Back in the summer of 1992, Montreal Canadiens GM Serge Savard was gearing up for yet another season at the helm of the Sainte-Flanelle, and he was intent on landing a 24th Stanley Cup for his organization. To do that, the former member of the Big Three was ready to make a lot of trades to tinker with his lineup and on August 27, 1992, he made perhaps the most important one.
On that day, Savard sent gritty winger Shayne Corson, center Brent Gilchrist, and winger Vladimir Vujtek to the Edmonton Oilers in return for Montreal-native center Vincent Damphousse. The 25-year-old had been a sixth overall pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 1986 draft but had been traded to the Oilers in an autumn 1991 blockbuster when the Leafs received Grant Fuhr, Glenn Anderson and Craig Berube from Edmonton in return for Damphousse, Peter Ing, Luke Richardson, Scott Thornton, cash and future consideration.
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Damphousse would only spend a season in Edmonton before Savard reached out to friend and former teammate Glen Sather to test the waters on a potential deal. Turned out Sather was receptive, and Savard jumped at the opportunity to acquire such an offensive weapon. He was rewarded for that decision. In his first year playing at home, Damphousse put up the best numbers of his career, putting up 97 points, including 39 goals, before adding another 23 points in 20 games as the Habs captured the Stanley Cup.
The Quebecer would play parts of seven seasons in Montreal, reaching the 49-goal plateau once, but coming close twice more with seasons of 39 and 38 goals. He produced more than a point per game in three of those seven seasons, then left the team. Today, he’s still the 25th most productive player with the franchise at 498 points in 519 games. Brendan Gallagher could have overtaken him this season (489 points), but he’s now a member of the Vancouver Canucks. However, captain Nick Suzuki should overtake him this season since he’s on 476 points in 537 games. Will Suzuki soon be able to tie his number of Stanley Cups? Time will tell.
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