Who knew a two-year roller coaster would start when Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish made an early off-season trade in July of 2013? 

Magnus Pääjärvi was selected 10th overall by the Oilers in the 2009 NHL draft. He had a successful debut season with the Oilers in 2010-11, scoring 15 goals and 34 points. However, he only managed 11 goals and 24 points over his next 83 games.
On July 10, 2013, the Oilers traded him along with a 2014 second-round pick to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for David Perron. This, without a doubt, was Craig MacTavish’s best trade as the GM of the Oilers. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oilers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oilers</a> acquire David Perron (<a href="https://twitter.com/DP_57?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DP_57</a>) from the <a href="https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StLouisBlues</a> in exchange for Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second-round draft pick.
&mdash; Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/355056278025945088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 10, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
With that being said, it was a good move for the Blues as well. While Pääjärvi didn’t really do a whole lot with the Blues, playing parts of five seasons with them, scoring 19 goals and 39 points in 189 games, that second-round pick in 2014 turned out to be a good one.
With that pick, the Blues selected Ivan Barbashev, who scored 78 goals and 178 points in 410 games with the Blues and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2019. Barbashev was traded before the 2023 trade deadline to the Vegas Golden Knights for Zach Dean, meaning he was on their roster (scoring seven goals and 11 points) en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
TRADE ALERT: The Blues have acquired 2021 first-round pick Zach Dean from the Vegas Golden Knights. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/stlblues?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#stlblues</a> 
DETAILS &gt;&gt;&gt; <a href="https://t.co/t2lkgNgE2t">https://t.co/t2lkgNgE2t</a> <a href="https://t.co/S9cstbAZ2w">pic.twitter.com/S9cstbAZ2w</a>
&mdash; St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) <a href="https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues/status/1629896357392547844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
However, let’s talk about David Perron’s tenure with the Oilers and the roller coaster that became that trade tree.
<h2>David Perron’s short tenure with the Oilers was a good one</h2>
Perron was selected late in the first round of the 2007 draft and was having a nice little career up to this point, scoring 84 goals and 198 points in 340 games with the Blues.
His first season with the Oilers, the 2013-14 season, was a career-high at that point, as he scored 28 goals and 57 points along with 90 penalty minutes in 78 games. Those 28 goals remain a career-best, while he’s had three seasons with 58 or more points.
It was a slow start for Perron in 2014-15, scoring just five goals and 19 points in 38 games. On the second day of 2015, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Olympian Rob Klinkhammer and a 2015 first-round pick. Yes, Craig MacTavish struck gold twice in a trade involving the same player.
<h2>And then it all went to crap</h2>
The Penguins made the 2015 postseason, but just barely, and were bounced in five games against the New York Rangers. This meant that the first-round pick became the 16th-overall pick in the 2015 draft, one of the deepest drafts in National Hockey League history.
When that pick rolled around, here are some of the available players: Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Boeser, Travis Konency, and Jack Roslovic. Sure, the skill levels of players there vary, but any one of those players would’ve been better than the player they traded for, Griffin Reinhart.
The sad part is, the Oilers didn’t just trade the 16th-overall pick in an insanely deep draft, but they also moved their second-round pick (33rd-overall). Sebastian Aho was picked 35th overall in the 2015 draft. Imagine if they hit on those two picks while also selecting Connor McDavid first overall.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Isles?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Isles</a> Transaction: The Islanders have acquired the 16th and 33rd overall picks from the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oilers?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Oilers</a> in exchange for Griffin Reinhart.
&mdash; New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYIslanders/status/614596685440921601?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 27, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
On the first day of the draft, the New York Islanders packaged the 33rd-overall pick and a third-round (who later turned out to be Anthony Cirelli) for the 27th-overall pick, landing Anthony Beauvillier, who in his own right, has had a pretty crazy trade tree that’s out of the scope of this article.
As for Reinhart, the fourth-overall pick in 2012 played just 29 games for the Oilers in 2015-16, picking up an assist. He didn’t play another game in the National Hockey League, and was the Oiler player the Vegas Golden Knights picked in the expansion draft. 
Funnily enough, David Perron was the team the Golden Knights picked from the St. Louis Blues (he signed there after his contract was done), and he had his first crack at a Stanley Cup during the 2018 postseason. He won it the next season with… the St. Louis Blues in his third stint with the team.
Anyway, Reinhart only spent two more seasons in North America after departing the Oilers, playing for the Chicago Wolves in 2017-18 as well as 2018-19. The following season, he played in China for the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League, before a one-season stint in Germany. In 2021-22, he played in the Elite Ice Hockey League for the Belfast Giants before hanging up his skates at 28 years old.
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-144295" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Klinkhammer_khaira-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Klinkhammer_khaira-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Klinkhammer_khaira-300x200.jpg 300w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Klinkhammer_khaira-768x511.jpg 768w, https://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Klinkhammer_khaira.jpg 1199w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
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<h2>But what about Rob Klinkhammer?</h2>
Rob Klinkhammer scored 11 goals and 20 points in 72 games with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2013-14, but didn’t provide nearly that amount of scoring after the trade with the Oilers.
To finish out his 2014-15 season, he scored a goal and three points in 40 games. In 2015-16, he scored a goal in 14 games, but 14 goals and 24 points in 27 games with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League. The 2015-16 season was his final year in North America.
Throughout six seasons, Klinkhammer scored 81 goals and 157 points in 269 Kontinental Hockey League games. After a mid-season trade to Kazan Ak-Bars, he scored the Gagarin Cup-clinching goal on a team that also featured former Oiler, Anton Lander. Moreover, the Kazan Ak-Bars also had Montréal Canadiens legend Andrei Markov on the roster, as well as Alexander Burmistrov.
Anyway, due to the National Hockey League not allowing players to participate in the 2018 Olympics, Rob Klinkhammer played for Team Canada at the 2018 Olympics. Unfortunately, Canada finished with the bronze medal in the tournament, with the team featuring former Oilers Derek Roy, Gilbert Brulé, and Ben Scrivens.
Klinkhammer hung up his skates after the 2021-22 season and currently serves as the Rockford IceHogs assistant coach. Who knows, maybe he’ll become the Oilers head coach in the future.
<hr />
If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D. Like the Six Goalies of 2013-14, the article idea was created during the All-Star break and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo12SYwt93STnVXNy8XYOSLP4IMBrMhDr">a large inspiration for this article is because of Steve Dangle’s Trade Tree series.</a>

