On this day in 2011, the Edmonton Oilers trade Andrew Cogliano to the Anaheim Ducks

On this day in 2011, the Edmonton Oilers traded away forward Andrew Cogliano to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a second-round draft pick in 2013 draft.

Then Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini thought he was doing his struggling, rebuilding team a favour when he traded the winger. But not long after, Cogliano would soon join the list of some of the top Oilers players who got away.

Cogliano’s journey to the NHL began in 2005 when he was drafted 25th overall by the Oilers. The team recognized his potential and believed he could make an immediate impact at the professional level — after all, he was coming off a season in Ontario’s Jr. A league that saw him score 36 goals and 102 points in 49 games. Their faith in him proved well-founded as Cogliano quickly adapted to the fast-paced nature of the NHL.

Cogliano made his NHL debut on October 4, 2007 after a two-year stint at the University of Michigan, and instantly impressed fans and teammates with his incredible speed and tenacity on the ice. Known for his remarkable acceleration, he swiftly became a fan favorite, earning the nickname “Cogs.” He scored 18 goals and 45 points in his freshman season, putting him in the spotlight for what would continue to be expected of him for the remainder of his career.

The following year he scored another 18 goals and 38 points and began to rise to the ranks of one of the team’s most promising young stars. Unfortunately for the young forward, his arrival in the City of Champions was also when the ill-lit cloud preceding the decade of darkness began to loom over the city and its team. Cogliano’s hopeful two years of 18 goals came to see a decline to 10 goals and 28 points in 2009-10 which made him trade bait for Tambellini, who was trying so desperately to create a team to head towards playoff success.

As the desperate Oilers organization scrambled to find a suitable trade offer for the forward, Cogliano started looking for ways to change his game. Being just an offensive player wouldn’t work, and he had to become reliable in as many situations as possible, including defence.

Cogliano came out from underneath the oil derrick in Rexall Place in 2010-11 as a different player. He’d begun to focus on more than just the offensive components of his game, pushing his penalty kill minutes from 65 to 200 in his fourth year with the Oilers.

Still, despite improving his production by scoring 11 goals and 35 points, he was now playing against a handful of new draft picks with Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall, who were also looking to make their name in the NHL, keeping him a subject on Tambellini’s trade list.

Couple that with the fact that Cogliano had filed for salary arbitration and the team signed Eric Belanger on July 1 — with farmhands and prospects like Anton Lander, Chris Vandevelde, Ryan O’Marra and Gilbert Brule — all knocking on the door for playing time, and it led to the deal.

Alas, the fateful day came, and the Ducks became the perfect fit. Unfortunately, for the Edmonton market, the dust began to settle, Cogliano started to put numbers back on the board, and everyone thought maybe the Oilers had given up on him too soon.

In Anaheim, Cogliano surfaced as an ironman playing 830 straight games in the NHL. This remarkable feat showcased his durability, commitment, and reliability, earning him admiration from teammates, coaches, and fans, even while he was in Edmonton. Cogliano played eight years with the Ducks appearing in 584 games, scoring 102 goals and 233 points. He was traded to the Dallas Stars in early 2019 in exchange for Devin Shore, and in 2021, he signed as a free agent with the San Jose Sharks. He was traded in March of 2022 to the Colorado Avalanche, where he’d win his first Stanley Cup that same year knocking the Oilers out of the playoffs en route.

When the Oilers traded Cogliano, they acquired a second-round pick, which already seemed skeptical, giving up a former first-rounder for a second-round choice. Defined as a future offensive arsenal by the Edmonton market, the Oilers selected Marc-Oliver Roy, who would never dress in the Oilers’ threads, adding just a bit more salt to the wound by trading away the forward.