Colorado Avalanche: The 9 Biggest Trades in Franchise History

The Colorado Avalanche have a history of being very active in the trade market and have pulled off quite a few stunners.

Even though Pierre Lacroix is no longer the GM, the Avalanche have still been involved in quite a few blockbusters.

Some of the trades worked out long term, some were definite rentals and several of them had long lasting effect on the team.

So here are the nine biggest trades in Colorado Avalanche history.

Theo Fleury

The Colorado Avalanche had been trying to find some way to return to the Stanley Cup Finals after coming up short in both the 1997 and 1998 playoffs.

Then the Avalanche pulled this stunner out of left field that pretty much caught the entire hockey world by surprise.

On Feb. 28th, 1999, the Colorado Avalanche traded Rene Corbet, Wade Belak, Robyn Regehr and a second-round draft pick to Calgary for Theoren Fleury and Chris Dingman.

He was very effective, scoring 24 points in 15 games to end the season and then logging 17 points in 18 playoff games.

Sadly, the Colorado Avalanche came up short, once again, losing to the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals.

This was a huge deal because of what a fixture Fleury had always been in the Calgary organization. Sadly, Fleury was just a rental as he went to the Rangers following year.

Fleury had great chemistry with Joe Sakic, and they could have won several titles together had they been able to stick together long term.

Sandis Ozolinsh

It has been quite a while since this trade came to pass, and I think there are probably a few Avalanche fans out there who think that Ozolinsh came over to Denver the same time that the Nordiques did.

Obviously, this is not the case since he's made the slide show.

Ozolinsh was actually part of the San Jose Sharks for a few years before the Avalanche acquired him and sent their former first-overall pick, Owen Nolan, to San Jose in exchange.

This was definitely a case of both teams winning as the Avalanche had a very deep roster and really could afford to lose Nolan.

Ozolinsh became one of the elite offensive defenseman in the game during his time with the Avalanche, three times crossing the 50-point threshold. He even once broke 60 points.

The Avalanche later traded Ozo away to Carolina, and he struggled to find a consistent home after that.

At the time, the arrival of Ozolinsh was one of the greatest pieces to the puzzle of that 1996 Stanley Cup team, and the Avalanche were better for having him.

Claude Lemieux

The Colorado Avalanche acquired Claude Lemieux just before the start of the 1995-1996 season and gave up Wendel Clark in the process.

Claude Lemieux was a fantastic addition to the team that really needed veterans that knew what it took to win big games, having been ousted in the first round by an eighth-seeded team the previous year.

Claude brought that in spades, having been a part of the New Jersey Devils team that won the Stanley Cup the year before, taking home the Conn Smythe for his time as well.

Lemieux's presence was one that really elevated the team and helped them on the road to many victories.

It also solidified one of the best lines in Colorado Avalanche history. The Lemieux, Forsberg, Kamensky line that could kill you in so many ways.

Rob Blake

Big Rob Blake was another deal that really surprised me, especially considering how deep the Avalanche already were during the 2000-2001 season.

Rob Blake ended up spending several years in Denver after being the final piece to the Stanley Cup puzzle in 2001.

Colorado traded Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller and a first-round draft pick in the 2001 and 2003 drafts to the Kings in exchange for Rob Blake and Steve Reinprecht. 

Both players ended up spending a few more year in Colorado before heading different direction.

Blake's blast from the blue line is something that the Avalanche are only now really managing to replace, not to mention his uncanny ability to nail people with that old-school hip check as they crossed the blue line.

Rob Blake was a great addition to the Avalanche, and Colorado fans still remember him very fondly.

Erik Johnson

Erik Johnson is a former first-overall draft pick of the St. Louis Blues that just came to the Avalanche this past season in a blockbuster trade.

This deal Avalanche fans are very familiar with, because many of us are still waiting to see how things turn out in this deal.

The Avalanche acquired Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and St. Louis' first-round draft pick in exchange for Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart and Colorado's second-round draft pick.

The Avalanche ended up using this draft pick to draft Duncan Siemens, who will probably still have at least one more season before joining the big squad, but his future is bright.

