<p>There was recent news that the Edmonton Oilers and superstar centerman <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/report-leon-draisaitl-contract-negotiations-with-oilers-have-not-begun-but-will-commence-here-shortly">Leon Draisaitl</a> have been in touch regarding contract talks, indicating that newly anointed general manager and executive vice president Stan Bowman is ready to roll up his sleeves and get down to business.</p>
<p>With that in mind, we recently reviewed <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-5-largest-contracts-negotiated-and-finalized-by-new-oilers-gm-stan-bowman">the five largest contracts</a> Bowman has negotiated in his career. Now, let&#8217;s dive into six of the most significant trades he’s made as a GM.</p>
<h2>Trading for Nick Leddy Trade in 2010</h2>
<p>Cam Barker was the Chicago Blackhawks&#8217; third overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. For history buffs, he was also a former Oiler, playing 25 games from 2011 to 2012.</p>
<p>In his third season with Chicago, he had recorded 40 points in 68 games, had the pedigree of being a top-three draft pick, and showed a lot of promise on the blue line. However, on <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/more/soft-trade-deadline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">February 12, 2010</a>, Bowman traded Barker to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy.</p>
<p>Johnsson played only the remainder of that season for Chicago before retiring, but the gem of the deal was Leddy, the 16th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. The D-man played in 258 regular season games for Chicago under Bowman&#8217;s watch, recording 93 points and establishing himself as a reliable puck mover who helped the team win a Stanley Cup in 2013.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OTD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OTD</a> in 2010, the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blackhawks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Blackhawks</a> acquired Nick Leddy and Kim Johnsson from the Wild in exchange for Cam Barker<br /> <a href="https://t.co/MrE60bAFG7">pic.twitter.com/MrE60bAFG7</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Four Feathers Podcast (@FourFeathersPod) <a href="https://twitter.com/FourFeathersPod/status/1757086021563351394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>That said, after the 2014 season, Leddy&#8217;s name surfaced as a potential cap casualty. In one of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/31875/2016/12/30/the-hedge-report-stan-bowmans-best-worst-and-tbd-moves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowman’s most criticized moves,</a> he traded Leddy, along with Kent Simpson, to the New York Islanders in exchange for Ville Pokka, T.J. Brennan, and the rights to goalie Anders Nilsson—none of whom ever played for the Blackhawks.</p>
<p>Leddy played seven seasons with the Islanders, setting a career-high with 46 points in the 2016-17 season. He also celebrated his 1000th NHL game last season while playing for the St. Louis Blues, his team for the last three years.</p>
<h2>Trading for Johnny Oduya in 2012</h2>
<p>Bowman struck gold at the <a href="https://winnipegsun.com/2012/02/27/jetsbogosian-on-ice-may-play-against-oilers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2012 NHL Trade Deadline</a> when the Blackhawks traded a second and third-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft for D-man Johnny Oduya.</p>
<p>The second-round pick was eventually traded to Washington, which turned into <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/why-have-edmonton-oilers-struggled-so-much-at-5v5-and-how-can-they-fix-this" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zach Sanford</a>, while the third-round pick was used to select JC Lipon, who spent the majority of his career playing in the AHL and Europe.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">In 2012, the <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NHLBlackhawks</a> traded two draft picks for Johnny Oduya.</p>
<p>The stay-at-home defenseman helped them win the Stanley Cup the following year and again in 2015 👊<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Blackhawks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Blackhawks</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackHistoryMonth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlackHistoryMonth</a> <a href="https://t.co/4a8gmAT75v">pic.twitter.com/4a8gmAT75v</a></p>
<p>&mdash; NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLNetwork/status/1623837024032636930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 10, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Oduya turned into a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/ten-thursday-thoughts-bowman-kane-mcdavid-milestones-and-more">vital top-four blue liner</a>, who was essential to the Blackhawks&#8217; playoff success. Moreover, Chicago leaned heavily on his pairing with Niklas Hjalmarsson with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook making up the other critical pairing.</p>
