 2015 3rd round pick in exchange for the pending UFA. The Flames would trade both picks again before the draft.
The 2nd round pick was included in the package of picks that brought Dougie Hamilton to Calgary, with Calgary’s own 1st and 2nd round picks in the 2015 draft also going to the Bruins in the deal. The Flames then traded up in the draft, sending the 3rd round pick from the Glencross trade and their own 3rd round pick to Arizona for a 2nd round pick.
The Bruins landed future NHLer Jeremy Lauzon and fringe NHLer Zach Senyshyn with their draft picks, the Coyotes drafted Adin Hill, and the Flames selected Oliver Kylington.
Capitals Load Up
The Capitals acquisition of Glencross came as they chased a Stanley Cup with Alex Ovechkin leading the way and we find the acquisition of Jaroslav Halak a year earlier following the same vein. It’s the pick the Capitals acquired in the Halak trade that we’re more interested in for the trade web however. The 2015 3rd round pick was subsequently traded to the Rangers to move up in the 2015 draft. The 2nd round pick they acquired was one the Rangers acquired in the Cam Talbot trade and the Caps used it to select Jonas Seigenthaler.
Jeff Petry Trade Web: 2014-2015
At the end of the 2015 offseason, we’re left with 2 open threads that have not yet connected: the Jeff Petry branch and the Curtis Glencross branch.
Jeff Petry Trade Web Stats – Part 1:
- # Trades: 8
- Teams involved: 9
- Unique Players traded: 8
- Unique Draft picks traded: 14
Continue into the 2015-2016 season with Part 2, where blockbuster deals hit the NHL and their ripples extend into the trade web.
Post-publication Note: I discovered after the initial trade web was complete that the 2015 2nd Round Pick that Calgary acquired in trade 15C was actually a TBL pick, not an ARI pick. That means that Arizona acquired it from somewhere and there’s an open thread here. Some cursory exploration shows it traces back the TBL/NYR trade sending Martin St Louis to New York and Ryan Callahan to Tampa Bay. There’s a lot of hair on it due to the draft picks involved and it looks like it ties back into the web in 2023, so I’m going to tackle it as an addendum.
