From 1988 in the THN Archive: On the human side of trades through the prism of Brent Ashton
From the THN Archive: March 4, 1988 / Vol. 41, Issue 23
By Keith Gave
Seven seasons ago on a warm summer day, Brent Ashton was approaching the 14th green on a Saskatoon golf course when the axe fell for the first time on the NHL’s most wanted—or unwanted—man.
Ashton’s brother, Ron, had hurried to the course to tell him his bosses with the Vancouver Canucks urgently needed to speak with him. But before heading for the telephone, he took one more shot.
“I chipped in,” he recalls, “so I started off well.”
Then he put down his clubs, went to the phone and began his odyssey.
“I found out I was traded,” he said.
Which is only half the story.
On July 15, 1981, Winnipeg claimed him as compensation, with a fourth-round choice in the 1982 draft, for Vancouver’s signing of Ivan Hlinka. Hours later, he learned that Winnipeg had shipped him to Colorado with a third-round pick for Lucien DeBlois.
Ashton would play the 1981-82 season with the Rockies before they moved to New Jersey and became the Devils, who would trade him to the Minnesota North Stars, who would trade him to the Quebec Nordiques, who would trade him to the Detroit Red Wings, who would finally make him feel at home. Sort of.
Ashton, a 27-year-old left winger from Saskatoon, Sask., has made more moves than Denis Savard on a breakaway. He has been owned by seven NHL clubs—more than any other active player. He has played for six of them. He has been traded five times.
Only lately, for the first time in his nine-year career, has he felt secure enough to finally many his high-school sweetheart, Susan, and buy a home.
“I’ve never been in one city long enough,” he said. “I’ve always had to rent furniture. I’ve done so much packing and unpacking. You look at my furniture that I did buy—all the different colors from all the different moves…There’s been a lot of living in hotels, eating hotel restaurant food all the time.
“That’s the tough part. I’ve never gotten the chance to settle down.”
When asked about which trades were most difficult for him, Ashton mentioned several:
• The first one, because he was young and because he had never known the feeling of being unwanted.
“That’s the one that hurts the most. It’s your first team. You’re trying to make that your home. It’s a shock. You think, ‘Here’s my team, and they don’t want me. Nobody wants me.”
• The one to Minnesota, because he had been in his New Jersey apartment for one day and his fiance was on her way to join him there when he learned he had been traded for Dave Lewis, a former Wings’ teammate who is now an assistant coach in Detroit.
“She was on a flight there (to New Jersey) with all my clothes,” Ashton said. “She didn’t even know. I had just moved in and was still unpacking boxes when I found out. We had to turn around and go to Minnesota…Most times, you have to be gone in three or four hours. It’s a big burden on them (spouses). They’re the ones stuck with moving out, the cable TV hookups, shutting of the phones and utilities…”
• And the last (for now) trade, the one to Detroit, when for the first time he was more than just a throw-in on the deal, because he was having an excellent season with the Nordiques. The Wings acquired him with Gilbert Delorme and Mark Kumpel in a deal that sent John Ogrodnick, Basil McRae and Doug Shedden to Quebec.
“That was probably the biggest shock because I was off to my best season,” said Ashton, who scored 25 goals in 46 games for the Nordiques and finished with 40. “After that trade, it seemed like I would never find a home. I was always on the move.”
Little wonder then, that it took more than a year for him to feel comfortable in Detroit, and that coach Jacques Demers describes him as one of the most insecure players he has ever coached.
“Those insecurities come from being traded a lot, and from people making promises to him that were never fulfilled,” Demers said. “I think right now, this is the first time that he’s started to feel like this is his team…The only time he gets out of his game is when he gets that insecurity.”
Despite a 60-point season for Colorado in 1981-82, Ashton later developed a reputation as a strong checking forward with hands of stone around the net. That rap led to both his trade to Minnesota just prior to the 1983--84 season opener, and his trade away from the North Stars 14 months later.
Role-players attract attention at trade time, Minnesota general manager Lou Nanne said.
“You trade for a mode—a fighter, a scorer,” said Nanne. “Maybe he (the acquired player) will bring more offense. Maybe he affected the chemistry of the team wrong. Maybe there’s an abundance at that position. Maybe he can only play in certain situations, like a defenseman who produces on the power play. There are all kinds of different things that go through a general manager’s mind.
“We liked Ashton’s potential in junior and liked him in New Jersey,” Nanne added. But that wasn’t enough to keep him in Minnesota. He was shipped off to Quebec, with defenseman Brad Maxwell, for left winger Tony McKegney and right winger Bo Berglund.
