Reader poll: big trades

Published 9:49 am Monday, September 29, 2014

When the Silvertips acquired winger Nikita Scherbak from Saskatoon last Monday, it generated about as much buzz as any trade in Everett’s 12-year history, and with good reason. He’s an exciting offensive player who’s a first-round NHL draft pick, and he’s expected to do great things for the Tips this season.

Anyway, it got me to thinking. Is this the biggest trade in franchise history?

When I think of big trades I don’t necessarily think of how they ended up, but of how big they were at the time they were made. How high a profile were the players involved, and were there big reactions from the fans to the deals? Scherbak, being a first-round NHL draft pick who warranted two high bantam draft picks (a first rounder in 2015 and a second rounder in 2016) and a young player, (goaltender Nik Amundrud) is right up there in those regards.

What other trades could be included in the discussion for biggest in Silvertips history? Here are the others that come to mind:

– July 11, 2005: Everett receives winger John Lammers and a fourth-round bantam pick from Lethbridge for winger Curtis Billsten, prospect Keegan Bourelle and a fifth-round bantam pick.

The skinny: This trade was big not only on its own, but because it also coincided with the signing of Peter Mueller. Lammers was a skilled third-round NHL draft pick who hadn’t developed in Lethbridge quite the way the Hurricanes would have liked, at one point even being sent home by the team as a disciplinary measure. Everett was coming off two excellent seasons at the beginning of franchise history, but almost all the success was predicated on defense. By bringing in Lammers and Mueller, it signified the possibility of Everett winning games by scoring goals, not just preventing them. Lammers ended up playing just one season in Everett, but he posted 38 goals and 37 assists and earned MVP honors on a team that won the U.S. Division title and reached the Western Conference finals. A fun side fact about the trade is that the fifth-rounder sent to Lethbridge was used to draft defenseman Brennan Yadlowski, who would himself be traded to Everett five years later.

– Dec. 12, 2006: Everett receives defenseman Jesse Zetariuk and winger Carter Smith from Moose Jaw for defenseman Cody Thoring, winger Brady Calla and a sixth-round bantam pick

– Jan. 10, 2007: Everett receives defenseman Dane Crowley and winger Jordan Mistelbacher from Swift Current for defenseman Eric Doyle.

The skinny: I group these two together because they came less than a month apart and both went toward the same purpose. Everett was stacked in 2006-07, eventually winning the Scotty Munro Trophy for the league’s best record. But if there was a knock on the Tips it was that they were a little undersized and a little soft. These two deals were designed to address that, bringing in a pair of big, tough, experienced defensemen in exchange for younger players with a lot of promise. The Zetariuk trade created a lot of noise largely because of the players who departed, as Thoring was the popular team captain and Calla was part of the famous 88 draft class (I’m not sure I ever got complete confirmation, but I’m pretty sure Calla asked for a trade). Then at the trade deadline the Tips parted with Doyle, their 16-year-old first-round bantam pick, to acquire Crowley. Zetariuk and Crowley helped the Tips to the regular season title, but the Tips ultimately fell short in their bid for the Memorial Cup, getting upset by Prince George in the second round of the playoffs.

– Jan. 6, 2009: Everett sends winger Kyle Beach and defenseman Mike Alexander to Lethbridge for winger Dan Iwanski, defenseman Alex Theriau and a first-round bantam pick. Alexander chose not to stay in Lethbridge and was later returned to Everett in exchange for a fifth-round bantam pick.

The skinny: This was a true blockbuster. Beach was the Tips’ star, a first-round NHL draft pick with all the ability in the world. But Beach was a controversial figure and his antics were wearing thin in Everett, so general manager Doug Soetaert decided to put everyone out of their misery. In return the Tips received a pair of first-rounders as Theriau was a 16-year-old who was also a first-round pick. Beach went to Lethbridge, where he proceeded to get the Eastern Conference as furious at him as the Western Conference already was, then failed to put the Hurricanes over the top as Lethbridge finished fourth in the Central Division and lost in the second round of the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Tips received a future first-round bantam pick that shows up later in this list.

– July 26, 2010: Everett receives center Landon Ferraro from Red Deer for center Byron Froese and a third-round bantam pick.

The skinny: This one didn’t work out so well for the Tips. Everett was coming off an excellent 2009-10 campaign and the acquisition of Ferraro, the former second-overall pick in the bantam draft and a high second-round pick in the NHL draft, was going to give the Tips the offensive firepower to keep the momentum going. However, to make it happen Everett had to part with the anchor of the famed Kid Line in Froese, who did all the dirty work for Kellan Tochkin and Tyler Maxwell. It backfired as Ferraro suffered through an injury-plagued season and never developed the same chemistry with Tochkin and Maxwell that Froese had. The trade was a major factor in why Everett had one of the more disappointing seasons in franchise history. The Tips gave up the draft pick in the deal, but Froese ended up outpointing Ferraro 81-27.

– May 8, 2012: Everett sends defenseman Seth Jones to Portland for defensemen Ben Betker and Reece Willcox and forwards Tyler Sandhu and Mitch Skapski.

The skinny: Remember that first-round bantam pick I referred to from the Beach trade? The Tips ended up using that pick to take a flyer on Jones, a highly-touted American defenseman who was a question mark on whether he would ever play in the WHL. For three years Soetaert wined and dined Jones and his family, and if the rumors are to be believed he’d succeeded in his recruitment. But Soetaert was dismissed in February of 2012, and all the work that went into recruiting Jones to Everett evaporated. Jones decided he wouldn’t play for Everett, and new Tips general manager Garry Davidson found himself being forced to trade Jones to his former employer for a package of prospects. Those prospects, Betker and Sandhu in particular, have been valuable members of the Tips. But Jones ended up leading the Winterhawks to the WHL championship, and after the season was picked fourth overall in the NHL draft.

So what’s your choice?