Trade mistake that had the Edmonton Oilers lose out on a promising defender

Ken Holland's one big mistake could have been the reason the Edmonton Oilers lost out on a young and promising defender.

There were many times Holland did a great job to get the Oilers in five years from a bottom third team to game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals. One of those downs was revealed in a what could have been moment for the team, the Andreas Athanasiou trade.

It was the COVID season of 2019-20 when Athanasiou was traded along with Ryan Kuffner from Detroit to Edmonton for two second round picks (one on 2020 and one on 2021) and Sam Gagner.

It was a gamble worth taking at the time, Holland was familiar with Athanasiou from his time in Detroit. And before the trade, Athanasiou had 24 points in 46 games played. Unfortunately, in Edmonton he only managed 2 points over 9 games played from February 24th until the end of that season.

In the play-in round that year he played in all four games but did not manage a point with an average of 10:58 ice time. It was the last year of his deal, and he ended up going to play in LA next season.

No big deal, right? Well, that 2020 second round pick ended up being traded to the Kings. And with their pick, they selected Brock Faber, 45th overall. Faber was then shipped over to Minnesota along with first round pick Kevin Fiala.

Last year, Faber was a Calder Cup finalist, losing out to only Connor Bedard. The 21-year-old defensive played in 82 games last season, recording 47 points and his ice time was up to 24:58, having him play against many of the elite lines in the NHL, more than any defenseman on the Wild.

So, that second round pick given up for Andreas Athanasiou in the end turned out to be a young defenseman that can help move Minnesota to the next level. Guess you win some and lose some when you make deals in the NHL.

As Read On: The Hockey News - Ken Holland didn't know it at the time, but the Edmonton Oilers lost out on a defender who would be a perfect fit today.

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