Defining a career in the trades
As I was walking down Yonge Street during a beautiful July afternoon last summer, an oncoming car slowed down before the passenger leaned out the window, locked eyes with me and blurted out three haunting words: “Courtnall for Kordic!”
More than 30 years after I made that trade, Maple Leafs fans still won’t let me forget it.
And while that comes with the territory of being a former general manager, the art and pursuit of a trade still trumps the other responsibilities of the job. I was a GM in a 21-team NHL, and almost every conversation with another manager included questions such as “Who would you move?” or “Who do you like on our team?” or “What are you hearing?”
It’s no different than what Leafs GM Brad Treliving deals with in today’s 32-team league. It is a constant dance. Some prospective partners turn you down, some want to go slow, some like to go very fast.
What is important in making any trade is getting up-to-date, complete perspectives on all players on the other NHL teams, their AHL teams and their drafted prospects. General managers nowadays have a much larger staff than I did. But you still usually have one or two go-to individuals for reliable assessments. If you ask your scouts about a player, you need an immediate and accurate analysis. Where exactly does he fit on your team in the talent pecking order? Is he a good fit for us? What will he bring off the ice?
At the end of the back and forth, it becomes a lonely process. You make the final decision to make the trade or not, and will ultimately wear it for years to come. I have felt different emotions at this moment. When I was on the job in an era without cellphones, email or internet, it was time-consuming just to keep connecting with the other 20 GMs.
My first trade started when then-Detroit Red Wings general manager Jimmy Devellano stopped me at the 1988 NHL awards in Toronto to propose swapping two players who needed a change of scenery. A week later, we sent Miroslav Frycer to Detroit for Darren Veitch.
A few days later, I was reminded of why Devellano suggested Frycer had to go. I ran into him at Maple Leaf Gardens on a warm June day. He was there to meet our trainers and pick up some of his equipment to take south of the border. I walked him into the dressing room, but I hadn’t expected head coach John Brophy to be there. They detested each other. I hoped that Brophy would go back to his small office, but true to form he walked up to within inches of Frycer’s face and uttered a “f--- you.” On his way out, Frycer returned the favour with a “f--- you, Broph.” I hoped that my future trades would bring more pleasant introductions.
The one trade that I never felt good about was sending 23-yearold winger Russ Courtnall to Montreal in exchange for forward John Kordic. There were many extenuating circumstances, and once again Brophy was at the centre of them. He liked Courtnall just slightly more than he had detested Frycer, but he valued Kordic’s heavyweight status from when he had worked in the Canadiens organization a few years earlier.
At the end of the day it was still my deal, and it was a terrible one. I have always worn that. Leafs owner Harold Ballard actually didn’t mind it. Trades gave him the rush that everyone seemed to enjoy. I must admit, his companion Yolanda said to me shortly after the trade: “You better know what you are doing.” It was a sentiment shared by thousands of Leafs fans.
I felt that my best work came around the deadline, months after that deal. We made goaltender Ken Wregget available and I had three interested suitors in Bob Clarke with Philadelphia, Gerry Meehan with Buffalo and David Poile with Washington. Every day leading up to the deadline involved multiple calls to all three parties until finally, on the eve of the big day, Clarke separated his Flyers from the pack.
“Well, my scouts will want to kill me,” he said. “But in addition to our own, we also have Calgary’s firstround pick, so I would send you both those picks for Wregget.” Done deal.
Back then, a trade would quickly become official when both teams sent a telex to the NHL Central Registry providing identical details of the players and picks involved. Today, a trade call is required, which involves many parties and takes more time.
I felt pleased with that deal, and appreciated that Wregget stopped in my office afterward. We had a real warm chat, and then I dialed up Clarke and put Wregget on the line. Goodbyes don’t always go that way.
Sometimes these deadline deals are days or weeks in the making; others come out of nowhere. In 1981, when I was an assistant to Leafs GM Punch Imlach, the Los Angeles Kings called 15 minutes before the deadline. They had goaltending depth issues and needed to make a minor move. We gave them Jim Rutherford for a fifth-round draft choice. Now all these years later, Rutherford is one of the biggest movers and shakers in NHL offices as president of the Vancouver Canucks. He’s one of the many executives Treliving will be communicating with on an almost-daily basis leading up to March 8.
One thing that hasn’t changed since my days in the office is that Treliving’s conversations with other GMs will include those same talking points from over 30 years ago.
Who would you move? Who do you like on our team? What are you hearing?
And you can be sure that when he decides to pull the trigger on a deal, Leafs fans won’t let him forget it 30 years from now.