There has long been a rumor that when Mike Comrie was nearly traded to the Anaheim Ducks for Corey Perry in 2003, Edmonton got petty and tried to stick with Comrie. A mess of a situation between the Oilers and Comrie’s camp: contract disputes, holdouts and an attempt at what would have been a franchise-altering deal for the Edmonton Oilers.
But apparently they got in their way.
In the 2002–03 season, he scored 20 goals and 51 points in 69 games, but extension negotiations did not go well. Comrie rejected Edmonton’s qualifying bid of $1.13 million (a 10% increase under the CBA), leading to a postponement. He skipped training camp and requested a trade, causing a standoff with Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe.
By early December 2003, Lowe had reportedly agreed to a deal in principle with the Ducks. In return, the Oilers would have received prospect Corey Perry (28th overall pick by Anaheim in the 2003 NHL Draft) and a 2004 first-round pick.
It was a winning trade for the Oilers. Well, almost.
The Oilers got greedy
The deal fell through because Kevin Lowe demanded that Comrie repay the Oilers $2.5 million, part of the signing bonus from Comrie’s entry-level contract. They suggested the Oilers overpaid Comrie early in his career and wanted some of their investment back if he left. Comrie refused, which was within his right and, quite frankly, what anyone else would have done. Trade collapsed.
Lowe later said the Oilers needed the financial concession, and Perry himself was aware of the nearby trade. He said during an interview much later in his career, “I almost made it to Edmonton. I remember I got traded to Edmonton, but then the whole Mike Comrie thing and Kevin Lowe thing went down.”
Ultimately, the Oilers traded Comrie anyway. Only they sent him to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2005 third-round pick (used to select Danny Syvret 81st overall), defenseman Jeff Woywitka and a 2004 first-round pick (used by Edmonton to select Rob Schremp 25th overall). Needless to say, things didn’t turn out as well for the Oilers as the trade with the Ducks would have done.
Perry won the Stanley Cup in 2007, the Hart Trophy (MVP) in 2011, and scored more than 400 career goals. He made waves with the Oilers for a few seasons, but Comrie left the NHL and never became the player many expected him to be. He had a 30-goal season with the Arizona Coyotes and played for several years. But those 60 points were the most of his career and he moved through the NHL before finally leaving in 2011.
Comie confirmed in a recent interview that the trade to Anaheim was a done deal and they told him they wanted his signing bonus back. He talked about it like it was one of the low points of his NHL career.
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