Washington Capitals: Top 3 scariest trades that actually happened

3 of the scariest trades made by the Washington Capitals.

The Washington Capitals have made some foolish trades in the past that hurt them. When the news happened, they shocked, angered, and even saddened many Caps fans. To get in the spirit of Halloween, let’s look at the scariest trades that actually happened.

#3 Trading away Bobby Carpenter

Bobby Carpenter was a big superstar in the 1980s for the Caps after they drafted him third overall in 1981. In 1984-85, he became the first United States born player to score 50 or more goals in a season. Since that season however, things would get heated between Carpenter and Caps coach Bryan Murray.

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In January of 1987, the Caps traded him away along with a second rounder in exchange for Mike Ridley, Kelly Miller, and Bob Crawford. According to the New York Times, it was a part of a soap opera ongoing in the locker room:

"The trade concluded an episode known as ”our personal soap opera” by Capitals players who wondered why a last-place Patrick Division team chose to let Carpenter, who once produced a 53-goal season for them, sit and collect his pay but not play for more than a month."

His time with the Rangers was short lived but he would still go on to have a solid career. He went on to win the Stanley Cup in 1995 with the New Jersey Devils.

#2 Jaromir Jagr drama

Jaromir Jagr, Washington Capitals (Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images/NHLI) /

In the summer of 2001 the Caps thought they got a steal in Jaromir Jagr after they made a blockbuster trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins for him and Frantisek Kucera while the Penguins would receive Kris Beech, Ross Lupaschuk, Michal Sivek and future considerations. This came after Jagr had a feud with had coach Ivan Hlinka. The good thing about it was the Penguins got nothing out of that trade except a bad egg out of the locker room.

The Caps though spent ridiculous money to sign him. Seven years and $77 million which was the richest contract in NHL history at the time. It was supposed to be a scary line in the NHL with Jagr, Peter Bondra, and Adam Oates but the real scare was how it didn’t work out. The Caps missed the playoffs completely in Jagr’s first season. Jagr also scored 31 goals that year after scoring 52 in Pittsburgh the year before.

Jagr had 36 his second season but his time with the Caps would end in the middle of his third season. With things simply not working out and the team struggling and going through a dark time in last place in the Southeast Division, the team traded Jagr to the Rangers for Anson Carter.

Jagr had a career resurgence in New York and in the season after the lockout scored 54 goals.

#1 The scariest trade of all

Filip Forsberg, Washington Capitals (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

This trade was by far the worst in Washington Capitals history. We all know this one. Trading Filip Forsberg to the Nashville Predators in exchange for Martin Erat. Things were already scary enough with Adam Oates evolving from a former player to a head coach.

It happened in March of 2013 and it angered the Caps fan base. Why would they trade a top prospect that they selected in the draft the year before to a random team with a random player we’ve never even heard of?

George McPhee was desprate in his efforts to win the Stanley Cup and he thought Erat was the missing piece. He only scored two goals in 62 games with the Caps. Forsberg meanwhile is a current star on the Predators and they love him over there. He’s a 20-30 goal scorer.

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Those are our top 3 scariest trades the Caps made in their history. Which trade scared you the most?

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