CANADIENS' BEST TRADE
Shrewd moves led to Lafleur
This week, we're looking at the five best trades in Canadiens history. Today, No. 1:
When the NHL was setting the guidelines for its first expansion in 1967, Canadiens general manager Sam Pollock proposed a rule that would have prohibited expansion teams from trading their firstround draft picks.
The proposal was rejected by the other members of the Original Six and Pollock made them regret that decision.
Pollock believed the best chance for the expansion teams to improve was to build through the draft, but, when the other teams gave him the green light, he took advantage of the Canadiens' depth to stockpile draft choices.
He put together packages of veteran NHL players and minor-leaguers who weren't good enough for a six-team NHL, but suddenly found new opportunities with expansion. Pollock was so successful in off-loading Montreal's spare parts that he had 17 firstround picks from 1969 to 1974.
Pollock used those picks to select Steve Shutt, Réjean Houle, Marc Tardif, Murray Wilson, Mario Tremblay, Bunny Larocque, Rick Chartraw, John Van Boxmeer and Bob Gainey.
And then there was Guy Lafleur. Pollock wasn't sure whether he was going to draft Lafleur with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1971 draft, but he did know that he wanted the pick. He was torn between Lafleur, who had been on everyone's radar since he starred at the Quebec Peewee tournament, and Marcel Dionne, a native of Drummondville who won back-to-back OHA scoring titles with the Niagara Falls Flyers.
Pollock thought his best chance of getting the No. 1 selection was a trade with the California Golden Seals. He gave up a first-round pick in 1970 (10th overall) and minor-league forward Ernie Hicke to acquire the Golden Seals' firstround pick in 1971 and defenceman François Lacombe, who never played for the Canadiens, but did appear in 440 games with the Quebec Nordiques.
As Pollock expected, the Golden Seals were bad, but the Los Angeles Kings were even worse. By midseason, the Kings were in danger of dropping behind California. The Kings had traded their No. 1 pick to Boston and Pollock's only option was to make Los Angeles better. He accomplished that by trading 33-year-old Ralph Backstrom to the Kings for Gord Labossiere and Ray Fortin. They would never play for the Canadiens, but Pollock wasn't interested in the return.
Backstrom had won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1959 and had five 20-goals season with Montreal, but his role with the team diminished. He requested a trade after the 1969-70 season, but Pollock turned him down and Backstrom pondered retirement. He staged a brief holdout in 1970 and was frequently scratched after his return. He had one goal and four assists in 16 games before Pollock traded him on Jan. 26, 1971.
Backstrom had the desired effect on the Kings. He scored 14 goals and added 13 assists in 33 games as the Kings went from last place to fifth in the Western Conference. The Golden Seals finished with the worst record in the league, 10 points behind the Detroit Red Wings.
By the time the draft was held at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Pollock had decided that Lafleur was his choice, and the Red Wings would use the No. 2 pick to select Dionne.
Dionne was an immediate star in Detroit, leading the Red Wings in scoring in each of his first seasons, while Lafleur struggled somewhat before he had a breakthrough in 1974-75 with 53 goals and 119 points. In 1980, he became the first NHL player to record 50 goals and 100 points in six consecutive seasons.
Dionne and Lafleur had Hall of Fame careers. Dionne would play more games (1,348-1,126), score more goals (731-560) and had more points (1,771-1,353). But Lafleur would enjoy more highlights in his career. He won three scoring titles — Dionne had one — and twice won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player. But it was in the playoffs that Lafleur had the wide edge. He won five Stanley Cups with Montreal, while Dionne got past the first round only once.