* originally published in June 2018

With the NHL Playoffs now complete the focus turns to next season and trades
will pick up again. Some trades are win-win, the Seth Jones for Ryan Johansen
deal is a good example, but plenty of trades become a significant loss for one
side (eg. Taylor Hall for Adam Larsson or Tuukka Rask for Andrew Raycroft).
Here is a look at the five worst trades from the 2017-18 season.No. 5: Calgary
Flames Trade for Travis Hamonic

The trade: Calgary Flames trade their first and second-round picks in 2018 and
a second-round pick in either 2019 or 2020 to the New York Islanders in return
for Travis Hamonic and the Islanders'; fourth-round pick in either 2019 or
2020.

Adding Hamonic to the Flames defence that already included Mark Giordano,
Dougie Hamilton, T.J. Brodie and Michael Stone was supposed to elevate it to
rank among the best defences in the NHL with the Nashville Predators and
Anaheim Ducks. They were expected to make the playoffs in 2018 and the
first-round draft pick they traded away would have been late in the first
round.Travis Hamonic #24 of the Calgary Flames handles the puck during a game
against the Los Angeles Kings at STAPLES Center on Mar. 26, 2018, in Los
Angeles, California. (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NHLI via Getty Images)

Unfortunately, that';s not how it panned out. Hamonic produced a
career-worst 11 points in 74 games and his advanced stats were nothing
special. The Flames finished below average in goals against and missed the
playoffs. That first round pick that was supposed to be a late one wound up
being twelfth overall. Cam Fowler, Max Domi, Tyler Myers and most recently,
Martin Necas are examples of players who were taken twelfth overall.No. 4:
Pittsburgh Penguins trade away Marc-Andre Fleury (kind of)

The trade: Technically the trade reads "Vegas Golden Knights acquire a 2020
second-round pick from the Pittsburgh Penguins for future considerations" but
we all know that the second-round pick was to entice the Vegas Golden Knights
to select Marc-Andre Fleury in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.

This trade would be higher on the list if Vegas had won the Stanley Cup, in
which case Fleury was a shoe-in to win the Conn Smythe Trophy, but they fell
three wins short. It';s also worth noting that Vegas could have picked Fleury
in the expansion draft regardless of the second-round pick, but there';s no
doubt that the Penguins pointed Vegas in Fleury';s direction.Marc-Andre Fleury
(Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)

The trade made sense at the time. Matt Murray had passed Fleury on the
Penguins'; depth chart and it doesn';t make sense to have a backup goaltender
with a $5.75 million cap hit. It didn';t work out for Pittsburgh though. Murray
 struggled with health issues, starting just over half of the Penguins';
regular-season games and when he did play, he underperformed. Meanwhile, Fleury
 had some health issues of his own but he was stellar when he played.

Matt Murray 2017-18 Regular Season: 2.92 GAA, .907 Sv %Marc-Andre Fleury
2017-18 Regular Season: 2.24 GAA, .927 Sv %Matt Murray 2018 Playoffs: 2.43 GAA,
 .908 Sv %Marc-Andre Fleury 2018 Playoffs: 2.24 GAA, .927 Sv %

Fleury';s playoff numbers dropped significantly in the Stanley Cup Final. He
had a sparkling .947 save % through the first three rounds of the playoffs. If
the Penguins had that kind of performance in net, they likely would have
hoisted the Stanley Cup for the third straight year.No. 3: Ottawa Senators
Trade for Matt Duchene

The trade: The Ottawa Senators received Matt Duchene from the Colorado
Avalanche in a three-team trade. They sent Kyle Turris to the Nashville
Predators and a package to the Avalanche that included Andrew Hammond, Shane
Bowers, a third-round draft pick and a conditional first-round draft pick.