Who knew a two-year roller coaster would start when Edmonton Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish made an early off-season trade in July of 2013? 



Magnus Pääjärvi was selected 10th overall by the Oilers in the 2009 NHL draft. He had a successful debut season with the Oilers in 2010-11, scoring 15 goals and 34 points. However, he only managed 11 goals and 24 points over his next 83 games.

On July 10, 2013, the Oilers traded him along with a 2014 second-round pick to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for David Perron. This, without a doubt, was Craig MacTavish’s best trade as the GM of the Oilers. 

https://twitter.com/EdmontonOilers/status/355056278025945088

With that being said, it was a good move for the Blues as well. While Pääjärvi didn’t really do a whole lot with the Blues, playing parts of five seasons with them, scoring 19 goals and 39 points in 189 games, that second-round pick in 2014 turned out to be a good one.

With that pick, the Blues selected Ivan Barbashev, who scored 78 goals and 178 points in 410 games with the Blues and won the Stanley Cup with them in 2019. Barbashev was traded before the 2023 trade deadline to the Vegas Golden Knights for Zach Dean, meaning he was on their roster (scoring seven goals and 11 points) en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

https://twitter.com/StLouisBlues/status/1629896357392547844

However, let’s talk about David Perron’s tenure with the Oilers and the roller coaster that became that trade tree.
<h2>David Perron’s short tenure with the Oilers was a good one</h2>
Perron was selected late in the first round of the 2007 draft and was having a nice little career up to this point, scoring 84 goals and 198 points in 340 games with the Blues.

His first season with the Oilers, the 2013-14 season, was a career-high at that point, as he scored 28 goals and 57 points along with 90 penalty minutes in 78 games. Those 28 goals remain a career-best, while he’s had three seasons with 58 or more points.

