After the Edmonton Oilers drafted winger Jordan Eberle 22nd overall in 2008, he continued to make them look like geniuses and pay off dividends.
He had the infamous game tying goal in the dying seconds of the Gold Medal game against the Russians at the 2009 World Junior Championships. Playing a pivotal role in helping Canada capture their fifth straight gold medal at the annual tournament.
On top of his international heroics, Eberle showed a lot of growth with his junior club, the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League — Scoring 50 goals and 106 points in 57 games in his final juniors season.
Then, he joined the Oilers and was a standout player immediately, scoring a highlight reel goal in his debut.
After years as a vital piece to the franchise and with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl joining the ranks as centers, there was still a place for the Saskatchewan-born winger. Unfortunately, even after general manager Peter Chiarelli dealt Eberle’s longtime Oilers teammate, winger Taylor Hall the year prior, he sent Eberle packing too in June 2017.
Jordan Eberle trade tree
The Taylor Hall and Adam Larsson one-for-one swap caused a lot of flack and mockery for the Oilers, and rightfully so but the Eberle trade was arguably worse.
He was sent packing to the New York Islanders for Ryan Strome, again a one-for-one swap. The belief amongst many at the time was that it was because of his poor playoff performance, notching only two assists in 13 playoff games in 2017.
Either way, Strome had no playoff performance to knock in his one and a quarter season as an Oiler. He played exactly 100 regular season games amassing 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points before being traded to the New York Rangers for Ryan Spooner in November 2018.
Unfortunately, Spooner did not perform much better, scoring two goals and three points through 25 games before being traded a few months later in February 2019 to the Vancouver Canucks for former Oiler, Sam Gagner. Although not flawless, Gagner put up a respectable 10 points through 25 games and 12 in 36 the following year.
Then, comes the real kicker. Under new management, now GM Ken Holland sends Gagner to his former home the Detroit Red Wings. Just weeks before the 2020 trade deadline, Gagner was traded along with a pair of second round picks in 2020 and 2021 to the Red Wings for Ryan Kuffner and Andreas Athanasiou.
AA, a solid player for the Wings, spent nine games with the Oilers before the pandemic shutdown the league scoring a goal and an assist. It was not a great trade on a value in and value out perspective but how bad truly was it?
Well, the 2021 second round pick got traded, ironically, to the New York Islanders and they selected Aatu Raty. A 22 year old winger who despite taking some time to develop, looks to be blossoming into a legitimate depth option for the Vancouver Canucks and is poised to make a solid run at a full time roster spot next month.
The 2020 second? Well, that was sent to the Los Angeles Kings in a trade back scenario at the draft table and was used to select right-handed defenseman, Brock Faber. He was traded to the Minnesota Wild shortly after developing with the University of Minnesota. Faber was a Calder Trophy finalist in 2024 for rookie of the year, finishing in second place. Since becoming an NHLer, he has been a horse on the backend, logging well over 20 minutes a game in all situations on a nightly basis.
There are always plenty of bad trades made and it is tough to predict how bad they will become, especially when dealing picks and prospects. However, the Eberle deal was bad at the time and has only continued to age worse as time has gone on.