The Best Anaheim Ducks Trades of The Past Decade (2010-2020)

Yesterday we discussed the worst Anaheim Ducks trades from the past decade. While there weren’t too many terrible trades made by the Ducks front office over these past 10 years, there were a few that really leave a bad taste in your mouth. To chase that bad taste away, today we will look at some of the best trades that took places of the past decade. So, sit back and enjoy some of the GMBM’s best trades that made this team what it was over the past decade. And in case you forgot that was a team that won 5 straight Pacific Division Titles, 2 Western Conference Finals appearances and made the playoffs 7 out of 10 seasons. Not too shabby.

All trades researched and found via capfriendly.com

3/3/10 – Anaheim Trades Ryan Whitney and a 6th Round Pick to Edmonton for Lubomir Visnovsky

While this trade didn’t drastically alter either team involved it was still a pretty good move to start off this list. Whitney played 82 games over 2 seasons for the Ducks before getting traded away. After the trade he played in 146 games over 5 seasons with the Oilers tallying 71 total points. Meanwhile Lubo played 2 ½ season for the ducks and in those 165 games racked up 108 points. Not too shabby.

6/24/11 – Anaheim Trades #22 Over All Pick to Toronto for Picks # 30 and #39

Arguably the biggest trade the Ducks will make in the 2010’s and it doesn’t even involve any players! At the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Toronto was looking to move up a few spots so they could draft right winger Tyler Biggs. Anaheim was willing to move down and in return would receive the #30 and #39 overall picks. With these picks, they would select Rickard Rakell and John Gibson. Needless to say, this trade has been a massive flop for the Maple Leafs. Tyler Biggs never played a game in the NHL while Rakell is a two-time 30 goal scorer and Gibson is one of the league’s best goaltenders. Sadly, for Leafs fans, this isn’t the only time a trade like this will happen.

6/25/11 – Anaheim Trades Pick #157 to Toronto For Pick #160

The next day? Yup! Literally a day after the Ducks unknowingly fleece the Leafs in a draft day trade they would do it again. The audacity! At the time, this trade seemed like a nothing move. The teams would swap 6th round draft picks. Not sure why Toronto needed to move up 3 spots so badly but the Ducks kindly obliged and made the swap. I mean, how often do 6th round picks even play in the NHL? Apparently more than you’d think. Toronto would grab Ryan Rupert with the pick while Anaheim selects a big d-man named Josh Manson. Yeah. Rupert, much like Biggs, never played an NHL game while Manson has become a top 4 fixture on the Ducks blue line. Rough 2011 draft for Toronto, eh boys?

6/12/11 – Anaheim Trades a 2nd Round Pick to Edmonton for Andrew Cogliano

Let’s take a break from the Leafs for a few trades. In 2011 Anaheim made the trade to bring in speedy winger Andrew Cogliano. This trade would truly reshape this team for the next 7 years. Cogs became an all-time fan favorite thanks to his speed and work ethic, not to mention his incredible iron man streak. Andrew would end up playing 584 games for the Ducks with 102 goals and 233 points. His best years came while playing with Silfverberg and Kesler on that dynamic 3rd line that was a huge factor in our deep playoff runs in 2015 and 2017.

6/5/13 – Anaheim Trades Bobby Ryan to Ottawa for Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a 1st Round Draft Pick

After months of trade rumors surround his name, the trade finally happened. Fan favorite Bobby Ryan was shipped out of town to the Senators. At the time of this trade I personally was devastated. How could we trade Bobby! He had four straight 30 goal seasons! Needless to say, I was very wrong on this one. Since the trade, Bobby has reached the 20-goal mark only twice over 7 injury filled seasons in Ottawa and his 7-million-dollar cap hit is amongst the worst in the game (this last part is on the Sens GM but still should be mentioned). In return, the Ducks got a package that included Jakob Silfverberg, Stefan Noesen and a 1st round pick which we would use to draft Nick Ritchie. Even with the Ducks losing Noesen through waivers and Ritchie being somewhat of a bust, Silfverberg has proven to be enough to make this trade well worth it. As previously mentioned, Jakob has been a huge part of this teams’ success over the past few seasons. While over the past 7 years the two wingers have surprisingly similar point totals (Silfverberg: 263 points, Ryan: 262 points), Ryan is struggling with off ice personal issues and injuries while Silfverberg is only getting better as he was selected to his first all-star game this season.

