The Carolina Hurricanes are still collecting on Jack Johnson
In 2005, the Carolina Hurricanes traded Jack Johnson to the LA Kings and we’re still seeing the effects of that move to this day.
This is going to get a little crazy. But, I think this is going to disparage any rumors that I am “a lazy writer”. In 2005, a trade was made involving want-away 3rd overall draft pick Jack Johnson. When he was traded, the resulting tree would alter the direction of both organizations for a number of years. It shook the hockey landscape and altered the hockey world forever.
It created a wagon in southern California and plunged another organization into the midst of a rebuild that would take a decade and a half to recover from. This is a trade that often gets overlooked in terms of the Carolina Hurricanes organization. It is one that both Los Angeles and Carolina are still reaping the benefits from to this point in time, indirectly of course.
I’m going to start on this with the Los Angeles side of things, to begin with, because it’s far simpler than diving into the Carolina side. When Los Angeles acquired Johnson, they acquired Oleg Tverdovsky alongside the young kid. Tverdovsky would only play 26 games as an LA King, and would never find the net, only adding 4 points from the blue line. But Johnson would serve much more up.
In 343 games in Southern California with the LA Kings, Johnson scored 30 goals and totaled 124 points from the back end. Although his time in Los Angeles would never bring them to the prized Stanley Cup, Los Angeles would get an asset for this player that would become a key part of their 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup Championship wagons. The sent Johnson with a 2013 1st for this player.
That player? Jeff Carter. Yes, in exchange for a 2013 1st round pick and Jack Johnson, Los Angeles acquired Jeff Carter. This trade was made during the 2011-12 NHL season, and that same year, Jeff Carter would help push the LA Kings over the top as they collected the first Stanley Cup in Los Angeles King’s history. He has tallied 186 goals and 364 points in 540 NHL games with the Kings.
Now that 2013 1st round pick. I can hear you asking who it became. The answer? Marko Dano. Want to have fun? Dano was traded to Chicago, with Artem Anisimov, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp, and a 2016 4th for Alex Broadhurst, Michael Paliotta, and Brandon Saad. Yes, that trade.
But that is enough about Los Angeles. Seeing as this is CardiacCane after all, it’s only right we dive into some Canes stuff. So, who wants a massive headache? This trade tree gets complex so I’m going to go trade by trade to break this down across the next few slides so it’s easier for myself and hopefully anyone who stumbles their way onto this.