<p>Oduya and Hjalmarsson formed an excellent shutdown pair, consistently facing the opposition’s top lines. Overall, Bowman’s trade for Oduya proved to be a home run, as he played a key role in the team’s Stanley Cup victories in 2013 and 2015. During his time with the team, Oduya appeared in 219 regular-season games, recording 43 points, and also played in 71 playoff games.</p>
<h2>Trading Away Teuvo Teravainen in 2016</h2>
<p>The Blackhawks selected forward Teuvo Teravainen 18th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. He played three seasons in Chicago, including being part of the 2015 Stanley Cup-winning team, where he recorded ten points in 18 playoff games during their run.</p>
<p>Chicago was looking to shed salary, and on <a href="https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/16229921/carolina-hurricanes-acquire-teuvo-teravainen-bryan-bickell-chicago-blackhawks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 15, 2016</a>, Bowman traded Bryan Bickell and Teravainen (likely included to sweeten the deal and help offload Bickell’s unfavourable contract worth $4 million annually) to the Carolina Hurricanes. In exchange, the Blackhawks received a second-round and a third-round draft picks and neither of the players selected with those picks ended up playing in the NHL.</p>
<p>When the trade was made, Bowman <a href="https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/16229921/carolina-hurricanes-acquire-teuvo-teravainen-bryan-bickell-chicago-blackhawks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commented</a> on moving the young Teravainen, stating:</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Even though Teuvo is a young player, it&#8217;s hard these days when you have young guys that are entering the final year of his first contract, and then things get tricky when players get raises, and you&#8217;re always looking to have that next wave of young guys coming in.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>In the end, the trade ended up backfiring on Bowman. Teravainen ultimately proved to be the centrepiece of the deal, emerging as a skilled point producer for the Hurricanes. He spent eight seasons in Carolina recording 415 points, including a career-high 76 points during the 2018-19 season. That said, Teravainen is set to return to Chicago, having recently<a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/blackhawks-sign-forward-teuvo-teravainen-to-three-year-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> signed a three-year deal</a> with the team.</p>
<h2>Trading Away Phillip Danault in 2015</h2>
<p>Over the last three playoff runs, the Oilers have seen a healthy dose of two-way forward Phillip Danault of the Los Angeles Kings, who has been regularly tasked with trying to shut down the Oilers’ star forwards.</p>
<p>While Danault has emerged as one of the NHL’s top two-way forwards since signing with the Kings in 2021, he was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft. However, before the trade deadline in 2015, <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/canadiens-trade-weise-fleischmann-to-blackhawks-for-danault-and-a-pick/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowman traded the promising Danault</a> and a second-round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for veterans Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. By bringing these two experienced players into the lineup, the Blackhawks took a gamble on immediate success, as they were second in the Central Division at the time.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">MTL traded Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann to CHI for Phillip Danault and Alexander Romanov 👀 </p>
<p>Even crazier, Weise and Fleischmann played a combined 34 games with 1G / 6A for CHI. </p>
<p>We need to talk about this trade more.</p>
<p>&mdash; Brock Seguin (@Brock_Seguin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Brock_Seguin/status/1351382307073126401?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2021</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Weise played only 15 games for the Blackhawks, recording just one assist, while Fleischmann played in 19 regular season games with Chicago before retiring in 2017. Moreover, the second-round pick the Canadiens received in the deal was used to select Alexander Romanov. The Canadiens then traded Romanov for draft picks, eventually flipping those picks back to the Blackhawks for centerman Kirby Dach. All in all, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/31875/2016/12/30/the-hedge-report-stan-bowmans-best-worst-and-tbd-moves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Athletic</em></a>, this trade stands out as a big blemish on Bowman&#8217;s résumé.</p>
<h2>Trading Away Artemi Panarin in 2017</h2>
<p>Artemi Panarin was a sought-after star from the KHL, and Bowman did well in signing him to an entry-level deal in April 2015. The Russian forward&#8217;s impact was immediate, tallying 77 points in his first NHL season, and won the Calder Trophy as a 23-year-old.</p>
