In 1988, the Los Angeles Kings would pull off one of the most consequential trades in NHL history with the Edmonton Oilers. The trade would involve the greatest hockey player in Wayne Gretzky and had such a resounding impact that ESPN would make a '30 for 30' documentary on it titled 'Kings Ransom'.
It was one of the most unexpected trades ever to occur because if there was one player who was untradeable, it would be Wayne Gretzky. He was just coming off his fourth Stanley Cup in five seasons with the Edmonton Oilers and had won the Hart Memorial Trophy eight times already in his career.
However, Gretzky was entering the final year of his contract and the Oilers were ready to make a trade to at least get something in return in case he were to leave in free agency.
Breaking down the trade between the Los Angeles Kings and Edmonton Oilers
It is hard to come up with fair value when one team is trading the best hockey player in the league, and one that is clearly so far ahead of everyone else in the league. The Kings would end up trading two players and three first-round picks in return for Gretzky, Marty McSorley, and Mike Krushelnyski
However, none of the players really made much of an impact for the Edmonton Oilers and is one of the reasons why this was the greatest trade made by the Kings and probably all of hockey. Jimmy Carson was a promising young prospect who was selected to the first-team All-Rookie team and made the All-Star game his first season with the Oilers.
That would be his only full season with the team, though, as they would trade him to Detroit the following year. Martin Gelinas was a solid contributor for the Oilers but had most of his success after leaving Edmonton with back-to-back 30+ goal seasons in 1995-96 and 1996-97 with the Vancouver Canucks.
As for the three first round draft picks (Jason Miller, Martin Rucinsky, Nick Stajduhar) they combined to play only 10 games for the Oilers.
While Wayne Gretzky wasn't able to bring a Stanley Cup to Los Angeles, this was still an excellent trade for the Kings. He was highly productive, making the All-Star Game in seven of the eight years he was with the team, won the Hart Memorial Trophy once and led the league in assists five times and in points three times.