It was a slow start for Perron in 2014-15, scoring just five goals and 19 points in 38 games. On the second day of 2015, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Olympian Rob Klinkhammer and a 2015 first-round pick. Yes, Craig MacTavish struck gold twice in a trade involving the same player.
<h2>And then it all went to crap</h2>
The Penguins made the 2015 postseason, but just barely, and were bounced in five games against the New York Rangers. This meant that the first-round pick became the 16th-overall pick in the 2015 draft, one of the deepest drafts in National Hockey League history.

When that pick rolled around, here are some of the available players: Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Boeser, Travis Konency, and Jack Roslovic. Sure, the skill levels of players there vary, but any one of those players would’ve been better than the player they traded for, Griffin Reinhart.

The sad part is, the Oilers didn’t just trade the 16th-overall pick in an insanely deep draft, but they also moved their second-round pick (33rd-overall). Sebastian Aho was picked 35th overall in the 2015 draft. Imagine if they hit on those two picks while also selecting Connor McDavid first overall.

https://twitter.com/NYIslanders/status/614596685440921601

On the first day of the draft, the New York Islanders packaged the 33rd-overall pick and a third-round (who later turned out to be Anthony Cirelli) for the 27th-overall pick, landing Anthony Beauvillier, who in his own right, has had a pretty crazy trade tree that’s out of the scope of this article.

As for Reinhart, the fourth-overall pick in 2012 played just 29 games for the Oilers in 2015-16, picking up an assist. He didn’t play another game in the National Hockey League, and was the Oiler player the Vegas Golden Knights picked in the expansion draft. 

Funnily enough, David Perron was the team the Golden Knights picked from the St. Louis Blues (he signed there after his contract was done), and he had his first crack at a Stanley Cup during the 2018 postseason. He won it the next season with… the St. Louis Blues in his third stint with the team.

Anyway, Reinhart only spent two more seasons in North America after departing the Oilers, playing for the Chicago Wolves in 2017-18 as well as 2018-19. The following season, he played in China for the Kunlun Red Star of the Kontinental Hockey League, before a one-season stint in Germany. In 2021-22, he played in the Elite Ice Hockey League for the Belfast Giants before hanging up his skates at 28 years old.

<hr />

<img class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-144295" src="http://publish.oilersnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Klinkhammer_khaira-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" />

<hr />

<h2>But what about Rob Klinkhammer?</h2>
Rob Klinkhammer scored 11 goals and 20 points in 72 games with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2013-14, but didn’t provide nearly that amount of scoring after the trade with the Oilers.

To finish out his 2014-15 season, he scored a goal and three points in 40 games. In 2015-16, he scored a goal in 14 games, but 14 goals and 24 points in 27 games with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League. The 2015-16 season was his final year in North America.

Throughout six seasons, Klinkhammer scored 81 goals and 157 points in 269 Kontinental Hockey League games. After a mid-season trade to Kazan Ak-Bars, he scored the Gagarin Cup-clinching goal on a team that also featured former Oiler, Anton Lander. Moreover, the Kazan Ak-Bars also had Montréal Canadiens legend Andrei Markov on the roster, as well as Alexander Burmistrov.

Anyway, due to the National Hockey League not allowing players to participate in the 2018 Olympics, Rob Klinkhammer played for Team Canada at the 2018 Olympics. Unfortunately, Canada finished with the bronze medal in the tournament, with the team featuring former Oilers Derek Roy, Gilbert Brulé, and Ben Scrivens.

Klinkhammer hung up his skates after the 2021-22 season and currently serves as the Rockford IceHogs assistant coach. Who knows, maybe he’ll become the Oilers head coach in the future.

<hr />

If you enjoy my content, you can follow me on Twitter @Ryley_L_D. Like the Six Goalies of 2013-14, the article idea was created during the All-Star break and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLo12SYwt93STnVXNy8XYOSLP4IMBrMhDr">a large inspiration for this article is because of Steve Dangle’s Trade Tree series.</a>

Revisiting the roller coaster that is the David Perron trade tree

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