Chris Pronger remains highly regarded as one of the most effective and physically punishing defensemen in the last quarter century of the National Hockey League, and he took his rightful place in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015.
Pronger, who was originally taken in the first round (second overall pick) of the Hartford Whalers in the 1993 NHL Draft, had one lone season as part of his Hall of Fame career with the Edmonton Oilers in 2005-06, the first season after the infamous 2004-05 NHL lockout.
While Pronger helped lead the Oilers to within a single victory of what would have been their first Stanley Cup win in 16 years, he then shocked fans by requesting a trade despite having completed only the first of five seasons on his $31.5 million contract.
Chris Pronger Opens Up About His Controversial Trade Request From The Edmonton Oilers
Pronger, who asked for a trade only days after the Oilers suffered a heartbreaking Game 7 loss in the 2006 Stanley Cup Final to the Carolina Hurricanes, expressed his belief that NHL players have earned the right to have more control over their careers
He also said that asking for a trade shouldn’t make a player a villain, as he quickly became in northern Alberta, when teams have historically held most of the power.
“The pendulum was so far skewed and the teams had all the power,” Pronger explained earlier this week on the Morning Cuppa Hockey podcast. “I was traded five times. I asked for a trade once. I got vilified because I asked for a trade. But nobody complained the other four times when I got traded.”
“Players are understanding, I think more so than ever, how short their careers are. And they’re really thinking more intelligently about the opportunities that are in front of them, post-playing, all the rest of that.”
He then said that he believes players should have the chance to have more control over their careers.
“I think the players should, and rightly, when they have the option (control their careers),” he said. “We can go down this whole rabbit hole of no-move clauses and all the rest of that, it’s certainly within the players, right? They’re providing the service. But just because you ask for a trade doesn’t mean they have to trade you.”
Chris Pronger Was Traded To The Anaheim Ducks
The Oilers were faced with a tremendously difficult and awkward situation when Pronger officially requested a trade despite having helped the club come within a single win of the Stanley Cup only days earlier.
Eventually, Pronger was traded to the Anaheim Ducks, whom he’d helped the Oilers defeat earlier that spring in the Western Conference Final, for Joffrey Lupul, defenseman Ladislav Smid, a conditional 2007 first-round draft pick, and a conditional 2008 first-round draft pick (along with a second-round pick).
Adding insult to injury for Oilers fans was the fact that Pronger helped lead the Ducks to one of the best records in the Western Conference that season, and later hoisted the Stanley Cup thanks to a five-game series win over the Ottawa Senators.
During his first and only year in Edmonton, Pronger scored 12 goals with 44 assists during the regular season, and added another five goals and 16 assists in 24 playoff games.
Chris Pronger Opens Up About Controversial 2006 Oilers Trade Request