Carolina Hurricanes: The Jack Johnson Trade Tree
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.
Carolina’s side of the trade.
Carolina would give up a former 3rd overall pick, but it wasn’t for nothing. Tim Gleason and Eric Belanger would be the players heading back to Raleigh. Belanger played 56 games for the Hurricanes amassing 8 goals and 12 helpers for 20 points in just 1 year with the team. He would walk into free agency where he would sign with the Atlanta Thrashers.
Belanger would later be traded to the Nashville Predators for Josef Vasicek. However, it’s not the trade that springs to mind right away. Vasicek was originally traded to Nashville in exchange for Scott Walker. This is the trade that bought him back to Carolina after they realized that trading him to the Predators in the first place might have been a gigantic mistake.
A player was taken from us all far too soon, Vasicek was not a headline grabber. He wasn’t someone who scored 19 goals and 46 points to lead the team in scoring, which is why it was so strange when he did just that in 2003. He would tally 57 goals and 78 assists during his time in Carolina. Over 341 games, his 135 points would help the team capture the cup in 2006.
Moving on to Tim Gleason, he would become a staple of the Carolina Hurricanes for a long time. Across 9 years with the Carolina Hurricanes, he played in 546 NHL games with the organization. He collected 14 goals and 93 assists for a total of 107 points in the regular season. However, perhaps his most memorable moment as a Cane came in the shock at the rock in 2009.
On his knees, he keeps a puck in at the blue line after an errant pass, which allowed the Canes to go tick-tack-goal on the Devils and tie the game up with a little more than a minute left before a late goal from a future Canes captain would seal it and pave the way for the Canes to the second round against the Boston Bruins, another series in which Gleason was a massive factor.
However, as with most players, there became a point where he was trade bait, and being the caliber of player he was, it was only right to expect him to be on the move, which he was. He would be moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for John Michael-Liles and Dennis Robertson. Two players who make this trade tree a real pain in the neck to make.
John Michael-Liles wasn’t anything special in Carolina, however, he was far from a major issue. Across 3 seasons, he played in 156 games while scoring 10 goals and 36 assists for 46 points. However, his time in Carolina would come to an end the same way it started, on the move again. He was flipped to Boston for Anthony Camara, a 2016 3rd and a 2017 5th.
Picks are magic beans, but the 2016 3rd would become Jack Lafontaine. Not someone who’s likely going to take the NHL by storm, but there’s still a long way to go with the development of this goaltender. The 2017 5th would move to Vegas for expansion draft considerations, but Jack Dugan is not someone who is going to be remarked as a blue-chip prospect.
Dennis Robertson traded again.
I did mention that Carolina acquired Dennis Robertson in the Tim Gleason trade. I did not mention what Carolina got back for him. That is because it’s a lot and it’s a reach to say that Robertson directly resulted in Carolina acquiring these players, but it’s a good trade for the Canes organization so I thought I’d include it.
Robertson was included along with Jake Massie and a 2017 5th that was shipped to Chicago in exchange for Joakim Nordstrom, Kris Versteeg with (2,200,000 retained), and a 2017 3rd round pick.
To this point, neither Massie nor Robertson has played at the NHL level. So, there’s not too much to talk about on the Blackhawks side of things. However, the Hurricanes acquired some very talented NHL players. This was very much a cap dump move for the Blackhawks, but it doesn’t mean Carolina didn’t get something beneficial from this as well.
Starting with Nordstrom, again, not a flashy player. However, an efficient bottom 6 forward. Someone capable of doing a sterling defensive job on anyone while bringing energy and physicality to a team, Nordstrom didn’t always have his scoring touch. However, this didn’t stop him from tallying 19 goals and 24 assists in 228 games for the Canes. Not headline-grabbing, not too bad though.
Moving to Kris Versteeg, when he arrived in Carolina, the better part of his career was behind him. I don’t think there’s any spice in that take. He was a great leader and really did show a lot of the kids how to play well with the puck at the NHL level. Versteeg did collect 11 goals and 22 assists in his 63 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, but by the end of the year, he was being flipped.
Versteeg was traded to Los Angeles for Valentin Zykov. Zykov struggled in Carolina for a long time. With only 25 games with the Canes, he collected4 goals and 11 points which aren’t anything to turn your nose up at. He wasn’t an outstanding player during his time with the Canes. And in the end, he would leave the team for nothing, being claimed on waivers by Edmonton.
Does your head hurt yet? Oh, we’re not done yet.
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- Noesen Ready To Provide Depth For Canes
I mentioned there were picks involved with this trade. There’s a lot to go from here. The 2017 3rd rounder Carolina got became Keith Petruzzelli. Not a household name, he’s not made the NHL yet. But at less than 22 years of age, there’s still a lot of time with this pick for him to correct that as time progresses. Petruzzelli is a Detroit prospect.
The 2017 5th Carolina departed with? That became Kristoffer Gunnarsson. This is a player in the Vancouver system, not someone who sticks out as a sure-fire NHL player, at 24 years old, he’s never made the NHL, and his likelihood of making it is dwindling. Not really two players to be overly concerned about for fans reviewing these trades looking for players drafted from opposition’s picks.
So, all in all, this trade was massive for both teams. Not only did it allow the LA Kings to become a powerhouse in the west, but it forced the Canes to extend their rebuild, which is visible throughout the trade tree, even five, six, seven years later, they’re taking cap dumps trying to build for the future. It really changed both team’s directions, considering this was just before Carolina won its cup, and Los Angeles was still rebuilding.
Anyway, I need painkillers now for that headache.
Next. Could Carolina trade for Stamkos?!. dark