Chris Gratton & Bobby Holik (© Lou Capozzola-Imagn Images)The Hockey News has released its archive to all THN subscribers: 76 years of history, stories, and features.
Subscribe now to view the full THN Archives here
Also, go to thn.com/free to subscribe.
Gratton-Gate - Sep. 5, 1997 - By Tim Buckley, Wayne Fish & Tim Sassone
Lightning likes what it got in trade No. 2
BY TIM BUCKLEY
IT DIDN’T WIN THE initial battle, but the Tampa Bay Lightning says it’s pleased with what it salvaged in the Chris Gratton affair.
After opting not to match the five-year, $16.5-million offer sheet Gratton signed with the Philadelphia Flyers, (which included a signing bonus of $9 million for 1997-98), Tampa sent the compensatory four first-round picks back to the Flyers in exchange for right winger Mikael Renberg and defenseman Karl Dykhuis. Both players are 25.
“(They) are legitimate NHLers who played on a Stanley Cup finalist,” said GM Phil Esposito.
The deal was the second – but only the first official – in a week for Esposito, who believed he had completed a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks Aug. 20 in which the Lightning would have reportedly received defenseman Keith Carney, left winger Ethan Moreau, $2 million and draft picks for the rights to Gratton.
Said coach Terry Crisp about deal No. 2: “Before we go doom and gloom…let’s realize we still have a good club.”
Renberg had 38 goals and 82 points in his rookie NHL season, but he recorded just 49 goals while fighting through injuries the past two seasons. Renberg says he is fully recovered from an abdominal muscle tear that required surgery in 1996. “Maybe this is a new start for me,” he said.
Dykhuis became expendable when the Flyers picked up free agent Luke Richardson earlier this summer.
Getting the fax straight
The tangled Chris Gratton affair took many twists and turns. Here is a timeline of events.
Aug. 12, noon: Tampa Bay Lightning GM Phil Esposito has trade talks with several teams after learning Gratton is close to signing offer sheet.
Aug. 12, early evening: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman rejects trade between Tampa Bay and Chicago Blackhawks because the deal gives perception Gratton is being sold for cash ($5.5 million).
Aug. 12, 9:45 p.m.: Lightning and Blackhawks begin unsuccessful attempts to notify league of new trade and eventually leave message.
Aug. 12, 10:03 p.m.: Gratton’s signed offer sheet from Philadelphia Flyers faxed to Lightning.
Aug. 12, shortly after 10 p.m.: Tampa and Chicago verify trade with NHL official.
Aug. 13: Lightning claims Philadelphia fax is illegible and, therefore, invalid.
Aug. 15: Arbitrator John Sands rules Flyer fax valid after 90-minute hearing on the previous day.
Aug. 16: League schedules hearing for Aug. 18 on which came first – consummation of trade or Flyer fax.
Aug. 19: Bettman rules “Tampa Bay and Chicago just ran out of time. All the terms of the trade and contracts must be reviewed before it is consummated. Merely leaving a message…is not the defining moment.”
Aug. 20: Tampa declines to match offer, but strikes deal in which compensatory four first-round picks go back to Flyers for right winger Mikael Renberg and defenseman Karl Dykhuis.
Flyers make sizeable gains with pick-ups
BY WAYNE FISH
BOB CLARKE BELIEVES size matters.
That’s why the Philadelphia Flyers GM chose to make the NHL’s biggest team even bigger with the acquisition of 22-year-old power forward Chris Gratton.
Clarke signed Gratton to a five-year, $16.5-million offer sheet, then dealt right winger Mikael Renberg and defenseman Karl Dykhuis to the Tampa Bay Lightning to re-acquire the compensatory four first-round picks the Lightning received when it decided not to match.
Gratton, 6-foot-4 and 218 pounds, was one of only two players (Phoenix Coyotes captain Keith Tkachuk was the other) to register at least 30 goals (30) and 200 penalty minutes (201) last season.
“We really like Gratton…the future for him is bright,” said Clarke, who earlier in the summer added another 6-foot-4 player, free agent defenseman Luke Richardson.
Sophomore Dainius Zubrus now gets an unfettered opportunity to replace Renberg on the Eric Lindros-John LeClair ‘Legion of Doom’ line, while Gratton, Rod Brind’Amour and Vaclav Prospal are likely to make up a formidable second unit.
“We’re clearly adding big guys who are definitely not afraid of physical play,” Zubrus said. “That’s the personality of our team.”
Gratton sounds eager to join a situation that looks like a perfect fit.
“They’re definitely the toughest team in the league to play against,” Gratton said. “When that offer sheet came over from Mr. Clarke, there was no hesitation on our part.”
Murray feels ‘burned’ by NHL after losing outon Gratton
BY TIM SASSONE
THE SEASON HASN’T even started and already the Chicago Blackhawks have one in the loss column.
Commissioner Gary Bettman ruled an Aug. 12 trade that would have brought Chris Gratton’s rights to the Blackhawks from Tampa Bay was completed after Philadelphia had tendered an offer sheet for the 22-year-old center.
The Hawks and Lightning believed they had completed a deal earlier in the day, but Bettman rejected it because it involved $5.5 million and gave the perception Gratton was being sold. There were hard feelings by the Hawks toward Bettman. “I got burned here,” said Hawks GM Bob Murray.
Murray also claimed Pat Morris, Gratton’s agent, lied after thinking a three-year contract for Gratton had been agreed upon early in the afternoon Aug. 12. Murray said Morris never called him back, which delayed finalizing the trade with Tampa.
Morris and Bettman said the Hawks could have seized control of the situation by signing Gratton to an offer sheet.
Murray said the Hawks won’t forget what happened. “From now on,” he said, “the Chicago Blackhawks are just going to have to look out for themselves.”