We’re now into our countdown of former Detroit Red Wings GM Ken Holland‘s best trades during his time in the Motor City. For those of you who missed number five on the list, check out the details of the first three moves on the list:
No. 5: Acquiring 2nd round pick from Carolina (Jiri Hudler) for Aaron Ward
No. 4: Acquiring Robert Lang from Capitals in exchange for Tomas Fleishmann and draft picks
Acquiring Brad Stuart from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for draft picks
Number two on our countdown went a long way in not only helping to secure another championship, but also correcting a mistake from the previous offseason.
Re-Acquiring Igor Larionov from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Yan Golubovsky
When Larionov originally came to the Detroit Red Wings during the 1995-96 season, he became one of the members of the famed “Russian Five”, as well as being an integral part in the team winning two straight Stanley Cup titles in 1997 and 1998.
However, he decided to part ways with the team following the 1999-2000 season and join the Florida Panthers for a chance to play with fellow Russian forward Pavel Bure.
In short, Larionov’s time in Florida was a disaster. Not only did he not synch with Bure, but he never bought into head coach Terry Murray’s system.
A trade back to Detroit made sense for both sides. In just his second game back with the team on New Year’s Eve 2000, he assisted on Steve Yzerman’s game-winning goal with just seconds remaining in regulation.
Larionov also scored the triple-overtime winning goal in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Red Wings made things right by re-acquiring The Professor, and it sure paid off!