Johnson still has an incredible amount of talent and showed it during his brief time with the Avalanche thus far. He's strong and physical, a great offensive sense of when to jump into the play and an absolute laser of a slap shot.

We don't know quite how well things have turned out yet, but I believe that the Avalanche are better off.

Raymond Bourque

Is there a more iconic image in hockey today than that of Ray Bourque lifting the Stanley Cup after 22 years in the league, and his son standing just behind him crying his eyes out as he watches his dad live his dream?

If there is, I'd like to see it.

Ray Bourque's deal to come to Colorado wasn't a huge one, but it was something that definitely had a huge shape on why the Avalanche won the cup in 2001.

Bourque was traded to the Avalanche along with Dave Andreychuck in exchange for Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, Samuel Pahlsson and a first-round draft pick.

Bourque's quest for the cup was the emotional foundation for that 2001 Stanley Cup Championship team. Every single person knew that if they wanted to get Ray his cup, it had to be that year, and nobody wanted to let him down.

Ray Bourque, what a huge pick up he was.

The Chris Drury Trade

This is probably the only trade on this list that definitely didn't work out that well for the Avalanche in the long run.

Chris Drury made a huge impact on the Avalanche in his rookie year and showed throughout his time in Colorado that he was capable of scoring big time goals in big time situations.

He won the Calder Trophy, for rookie of the year and was instrumental in helping the Avalanche on to their second Stanley Cup in 2001.

Then, the unthinkable happened. The Avalanche announced that they were trading Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Derek Morris, Jeff Shantz and Dean McAmmond.

Mostly this was a Drury for Morris deal with a few other people to go along with it.

Morris ended up being a huge bust, never produced the way the Avalanche had hoped and was traded away to Phoenix two years later.

Drury went on to produce very well for the Buffalo Sabres and then signed a huge deal in New York.

I still wonder what could have been if Drury had not been traded away from the Avalanche, and it is the only deal that I really hold against Pierre Lacroix.

Peter Forsberg

The deal that brought Peter Forsberg to the Quebec Nordiques, soon to be the Colorado Avalanche, was an absolute monster of a deal.

Everybody in Colorado can thank Eric Lindros for being a crybaby and refusing to play for Quebec. After Quebec drafted Lindros, they traded him to Philadelphia in exchange for a small army, which included: Peter Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Mike Ricci, Ron Hextall, a first round draft pick, $15 million, and future considerations (that turned out to be Chris Simon and another draft pick).

Just a couple of years later, Quebec found themselves on top of the Eastern Conference, while Philadelphia had themselves a concussion prone Eric Lindros.

Peter Forsberg's rookie year was shortened by the NHL lockout, but he scored 50 points in 47 games and won the Calder Trophy.

He later won a scoring title, a league MVP, two Olympic Gold Medals, two Stanley Cups and played in several All-Star games.

I think it's safe to say that the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise won that trade.

Patrick Roy

Patrick Roy earns the top mark for a couple reasons. First, Patrick Roy is the greatest goalie to ever play the game, and the fact that the Avalanche were able to acquire him really is what turned them from a very good team into a powerhouse.

Second, this might have been the most one-sided trade in the history of professional sports.

Patrick Roy's trade didn't involve the army of people that Peter Forsberg's did, but it was still essentially pocket change that was given to Montreal.

Patrick Roy came to Colorado with Mike Keane in exchange for Martin Rucinsky, Andrei Kovalenko and Jocelyn Thibault.

For a player the caliber of Patrick Roy, you would expect that the Avalanche would also have had to sent the same type of army back to Montreal that came to them from Philadelphia.

Roy's entrance solidified Colorado's long term presence as a Stanley Cup contender, and he was absolutely essential in the two Stanley Cup Championships won by Colorado as he proved by taking home his third Conn Smythe in 2001.

Long live St. Patrick!

Questions, Comments, Concerns?

Kevin Goff is a Featured Columnist for the Colorado Avalanche and is an official member of Bleacher Report's 2011 NHL Draft team. 

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