<p>The Blackhawks were eliminated by the Predators in the first round of the 2017 playoffs and as a result, <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/bowman-promising-changes-blackhawks-first-round-exit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowman promised changes</a>, and he made <em>quite a</em> significant move just a couple of months later.</p>
<p>On June 23, 2017, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/digging-into-stan-bowmans-time-with-the-chicago-blackhawks">the Blackhawks traded Panarin,</a> Tyler Motte, and a sixth-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for former Blackhawk Brandon Saad, Anton Forsberg, and a fifth-round pick, with Panarin and Saad being the two main pieces of the deal.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Forward Brandon Saad, goaltender Anton Forsberg and a 2018 draft pick have been acquired from CBJ in exchange for Panarin, Motte and a pick.</p>
<p>&mdash; Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/878294378493743105?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2017</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>To provide more context, let’s take a look at Saad’s history with Chicago. Before trading for him from the Blue Jackets, Bowman had traded Saad to them two years earlier when he was coming off a 52-point season and was due for a pay raise after winning the Stanley Cup in 2015.</p>
<p>That said, Bowman successfully reacquired Saad in June 2017, but the cost was significant, as the Blackhawks parted with Panarin, who would emerge as an NHL superstar. Many believe <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4245898/2023/02/24/blackhawks-brandon-saad-trade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this trade set the team back,</a> though Connor Bedard, who recently won the Calder Trophy, could be seen as the silver lining. That said, since leaving Chicago, Panarin has tallied 630 points over seven seasons, while Saad played three more seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Nikita Zadorov.</p>
<h2>Trading Away Gustav Forsling in 2019</h2>
<p>During last season&#8217;s Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers&#8217; top lines faced a lot of Florida Panthers’ Gustav Forsling, who was a key defender on their blue line and played a crucial role in helping them win their first Cup.</p>
<p>Florida picked Forsling off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes on <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-oilers-and-panthers-were-built-differently">Jan. 9, 2021,</a> and has since become one of the league&#8217;s best two-way D-men, yet he is also linked with new Oilers GM, Bowman.</p>
<p>With the Blackhawks, Bowman made an initial savvy move to <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/how-gustav-forsling-canucks-castoff-top-pairing-defender-stanley-cup-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquire Forsling from the Vancouver Canucks</a> in exchange for forward Adam Clendening (also a former Oiler) on Jan. 29, 2015. Forsling went on to play 122 regular season games with the Blackhawks between 2016 and 2019, bouncing between the NHL and AHL during that time.</p>
<p>However, Bowman moved on from Forsling too soon and, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1045549/2019/06/24/blackhawks-trade-for-calvin-de-haan-and-aleksi-saarela-send-forsling-and-forsberg-to-carolina/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in June 2019</a>, traded him to the Hurricanes along with Anton Forsberg in exchange for veteran D-man Calvin de Haan and forward Aleksi Saarela.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Highest +/- across regular and postseason since 1990:</p>
<p>+71 — Gustav Forsling (this season)<br />+64 — Vladimir Konstantinov<br />+61 — Johnny Gaudreau<br />+57 — Mario Lemieux<br />+57 — Sergei Federov<br />+57 — Devon Toews</p>
<p>This is an all-time defensive season for Forsling. <a href="https://t.co/l6DXdmVF5n">pic.twitter.com/l6DXdmVF5n</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Big Head Hockey (@BigHeadHcky) <a href="https://twitter.com/BigHeadHcky/status/1801423202142347408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>De Haan played steady minutes for three seasons in Chicago, averaging 19:09 per game, while Forsling improved immensely. The Swedish blueliner has emerged as a top-pairing defender, set a career-high 40 points in the 2022-23 season, and played a crucial role in the Panthers&#8217; Cup win last year, finishing third in <a href="https://twitter.com/PuckReportNHL/status/1805585008289059139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conn Smythe voting</a>. Overall, letting go of Forsling too early is clearly viewed as a swing and a miss for Bowman.</p>
<p>Considering all of this, these six trades are just a few among Bowman&#8217;s many moves. There are some wins, but also some fairly significant losses. However, just as he took time to improve himself during his time away from the NHL, the hope for the Oilers is that he&#8217;s learned from his past errors, such as trading away young talent too early. Given that, how confident are you in Bowman&#8217;s ability to make trades?</p>
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Edmonton Oilers General Manager Stan Bowman

