Sillinger understands the trade
Former forward is the ultimate suitcase study, playing for a dozen teams
Matt Duchene, Wayne Simmonds, Micheal Ferland. The names of players likely to be traded by the NHL’s Feb. 25 deadline are thrown around like stock or cattle, to be moved on a whim.
It’s not pretty, say those who have been through it. It’s just business.
“It’s what you’re treated like — a piece of meat, I guess you can say,” said retired NHLer Mike Sillinger.
“I always looked forward to the opportunity. I always knew wherever I went, I would be getting a fresh start. I wasn’t slotted in a line. You earned where you played.”
Sillinger knows better than most what it’s like to be moved. He played on 12 teams and was traded nine times over a 1,049game, 17-year career in the NHL.
“Being traded is emotional,” he said. “It depends on how attached you are to the team, how attached your family is to the area, and if you have kids in school. Every trade is emotional, but what you have to understand as a player is, it’s a business. Your contract is honoured wherever you go.
“You have to put your ego aside. Obviously it’s an honour and a privilege to play in the NHL.”
Players who have just been traded often have a lot more going on in their lives than their new teammates, which makes adjusting to a new coach or playing style or division more of a challenge. That’s probably more true of older players, many of whom have started a family and laid down roots.
“I remember, I was in Tampa for a couple of years and we were going to buy a place,” said Sillinger. “(Wife Karla) was on the phone. It was 3:10, after the deadline, and she says, ‘Looks like you made it.’ I was in Montreal getting ready and … I see my name on the ticker. I got traded to Florida. Sure as snow, the hotel phone rang and it was (then-Florida GM) Bryan Murray.
“Obviously you have to have a good family, good wife … The trades are tougher on the family than they are on the player. After a while, my wife got used to it.
Former Leaf captain Doug Gilmour was traded five times, three at the deadline. He remembers hearing his name in rumours, much like Ottawa’s Duchene, Philadelphia’s Simmonds and Carolina’s Ferland are these days.
“You don’t know where you’re going, but you might be going,” said Gilmour. “As long as somebody wants you, that’s more important. You’re not happy about it, but at the same time it’s a new challenge. That’s the way I looked at it.”
Players are not alone while trying to fit into new surroundings.
“You get to know your teammates and it doesn’t take that long,” Gilmour said. “Pretty much everybody knows each other. At some point, you’re going to have somebody you played with,” whether it was junior or minor hockey or pro. You usually know somebody on a team and that kinds of helps you out as well.”
There can be a payoff with success in the playoffs, though it didn’t work out in Sillinger’s case.
“I was traded at the deadline, more often than not, going from a non-playoff team to a playoff team. You can be bitter all you want. I was in St. Louis, having a good year — 22 goals, playing the power play — and I had to make a decision. They offered a contract, a month before the deadline.” He turned down the offer. “Doug Weight was in the same situation. We were the two guys who were going to get traded. I went to Nashville. Dougie goes to Carolina and wins the Stanley Cup. I go to Nashville and we get knocked out in the first round. Carolina needed a guy like Doug Weight.
“So, not only do you have to understand it’s a business, but also understand you didn’t fit the team’s needs or the budget … But I always looked forward to the opportunity. I always knew wherever I went, I would be getting fresh start. I wasn’t slotted in a line. You earned where you played.”