Get well soon Bobby!

11/16/13 – Anaheim Trades Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz to Toronto for Jesse Blacker, a 2nd Round Pick and a 7th Round Pick

Oh good, we are back to the Leafs. In this edition of “the Ducks fleece the Leafs” we have Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz going to Toronto for Jessie Blacker and two draft picks. We all know how this is going to turn out, right? Brad Staubitz and Jesse Blacker would end up being a wash with neither really playing much in the NHL. Holland would play 174 games with the Leafs totaling 63 points. Then come the draft picks. The Ducks would use the 2nd over-all pick to grab Marcus Pettersson, who would turn into Daniel Sprong, and the 7th rounder to take Ondrej Kase. Kase has 95 points in 196 NHL games and is a rising star in the NHL. Toronto should really stop sending us late round draft picks seeing how GMBM turns them into gold!

6/27/14 – Anaheim Trades Luca Sbisa, Nick Bonino, a 1st Round Pick and a 3rd Round Pick to Vancouver for Ryan Kesler and a 3rd Round Pick

Bob Murray does not take big swings when it comes to trades, but when he decides to spend, he does not miss. Much is the case with trading for Ryan Kesler. With the Canucks struggling, Kesler wanted out of Vancouver and would only accept a trade to a short list of teams. Anaheim was amongst those teams listed and, in the summer of 2014, GMBM would make it happen. The teams would swap third round picks and in return for the Selke winning center, Vancouver would receive a first round pick (Jarad McCann) center Nick Bonino and Defensemen Luca Sbisa. These players would only play a short time in Vancouver before being shipped off to new teams and the draft pick McCann has bounced around from Vancouver to Florida to Pittsburgh over the past 5 years. Meanwhile, Ryan Kesler would become a force to be reckoned with in Anaheim. He helped lead the team to two conference finals over his 5 years and has totaled 393 points in his 655 games. Without Kesler, this team does not make it to two conference finals. It is a simple as that. Since the conference finals of 2017, things have gone downhill a bit. Kesler has had multiple surgeries and rehabs to help with a nagging hip issue that recently has knocked him out of the game. This injury, along with his near 7-million-dollar cap hit for the next few seasons might make this trade seem worse that it is. Recency bias needs to be pushed aside on this as the Kesler trade should still go down as one of the best in Ducks history.

 

6/20/16 – Frederik Andersen to the Leafs for 30th overall (Steel) #50 overall (Comtois)

Last Leafs trade of the decade and this one has really worked out well for both teams. Frederik Andersen and John Gibson would split time over the 15-16 season and their stellar combined play would earn the two the Jennings Trophy that year. It was evident we had two bona fide NHL starters and one would need to be moved. The decision was made to move on from Andersen to make way for the younger John Gibson. Needing an elite NHL goalie, the Toronto Maple Leafs came calling. In this trade, the Leafs would send the Ducks the #30 and #50 overall picks for Andersen. The Leafs got their goalie and he has been stellar for them ever since. With the picks, the Ducks would select Sam Steel and Maxime Comtois. The two are currently amongst the youth movement in Anaheim and are proving to be quality NHL players for years to come. Good trade all around.

2/24/19 – Anaheim Trades Brandon Montour to Buffalo for Brendan Guhle and Pick #29 (Brayden Tracey)

Brandon, Brendan and Brayden, isn’t that fun?

Amidst the disastrous 2018-2019 season General Manager Bob Murray took over coaching duties so he could get a first-hand look at which payers were the right fit for his team moving forward. Evidently, Brandon Montour was not one of them. GMBM made the move to send Montour to the Sabers in exchange for a first-round pick (Brayden Tracey) and defensive prospect Brendan Guhle. At the time, this trade seemed awesome. Ducks get a 1st round pick and solid prospect for a defenseman that apparently wasn’t right for the team. Looking back, I still think this is a solid trade even though the Ducks are extremely thin on the right side on defense and Guhle has taken a bit longer to develop than first anticipated. Tracey appears to be a solid pick and has shown great potential early in his development. Time will tell on this one but for now, I’d say it’s a win.

And there you have it! The best Anaheim Ducks trades from this past decade. These two articles were a ton of fun to research and write, so thank you for reading. Did I miss something? Or maybe too generous on another? Let me know what you think in the comments or on twitter!

My big take away, why would Toronto every trade with us again?

@ducksfanreport