On this day in 1998, the Tampa Bay Lightning traded Bryan Marchment and David Shaw to the San Jose Sharks for Andrei Nazarov and the right to swap 1998 first round picks.
A bit of background is needed to set the scene of the trade deadline move. Early in the season, the Sharks traded 22-year old Russian forward Viktor Kozlov and a conditional 5th round pick to the Florida Panthers for Dave Lowry and the Panthers’ 1998 first round pick. Kozlov was the Sharks’ 6th overall pick in the 1993 entry draft. He had put up only 29 goals and 40 assists in 174 games, so the Panthers were betting on his potential, though it seemed like a costly bet at the time.
Panthers’ GM Bryan Murray on the acquisition: “Any time you commit a first-round pick, you have to think you’re getting something pretty substantial in return. I don’t trade first-round picks that often, and it’s bothering me a little right now. [But] what we’re getting is someone in Kozlov who was taken sixth overall, someone who played in the Russian Elite League, a guy who’s 6’5″ with great hands who has the ability to produce points. He’s an exciting, young prospect … When I asked our scouts if we could get someone with [Kozlov’s] potential with our first-round pick, they said no.”
At the time of the trade, the Panthers had the ninth lowest amount of points in the league and sat four points out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Move forward to March 24th and the Panthers have lost 13 straight games and now sit second-to-last in the league, only above the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Sharks, owning a potential top pick while sitting only 3 points out of the playoff spot, were looking to bolster their roster for the playoff push. They pulled the trigger on the trade that would see them get physical defenseman Bryan Marchment from the Lightning. In return the Sharks gave the Lightning, among other things, the option to swap their own pick for Florida’s pick, should the lottery move Florida’s pick ahead of the Lightning’s.
As the team with the worst record in the league, the Lightning already had the best chance of landing the first pick in the 1998 draft. Acquiring the right to swap with the Florida pick boosted their odds of walking out of the lottery with the top pick.
Sharks GM Dean Lombardi on the trade: “I like the fact that this helps us now, and the guys could fit in the blueprint for the future. We’ve been after Marchment from the day he got traded to Edmonton. He’s a player who could grow with these guys. He has dimensions that fit. Marchment might have been the most sought-after guy at the deadline. This is a playoff-type player.”
What would have been merely a footnote turned into something much more when on May 10, the Florida Panthers pick jumped to number one in the draft lottery, giving the Lightning the opportunity to swap their number two pick for the top selection.
Bryan Murray defended the move after the lottery result: “Certainly we thought we’d be a playoff team and never expected the top pick, but we’ll have a top player in Kozlov for many years to come. There’s no doubt about that.”
Kozlov would finish the 1997-98 season with 12 goals and 11 assists in 46 games with the Panthers. Murray was right that they would have Kozlov for many years to come. Kozlov would play 414 games with the Panthers, putting up 101 goals and 190 assists before being traded to the New Jersey Devils in 2003-04.
The Lightning would pick Vincent Lecavalier with the #1 pick. Lecavalier would play 14 seasons with the franchise, winning the Stanley Cup in 2003-04 and the Rocket Richard trophy in 2006-07. His jersey number 4 was retired in February 2018.
With Marchment, the Sharks would slip into the playoffs as the number eight seed in the West. Marchment would play another five seasons with the Sharks.
The Sharks would trade down from their second overall pick and a chance to pick the presumptive #2 pick David Legwand. In exchange for the second overall pick and a third round pick, the Sharks received the third overall pick and the 29th pick. They would pick Brad Stuart 3rd overall. Stuart would play a big part with the Sharks for five seasons before being shipped to Boston in the Joe Thornton trade in 2005. The Sharks would take Jonathan Cheechoo with the 29th pick. Cheechoo would win the Rocket Richard trophy skating alongside Thornton in 2005-06 and would eventually be sent to Ottawa in the trade that brought Dany Heatley to San Jose.
It’s a rare circumstance that the draft pick that eventually becomes the #1 selection is held by three different teams. This was the case for in the 1998 draft as shown in mostly forgotten history.
