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Scott Hartnell was nearly traded for Sheldon Souray last season

Scott Hartnell

Philadelphia Flyers left wing Scott Hartnell listens to a question during a news conference at the NHL Stanley Cup hockey finals on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, in Philadelphia. The Chicago Blackhawks lead the Flyers in the series 3-2. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

AP

It’s said, sometimes to the point of it being done to death, that the best trades are often the ones that weren’t made. Late last night, Edmonton radio host Dan Tencer relayed a story from Global Sports television’s Kevin Karius on Twitter telling about how the Flyers and Oilers nearly made a big deal last season. That trade would’ve more than changed the complexion of the Philadelphia Flyers and would’ve eliminated one off-season headache this summer for the Oilers.

Last season Hartnell of the Flyers agreed to waive his NTC to come to Edmonton. Tambellini pulled out of a deal that would have sent Souray.

Scott Hartnell was cool with going to Edmonton and Oilers GM Steve Tambellini, who now can’t find anyone to take Sheldon Souray off his hands said “no” to it. That’s stunning information. As with all stories and anecdotes such as these, there’s more to it than a simple summation can muster. Dan Tencer of the Edmonton Journal elaborates further on the stunning rumor.

After telling Tencer in an interview that Souray shouldn’t be allowed to attend Edmonton’s camp as things now stand, Karius said: “This could all have been avoided last year, Dan. Steve Tambellini offered Sheldon Souray to the Flyers for Scott Hartnell. And Hartnell has a no-trade clause and Paul Holmgren went to Hartnell and said, ‘Listen, the Oilers are interested in you. Would you waive your no trade?’ and Hartnell said, “You know, I’d like to, I woudln’t mind going to Edmonton and playing. He’s a Lloydminster guy. He’s an Alberta guy” He likes it here. I think it would have been a kind of a homecoming for him. A power forward, kind of what the Oilers need. So he said, ‘Go ahead.’ So Paul Holmgren phoned Tamby back and said, ‘Here is the deal. It’s done if you want it,’ and Tamby pulled out. So that could have been done last year.”

Mind you, stories like this are technically a rumor but there’s a lot of teeth to this one and unless Kevin Karius is itching to get fired out of Edmonton, there’s no reason for him to tell tall tales here. Depending on when, exactly, all this was playing out whether it was during a short window while Souray was healthy or while he was recovering from injury will help determine just how badly Steve Tambellini messed up on this whole thing. After all, finding a taker for Souray’s $5.4 million salary for the next two seasons is proving to be his biggest problem this off-season and if that could’ve been avoided by sending Souray away last year, the “what if?” game from Oilers fans would be off the charts.

As for the Flyers in this whole thing, they’ve got to be thankful that Tambellini did what he had apparently done because while Hartnell is a source of frustration at times, his work throughout the playoffs for the Flyers helped them get as far as they did. He was a menace around and in front of the net and did more good than bad. Souray would’ve been an extreme luxury on the blue line for the Flyers meanwhile they would’ve been a lot thinner up front.

While this trade that didn’t happen worked out really well for Philadelphia, it’s proving to be the burden of the summer for the Oilers because the inability to trade Souray is apparently slowing them down from doing anything else. I wonder if Steve Tambellini would like a do-over on this one.