This trade backfired immediately on the Senators. At the time of the trade
(Nov. 5, 2017), the Senators were second in the Atlantic Division, but
they won just 3 of their next 15 games, tumbling down to third worst in the
NHL and never recovered. Duchene had two goals, two assists and was minus-10
during that losing skid. To rub it in, Turris had 13 points during that same
time span.Matt Duchene #95, Ottawa Senators - February 3, 2018 (Amy Irvin / The
 Hockey Writers)

While it was too late to salvage the 2017-18 season, Duchene did bounce back to
 finish with a respectable 27 goals and 59 points, playing all 82 games (14
with the Avalanche and 68 with the Senators). If he re-signs, at least the
Senators have their top-line centre for the foreseeable future.

What makes this trade horrible is how it positions the Senators for the draft
and Erik Karlsson. The organization is scheduled to select fourth overall in
the 2018 NHL Draft and they have the option to give the Avalanche that pick or
their 2019 first-round pick instead. They have one of two options:

Scenario 1 - Give the 2018 pick to the Avs and lose out on one of Brady
Tkachuk, Evan Bouchard, Quinn Hughes, Oliver Wahlstrom or Adam Boqvist. This
pick could also be Filip Zadina if one of the top three selecting teams goes
off the board.

Scenario 2 - Keep the 2018 pick and automatically trade the 2019 first-round
pick to the Avs. Then the Senators would have to decide what to do with
Karlsson. They can trade him so they don';t lose him for nothing next summer,
but if they do that they may finish near the bottom of the standings again and
risk trading away the pick that might have landed mega-prospect Jack Hughes.

It';s a nasty situation to be in.No. 2: Chicago Blackhawks Trade Away Artemi
Panarin

The trade: The Chicago Blackhawks traded Artemi Panarin, Tyler Motte and their
2017 sixth-round draft pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets in return for Brandon
Saad, Anton Forsberg and the Blue Jackets'; 2018 fifth-round draft pick.

In the first round of the 2017 NHL playoffs, the top-seeded Blackhawks were
swept by the Predators. Most onlookers attributed the sweep to Pekka Rinne';s
ridiculous .976 save percentage in the series. These things happen in the
playoffs. However, Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman overreacted to the
loss, promising big changes and this catastrophic Panarin trade was the
result.Artemi Panarin (Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

There may have been other small pieces in this trade but it';s pretty close to
a one-for-one deal between Panarin and Saad. The trade looked bad for Chicago
at the time but it';s even worse now.

Artemi Panarin 2017-18 Regular Season: 81 GP, 27 Goals, 55 Assists, 82 Points,
plus-23Brandon Saad 2017-18 Regular Season: 82 GP, 18 Goals, 17 Assists, 35
Points, minus-10

Panarin was the Blue Jackets'; leading scorer by a whopping 25 points and led
the team to the playoffs. Meanwhile, Saad was terrible and the Blackhawks had
their worst season in over ten years.No. 1: Florida Panthers trade away Reilly
Smith and lose Jonathan Marchessault in the Expansion Draft

The trade: The Florida Panthers traded Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Knights
 in return for a 2018 fourth-round pick.

This trade alone was awful for the Panthers, but it was also part of a deal
that sent Jonathan Marchessault to Vegas.

I'm presuming FLA had to reduce its budget. In order to move Smith's contract,
Marchessault had to be used as inducement. A $ deal IMO.

- Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 21, 2017

As Bob McKenzie states, this deal was done for the Panthers to shed Smith';s
contract, which they had signed less than a year earlier. One of many funny
aspects to this deal is that Smith';s contract now looks like a bargain since
he put up 22 goals and 60 points and was a plus-31 in 67 regular season games
for the Golden Knights with an additional 22 points in 20 playoff games.
Marchessault had 75 points and was plus-36 in 77 regular season games and
followed it up with 21 points in 20 playoff games.

Instead of losing Smith and Marchessault, Panthers GM Dale Tallon could have
simply exposed one of Alex Petrovic or Mark Pysyk instead and perhaps they
wouldn';t have missed the playoffs by a single point. Enjoy that fourth-round
pick Florida!

The post 5 Worst Trades of the 2017-18 Season appeared first on The Hockey
Writers.

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