Revisiting the Devils Acquiring Dougie Gilmour From the Maple Leafs

In February of 1997, the Toronto Maple Leafs traded one of the most beloved players in franchise history to the New Jersey Devils.

Doug ‘Killer” Gilmour’s time in Toronto had run its course, and that meant a new beginning in New Jersey.

Maple Leafs GM Cliff Fletcher traded Gilmour and Dave Ellett and a 1999 third-round pick (Andre Lakos) in exchange for Steve Sullivan, Jason Smith, and the rights to prospect Alyn McCauley.

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The Devils were one of the most dominant teams from 1995-2005, so to see them pull off a deal of this magnitude is not surprising. Their GM at the time, Lou Lamoriello was all about winning, and he would do whatever it took.

Devils Return

Gilmour would play parts of two seasons with New Jersey before joining the Chicago Blackhawks. In those two seasons, he would appear in 83 games and record 20 goals and 55 assists for 75 points. He would also play in 16 playoff games with the organization over his time, but never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

As for Dave Ellett, he would play in the remaining 20 games of the season for his new club, collecting two goals and five assists, and would appear in 10 playoff games.

Andre Lakos, the player selected with the third-round pick, never appeared in an NHL game.

Maple Leafs Return

Sullivan may have been the biggest name coming back to Toronto in the trade; he became a player that the fans liked. Unfortunately, he didn’t stay with the organization for long. He played four seasons with the Maple Leafs before being claimed off of waivers by the Blackhawks. In 154 games, he scored 35 goals and 50 assists for 85 points.

Next, Smith’s time with his new club was short as well. He played in parts of three seasons with Toronto before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a 1999 fourth-round pick and a 2000 second-round pick. During his time with the Maple Leafs, Smith would play in 162 games and record five goals and 29 assists for 34 points.

Lastly, McCauley had so much NHL potential but unfortunately wasn’t used right within the Maple Leafs’ organization. McCauley played six seasons with the club and didn’t have very good offensive production. In 304 games, he scored 33 goals and 40 assists for 82 points.

This trade was a by-product of the Devils wanting to win again after their Cup in 1995 and looking for veteran help, and the Maple Leafs rebuilding around Mats Sundin on the fly. Personally, I don’t see a clear winner to this trade; no one truly stuck out on either side. With that said, it was a good attempt at a trade for both organizations going in two different directions.