“We wanted to get someone who scored more goals,” the GM added. “We thought McKegney could score more goals from the wing.”
Ashton, ironically, blossomed as a scorer in Quebec. His production came as a surprise to Quebec GM Maurice Filion.
“When we traded for him, we thought he was a good defensive player,” Filion said. “As it turned out, he became a scorer, too.
“We were looking for his aggressiveness. He was big and strong and we thought he’d fit in well with us.”
He did. As Ashton began to develop into a solid two-way player, his value went up. Other teams began to ask for him in deals, dangling tempting packages in front of Filion. Finally, with the Nordiques struggling to maintain a playoff spot in the Adams Division, Filion relented. He sent Ashton to Detroit in the big five-player deal.
“He was playing very well with us,” Filion said. “The only reason we traded him is that we weren’t going anywhere and we needed to shake up the team. It helped us, because we made the playoffs and beat the (Hartford) Whalers (in the Adams semi-finals).”
Filion said Ashton’s character and work habits were always good, and that the deal was purely a business decision, made because a player of Ashton’s calibre could bring a lot in return.
“We got Basil McRae, who gave us the muscle we needed,” he said, “and John Ogrodnick, the scorer.” Ironically, neither McRae nor Ogrodnick was with the Nordiques when the 1987-88 season started. McRae, a free agent at the end of ’86-87, signed with Minnesota. And the disgruntled Ogrodnick, a former 55-goal scorer, held out in training camp and was dealt to the New York Rangers.
Ashton had a perilous beginning this season, too. After 19 games, he had just six goals and three assists and the Red Wings were 8-9-2.
“I started off slowly, and I was starting to second-guess myself,” he said. “Here I was, finally in a city that I really enjoy, I’m married and have a home—and I’m not having one of my better seasons.”
The Wings struggled as well; the early season was punctuated by trade rumors. Ashton’s name surfaced frequently. But he scored two goals—including the winner—in the Wings’ next game, a 10-8 shootout against Winnipeg on Nov. 25, and both he and the team were on their way to the top of the Norris Division.
Still, when other teams talk trade with the Red Wings, Demers said, “Ashton is mentioned more than anybody else, and we always say no.
“You never say never in this business, but we have no intention of trading him. I’m a Brent Ashton fan. He does so much for us. He plays a good role. He’s been a good addition.”
Nevertheless, Ashton is bound to be a relieved man when this season’s NHL trade deadline, March 8, passes quietly. Of course, there’s always next year’s to worry about. And the year after that…
To forestall his insecurities, Demers said he talks with Ashton more than any of his players except captain Steve Yzerman.
“He said, ‘Talk to me once a week,’ so we do,” Demers said. “We have a good rapport.”
The frequent trades, Ashton said, can take their toll on a player’s checkbook. There are small costs, like sometimes having to choose a more expensive—and not always most desirable—place to live because you only have so much time before the new club stops paying for the hotel. And there are bigger costs that include the price you pay for always having to prove yourself.
“Contract wise, you’re always having to prove yourself to a new team,” Ashton said. “I’ve had good seasons, but I’ve always had trouble getting good contracts…You have to get their confidence.”
Ashton is gaining the confidence of the Wings’ through his steady, if not spectacular, play at both ends of the rink this season. In 52 of Detroit’s 58 games, he had 19 goals and 17 assists. Included were four power-play goals, two shorthanded and three game-winners. He owned a plus-6 rating. He would like to finish with 30 goals. It would put him in good stead to renegotiate his contract this summer. He is in the second year of a three-year plus option contract.
But if it all ended tomorrow, and Ashton were forced to deliver his retirement speech, he likely would borrow a line from baseball’s Lou Gehrig. Despite all the trades and trauma, the wonder and worry, he considers himself a fortunate man.
“I feel I’m very lucky. Not lucky, honored, just to be playing in the NHL at all,” said Ashton, who had 165 goals and 188 assists in 584 regular-season games before this season. “I’ve never played in the minors, and I’m still playing.
“And I feel very fortunate that I’ve played in all those cities. I’ve gotten to live in some great cities. I’ve met some great people.”
And of the future, Brent Ashton harbors no illusions. He’ll hope for the best, but he’ll be prepared for the worst.
“I’m just trying to get settled in, trying to play hockey,” he said. “I hope I can stay here and finish my career. But there will be a lot more trades (the Wings make) before I’m done. And if the right deal comes along, they’ll trade you.”
Take it from an expert.
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