There was recent news that the Edmonton Oilers and superstar centerman <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/report-leon-draisaitl-contract-negotiations-with-oilers-have-not-begun-but-will-commence-here-shortly">Leon Draisaitl</a> have been in touch regarding contract talks, indicating that newly anointed general manager and executive vice president Stan Bowman is ready to roll up his sleeves and get down to business.

With that in mind, we recently reviewed <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-5-largest-contracts-negotiated-and-finalized-by-new-oilers-gm-stan-bowman">the five largest contracts</a> Bowman has negotiated in his career. Now, let's dive into six of the most significant trades he’s made as a GM.
<h2>Trading for Nick Leddy Trade in 2010</h2>
Cam Barker was the Chicago Blackhawks' third overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. For history buffs, he was also a former Oiler, playing 25 games from 2011 to 2012.

In his third season with Chicago, he had recorded 40 points in 68 games, had the pedigree of being a top-three draft pick, and showed a lot of promise on the blue line. However, on <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/more/soft-trade-deadline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">February 12, 2010</a>, Bowman traded Barker to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Kim Johnsson and Nick Leddy.

Johnsson played only the remainder of that season for Chicago before retiring, but the gem of the deal was Leddy, the 16th overall pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. The D-man played in 258 regular season games for Chicago under Bowman's watch, recording 93 points and establishing himself as a reliable puck mover who helped the team win a Stanley Cup in 2013.

https://twitter.com/FourFeathersPod/status/1757086021563351394

That said, after the 2014 season, Leddy's name surfaced as a potential cap casualty. In one of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/31875/2016/12/30/the-hedge-report-stan-bowmans-best-worst-and-tbd-moves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowman’s most criticized moves,</a> he traded Leddy, along with Kent Simpson, to the New York Islanders in exchange for Ville Pokka, T.J. Brennan, and the rights to goalie Anders Nilsson—none of whom ever played for the Blackhawks.

Leddy played seven seasons with the Islanders, setting a career-high with 46 points in the 2016-17 season. He also celebrated his 1000th NHL game last season while playing for the St. Louis Blues, his team for the last three years.
<h2>Trading for Johnny Oduya in 2012</h2>
Bowman struck gold at the <a href="https://winnipegsun.com/2012/02/27/jetsbogosian-on-ice-may-play-against-oilers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2012 NHL Trade Deadline</a> when the Blackhawks traded a second and third-round pick in the 2013 NHL Draft for D-man Johnny Oduya.

The second-round pick was eventually traded to Washington, which turned into <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/why-have-edmonton-oilers-struggled-so-much-at-5v5-and-how-can-they-fix-this" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zach Sanford</a>, while the third-round pick was used to select JC Lipon, who spent the majority of his career playing in the AHL and Europe.

https://twitter.com/NHLNetwork/status/1623837024032636930

Oduya turned into a <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/ten-thursday-thoughts-bowman-kane-mcdavid-milestones-and-more">vital top-four blue liner</a>, who was essential to the Blackhawks' playoff success. Moreover, Chicago leaned heavily on his pairing with Niklas Hjalmarsson with Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook making up the other critical pairing.

Oduya and Hjalmarsson formed an excellent shutdown pair, consistently facing the opposition’s top lines. Overall, Bowman’s trade for Oduya proved to be a home run, as he played a key role in the team’s Stanley Cup victories in 2013 and 2015. During his time with the team, Oduya appeared in 219 regular-season games, recording 43 points, and also played in 71 playoff games.
<h2>Trading Away Teuvo Teravainen in 2016</h2>
The Blackhawks selected forward Teuvo Teravainen 18th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft. He played three seasons in Chicago, including being part of the 2015 Stanley Cup-winning team, where he recorded ten points in 18 playoff games during their run.

Chicago was looking to shed salary, and on <a href="https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/16229921/carolina-hurricanes-acquire-teuvo-teravainen-bryan-bickell-chicago-blackhawks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">June 15, 2016</a>, Bowman traded Bryan Bickell and Teravainen (likely included to sweeten the deal and help offload Bickell’s unfavourable contract worth $4 million annually) to the Carolina Hurricanes. In exchange, the Blackhawks received a second-round and a third-round draft picks and neither of the players selected with those picks ended up playing in the NHL.

When the trade was made, Bowman <a href="https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/16229921/carolina-hurricanes-acquire-teuvo-teravainen-bryan-bickell-chicago-blackhawks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commented</a> on moving the young Teravainen, stating:
<blockquote>"Even though Teuvo is a young player, it's hard these days when you have young guys that are entering the final year of his first contract, and then things get tricky when players get raises, and you're always looking to have that next wave of young guys coming in."</blockquote>
In the end, the trade ended up backfiring on Bowman. Teravainen ultimately proved to be the centrepiece of the deal, emerging as a skilled point producer for the Hurricanes. He spent eight seasons in Carolina recording 415 points, including a career-high 76 points during the 2018-19 season. That said, Teravainen is set to return to Chicago, having recently<a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/blackhawks-sign-forward-teuvo-teravainen-to-three-year-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> signed a three-year deal</a> with the team.
<h2>Trading Away Phillip Danault in 2015</h2>
Over the last three playoff runs, the Oilers have seen a healthy dose of two-way forward Phillip Danault of the Los Angeles Kings, who has been regularly tasked with trying to shut down the Oilers’ star forwards.

