#7. Larry Murphy Gets Sent to Detroit
The trade:
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Future Considerations
- Detroit Red Wings acquire: Larry Murphy
Larry Murphy was essentially the modern-day Jake Gardiner. Both players were immensely skilled offensively, but were ridiculed during their time in Toronto. The fan-base unfairly sent both players packing, despite their resume.
What makes this trade so terrible, is that the team got nothing in return for Murphy. They essentially shipped one of the best offensive defenseman all-time to one of the best teams in the NHL for nothing. When Murphy arrived in Detroit, he was brilliant.
In fact, he won back-to-back Stanley Cups. I know the Toronto Maple Leafs weren’t great when they had Murphy for 1.5 seasons, but they were just about to be. He would have been reliable on the team’s blue-line and someone who could have provided a ton of experience and talent for the team, as they made their own run at a Stanley Cup.
The fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs traded the 36-year-old defenseman who making over $2M per season wasn’t the issue, but it’ll continue to be the fact they never got anything in return. For someone so talented, you think they could have shipped him somewhere for a prospect or draft pick, but instead let the future Hall-of-Famer walk for nothing.