Throwback Thursday: This week in 1994, Edmonton Oilers trade Craig MacTavish for Todd Marchant
By Zach Laing
4 years agoWelcome to this week’s edition of Throwback Thursday!
On this week in 1994, the Edmonton Oilers acquired Todd Marchant from the New York Rangers in exchange for Craig MacTavish. 
It was on March 21st when the Oilers made the deal bringing in Marchant, who would be a key cog in the Oilers machine of the 90’s and into the 2000’s.
It was a tough day in the Oilers room. You could see it in the eyes of equipment manager Lyle Kulchisky and trainer Barrie Stafford. This wasn’t just another foot soldier being moved out, this was an old friend.A lot of us felt the same way. Craig MacTavish has been nothing but class here, for nine seasons. And he wanted to keep it that way Monday, thought it was difficult for him to disguise excitement at rejoining six old Oilers teammaes from the 1990 Stanley Cup team on a Rangers club that has a decent chance to win it all.
In MacTavish who was 35 at the time of the deal, the Oilers moved on from a top roleplayer for the championship teams of the 80’s. MacTavish, who was signed by the Oilers in 1985-86 after serving time for vehicular manslaughter, was a fan favourite in Edmonton.
He finished his career with the Oilers having scored 331 points in 701 games and another 37 points in 113 games.
Marchant stepped into Edmonton in the 1994-95 season and his impact was immediately felt as a rookie scoring 27 points in 45 games. While he never put up big points in Edmonton, averaging half a point per game, he did score some opportune goals for the Oilers.
One of which being an OT game-winner in game 3 of the 1997 playoffs against the Dallas Stars.
Marchant eventually left the Oilers in free agency in the summer of 2003 signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He finished his 10-year career in Edmonton scoring 343 points in 678 regular-season games.
On Twitter: @zjlaing
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