Vancouver Canucks' Completed Trade With Penguins Crowned as Greatest in the Organization's History
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The best trade that the Vancouver Canucks have ever made in their 55-year franchise history has recently been revealed following a fan poll on social media.
Throughout the history of the National Hockey League, every team has made their fair share of good and bad trades that have helped shaped their franchise for better or worse.
This summer, the Vancouver Canucks have made a trio of moves, one of which included them adding nine-time 20+ goal scorer Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers, while Patrik Allvin shipped Arturs Silovs and Dakota Joshua to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively.
As the Canucks get ready for the 2025-26 season, hoping that the moves they made this summer work out in their favor, the club's best trade in franchise history has been revealed following a poll involving fans.
Vancouver Canucks' best trade in franchise history has been revealed
In a post on social media on Tuesday, Canucks Army shared that the Markus Naslund deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins in March of 1996 was voted as the best trade ever made in Vancouver Canucks franchise history.
"The Markus Naslund deal was voted the best trade in Canucks history!" Canucks Army said.
In March of 1996, Vancouver Canucks General Manager Pat Quinn was looking to add some more juice to the team's offense and the team was able to do so by landing Markus Naslund from the Pittsburgh Penguins, who was selected 16th overall just four years prior.
The trade between Vancouver and Pittsburgh was one-for-one, involving forward Alek Stojanov, who was taken nine spots ahead of Markus Naslund in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.
Stojanov's time in the Vancouver Canucks organization wasn't going as the club had hoped, so in order to give him a fresh start, while also adding some more offense to the roster, they shipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Naslund would go on to register three goals in his first ten games as a Vancouver Canuck before adding three points in six games during the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Ornskoldsvik, Sweden native would spend the majority of his career with the Vancouver Canucks - parts of 12 seasons in total, seven of which he was the captain for, becoming a fan favourite in British Columbia.
Naslund finished his time in Vancouver with 756 points (346 goals, 410 assists) in 884 games and would go on to play his final season in the NHL with the New York Rangers during the 2008-09 season.
As for Stojanov, a native of Windsor, Ontario, he would go on to appear in 45 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins between March 1996 and the end of the 1996-97 season.
The 1996-97 campaign was the last time Stojanov would suit up in the NHL as he would spend the final five seasons in the American Hockey League, International Hockey League, Western Professional Hockey League and the Central Hockey League before retiring in 2002.
It's safe to say that this was the best trade the Vancouver Canucks have ever made during their time in the National Hockey League and we may not ever see one like this again, especially from the impact a player like Naslund made on the organization.
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