The One NHL Trade Every Fan Wishes They Could Erase—And Why It Still Haunts Their Team
Younger fans will point to recent trades, such as the 2018 deal that sent Ryan McDonagh and J.T. Miller to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a package that amounted to very little or the 2021 exchange that shipped Pavel Buchnevich to the St. Louis Blues and left a void at top-line RW that still hasn’t been properly filled. However, old-timers will rightly contend that the 1976 trade is the clear choice. Middleton, a 22-year-old future Hall of Famer, would rack up 898 points (402 goals and 496 assists) over 12 seasons with the Bruins. Hodge was almost a decade older and well past his prime. The hope was he’d rekindle chemistry with longtime linemate Phil Esposito, but he would last only 96 games with the Rangers before being relegated to the AHL. — Vincent Z. Mercogliano
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