There's the old saying throughout the sports world that "If Wayne Gretzky can be traded, anyone can."
That's because on Aug. 9, 1988, the greatest player to ever grace the game of hockey was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.
The trade was officially Gretzky, Mike Krushelnyski and Marty McSorley going to Los Angeles in exchange for Jimmy Carson, Martin Gelinas, a 1989 first-round pick (Jason Miller), a 1991 first-round pick (Martin Rucinsky), a 1993 first-round pick (Nick Stajduhar) and $15 million.
Over the years, the trade has developed and branched out into other trades and assets for both the Kings and Oilers that have helped, or were an attempt to help their chances of making a run to be successful after the original trade. This branching out of trades and moves as a result of the original trade is often referred to as a "trade tree".
34 years later, the "trade tree" stemming from the historic 1988 transaction has finally come to an end.
It was officially announced on Tuesday that defenseman Nelson Nogier has left North American to sign a contract with Barys Nur-Sultan based in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.
Nogier happened to be the final piece of the Gretzky trade tree that kept it alive years after the original deal. He was the player the Kings acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in a trade back on March 21 in exchange for defenseman Markus Phillips, who was originally drafted by Los Angeles with the 118th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
However, with Nogier signing to play professional hockey in Russia for the upcoming season, the Kings have no more players under contract that they either acquired or drafted as a result of the Gretzky deal.
As for the Oilers' side of the Gretzky trade tree, the last remaining link to the deal last played during the 2009-10 season in Edmonton. That was forward Ethan Moreau, who had spent 653 games as a member of the Oilers starting during the 1998-99 season.
For a more in-depth breakdown of the Gretzky trade tree, check out this video from Steve Dangle of Sportsnet, who completely details the trade and the resulting moves that followed when the trade tree was still alive in December of 2020:
