Top 10 Who Got Away: Vincent Damphousse (2)

5 years ago

Vincent Damphousse might not rate as highly on this list with some fans as I have him because he only played one season — 80 regular season and 16 playoff games — with the Edmonton Oilers. During the post-1990 era, Damphousse was never face of the franchise material like, say, Ryan Smyth, who would certainly be at or near the top of any list of most beloved Oilers, any era, to be sent away. That’s a trade that remains a stain on the franchise.

Unlike Smyth, who enjoyed his best days as an Oiler, a lot of what I’ve been looking at in compiling this list is what players went on to do after they were traded by the Oilers – guys who went on to play their prime years and enjoy the best hockey of their NHL careers after they left Edmonton. In that regard, there’s no doubt at all that letting Damphousse get away, for a lousy return no less, earns him the No. 2 spot in the post-Stanley Cup years.

Vincent Damphousse

Center
Born Dec 17th, 1967 — Montreal, QC
Height 6.01 — Weight 191 [185 cm/87 kg]

Drafted by Toronto Maple Leafs

Round 1 #6 overall 1986 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S%	ATOI
1986-87	19	TOR	80	21	25	46	-8	24	14.8
1987-88	20	TOR	75	12	36	48	2	40	10.8
1988-89	21	TOR	80	26	42	68	-8	75	13.7
1989-90	22	TOR	80	33	61	94	2	56	14.4
1990-91	23	TOR	79	26	47	73	-31	65	10.5
1991-92	24	EDM	80	38	51	89	10	53	15.4
1992-93	25	MTL	84	39	58	97	5	98	13.6
1993-94	26	MTL	84	40	51	91	0	75	14.6
1994-95	27	MTL	48	10	30	40	15	42	8.1
1995-96	28	MTL	80	38	56	94	5	158	15.0
1996-97	29	MTL	82	27	54	81	-6	82	11.1
1997-98	30	MTL	76	18	41	59	14	58	11.0
1998-99	31	TOT	77	19	30	49	-4	50	10.0	20:17
1998-99	31	MTL	65	12	24	36	-7	46	8.2	20:27
1998-99	31	SJS	12	7	6	13	3	4	16.3	19:21
1999-00	32	SJS	82	21	49	70	4	58	10.3	20:26
2000-01	33	SJS	45	9	37	46	17	62	8.9	20:49
2001-02	34	SJS	82	20	38	58	8	60	11.6	19:38
2002-03	35	SJS	82	23	38	61	-13	66	13.1	19:09
2003-04	36	SJS	82	12	29	41	-5	66	7.7	17:09
7 yrs		MTL	519	184	314	498	26	559	12.3	20:27
6 yrs		SJS	385	92	197	289	14	316	10.8	19:18
5 yrs		TOR	394	118	211	329	-43	260	12.8
1 yr		EDM	80	38	51	89	10	53	15.4
Career			1378	432	773	1205	7	1188	12.3	19:28

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S	S%	TOI
1986-87	19	TOR	12	1	5	6	-3	6	18	5.6
1987-88	20	TOR	6	0	1	1	-3	10	4	0.0
1989-90	22	TOR	5	0	2	2	1	2	10	0.0
1991-92	24	EDM	16	6	8	14	5	8	45	13.3
1992-93	25	MTL	20	11	12	23	8	16	52	21.2
1993-94	26	MTL	7	1	2	3	-1	8	14	7.1
1995-96	28	MTL	6	4	4	8	2	0	26	15.4
1996-97	29	MTL	5	0	0	0	-5	2	7	0.0
1997-98	30	MTL	10	3	6	9	-4	22	42	7.1
1998-99	31	SJS	6	3	2	5	1	6	22	13.6	138
1999-00	32	SJS	12	1	7	8	-5	16	28	3.6	267
2000-01	33	SJS	6	2	1	3	-1	14	15	13.3	122
2001-02	34	SJS	12	2	6	8	-1	12	17	11.8	231
2003-04	36	SJS	17	7	7	14	0	20	37	18.9	321
Career			140	41	63	104	-6	142	337	12.2	1079

WITH THE OILERS

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The Oilers sent Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Craig Berube to the Toronto Maple Leafs for Damphousse, who was coming off a 73-point season, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton and Peter Ing in September 1991 as GM Glen Sather continued to dismantle what remained of the Boys on the Bus teams that had won Five Stanley Cups. Just 24, Damphousse delivered in a big way with 38-51-89 in the regular season before adding 14 points in 16 playoff games.

Damphousse led the Oilers in goals, assists, points, PP goals (12) and game-winning goals (eight). His 14 post-season points put him third on the team behind Joe Murphy and Bernie Nicholls in a year the Oilers were swept by Chicago in the Campbell Conference final. Simply put, the big, smooth-skating centre was a real find during Peter Pocklington’ 1990s belt-tightening era. Keep him? No. In August 1992, the Oilers sent Damphousse and a fourth-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for Shayne Corson, Brent Gilchrist and Vladimir Vujtek. I shudder just to think of it.

DOWN THE ROAD

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For my money, Corson went on to become the worst captain in the history of the Oilers. A selfish player, he divided the dressing room. Gilchrist (10-10-20 in 60 games with the Oilers) and Vujtek (5-25-30 in 70 games over two seasons) didn’t have much of an impact. Damphousse, meanwhile, went on to win the 1993 Stanley Cup with the Habs. In his first four seasons with the Canadiens, Damphousse had 97, 91, 40 (48 games) and 94 points. In those same four seasons, the increasingly dysfunctional Oilers missed the playoffs.

All told after leaving the Oilers, Damphousse went on to score 276-511-787 in stops with Montreal and San Jose on the way to career point totals of 432-773-1,205 in 1,378 regular season games. He had another 104 points in 140 playoff games. While those kinds of numbers likely won’t get Damphousse into the HHOF – he was a very, very good, but not great, player for a long time — it does make you wonder if the Oilers might have avoided that black hole of the mid-1990s had they kept him.

This series of various Top 10 lists will focus on the post-1990 Oilers – the players who haven’t played on a Stanley Cup winner in Edmonton.

Previously in this Series:

Nation Takes

Oilers Talk