Trade season is offcially upon us. Darren Raddysh and Brady Tkachuk have changed team with more to come. It got me thinking about the June trades the Capitals were a part of over the years. The Capitals have made over thirty trades in the month of June in their history. Many of them didn’t make move the needle, but not all. Names like Alan Haworth, Randy Burridge, and US Olympic hockey gold medal winner Dave Christian, are some of those that worked out pretty well for the Caps. But there were four trades that were more impactful. It is hard to rank them, so here, in in no particular order, are the four best June trades in Capitals history.
June 13, 1987
Capital trade forwards Gaetane Duchene, Alan Haworth and the 15th overall pick in the ’87 draft to the Quebec Nordiques for goaltender Clint Malarchuk and center Dale Hunter.
Duchene and Haworth were good players for the Caps, but Hunter brought something they were lacking: a playoff difference maker. Hunter got under the skin of opposing players to get them off their game. He was just as liable to pick a fight before scoring a goal. He captained Washington to its first Stanley Cup finals back in 1998 and defined what it meant to wear the red, white, and blue. His playoff impact was felt immediately, when Hunter’s scored in overtime of Game 7 of the 1988 first round playoffs against the Flyers.
Note* The only negative about the Dale Hunter trade was that Quebec would use that first rounder to draft future Hall of Famer and 2-time Stanley Cup Champ Joe Sakic.
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