While Danault has emerged as one of the NHL’s top two-way forwards since signing with the Kings in 2021, he was originally drafted by the Blackhawks in the first round of the 2011 NHL Draft. However, before the trade deadline in 2015, <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/canadiens-trade-weise-fleischmann-to-blackhawks-for-danault-and-a-pick/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowman traded the promising Danault</a> and a second-round draft pick to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for veterans Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. By bringing these two experienced players into the lineup, the Blackhawks took a gamble on immediate success, as they were second in the Central Division at the time.

https://twitter.com/Brock_Seguin/status/1351382307073126401

Weise played only 15 games for the Blackhawks, recording just one assist, while Fleischmann played in 19 regular season games with Chicago before retiring in 2017. Moreover, the second-round pick the Canadiens received in the deal was used to select Alexander Romanov. The Canadiens then traded Romanov for draft picks, eventually flipping those picks back to the Blackhawks for centerman Kirby Dach. All in all, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/31875/2016/12/30/the-hedge-report-stan-bowmans-best-worst-and-tbd-moves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>The Athletic</em></a>, this trade stands out as a big blemish on Bowman's résumé.
<h2>Trading Away Artemi Panarin in 2017</h2>
Artemi Panarin was a sought-after star from the KHL, and Bowman did well in signing him to an entry-level deal in April 2015. The Russian forward's impact was immediate, tallying 77 points in his first NHL season, and won the Calder Trophy as a 23-year-old.

The Blackhawks were eliminated by the Predators in the first round of the 2017 playoffs and as a result, <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/bowman-promising-changes-blackhawks-first-round-exit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bowman promised changes</a>, and he made <em>quite a</em> significant move just a couple of months later.

On June 23, 2017, <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/digging-into-stan-bowmans-time-with-the-chicago-blackhawks">the Blackhawks traded Panarin,</a> Tyler Motte, and a sixth-round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for former Blackhawk Brandon Saad, Anton Forsberg, and a fifth-round pick, with Panarin and Saad being the two main pieces of the deal.

https://twitter.com/NHLBlackhawks/status/878294378493743105

To provide more context, let’s take a look at Saad’s history with Chicago. Before trading for him from the Blue Jackets, Bowman had traded Saad to them two years earlier when he was coming off a 52-point season and was due for a pay raise after winning the Stanley Cup in 2015.

That said, Bowman successfully reacquired Saad in June 2017, but the cost was significant, as the Blackhawks parted with Panarin, who would emerge as an NHL superstar. Many believe <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/4245898/2023/02/24/blackhawks-brandon-saad-trade/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this trade set the team back,</a> though Connor Bedard, who recently won the Calder Trophy, could be seen as the silver lining. That said, since leaving Chicago, Panarin has tallied 630 points over seven seasons, while Saad played three more seasons with the Blackhawks before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Nikita Zadorov.
<h2>Trading Away Gustav Forsling in 2019</h2>
During last season's Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers' top lines faced a lot of Florida Panthers’ Gustav Forsling, who was a key defender on their blue line and played a crucial role in helping them win their first Cup.

Florida picked Forsling off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes on <a href="https://oilersnation.com/news/the-oilers-and-panthers-were-built-differently">Jan. 9, 2021,</a> and has since become one of the league's best two-way D-men, yet he is also linked with new Oilers GM, Bowman.

With the Blackhawks, Bowman made an initial savvy move to <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/how-gustav-forsling-canucks-castoff-top-pairing-defender-stanley-cup-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">acquire Forsling from the Vancouver Canucks</a> in exchange for forward Adam Clendening (also a former Oiler) on Jan. 29, 2015. Forsling went on to play 122 regular season games with the Blackhawks between 2016 and 2019, bouncing between the NHL and AHL during that time.

However, Bowman moved on from Forsling too soon and, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/1045549/2019/06/24/blackhawks-trade-for-calvin-de-haan-and-aleksi-saarela-send-forsling-and-forsberg-to-carolina/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in June 2019</a>, traded him to the Hurricanes along with Anton Forsberg in exchange for veteran D-man Calvin de Haan and forward Aleksi Saarela.

https://twitter.com/BigHeadHcky/status/1801423202142347408

De Haan played steady minutes for three seasons in Chicago, averaging 19:09 per game, while Forsling improved immensely. The Swedish blueliner has emerged as a top-pairing defender, set a career-high 40 points in the 2022-23 season, and played a crucial role in the Panthers' Cup win last year, finishing third in <a href="https://twitter.com/PuckReportNHL/status/1805585008289059139" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Conn Smythe voting</a>. Overall, letting go of Forsling too early is clearly viewed as a swing and a miss for Bowman.

Considering all of this, these six trades are just a few among Bowman's many moves. There are some wins, but also some fairly significant losses. However, just as he took time to improve himself during his time away from the NHL, the hope for the Oilers is that he's learned from his past errors, such as trading away young talent too early. Given that, how confident are you in Bowman's ability to make trades?
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