Trade Period Flashback, 2011-12

Matthew Hobbs.

The trading period is approaching so in preparation, Islanders Country will take a look at previous trade period movement made by the Rocket/Islanders.

Please note, seasons 2006-07 and beyond are archived by the QMJHL with full trades.

This edition, we will take a look at the 2011-12 trade period.

The 2011-12 was the Rocket's worst season since moving to Charlottetown. The trading period opened Dec. 19, 2011 and the Rocket was sporting a 8-24-2-2 record. The period came to a close on Jan. 7, 2012.

In a losing season, the Rocket only made two trades during the trade period and made one trade mid-November and another at the beginning of December. We will start from there.

On Nov. 21, the Rocket traded fourth- and seventh-round picks in 2012 to Shawinigan for  17-year-old forward Matthew Bursey and an eithth-round pick in 2012.

Jessyko Bernard. Photo by Marcel Vander Weir.

On Dec. 1, the Rocket acquired overage forward Jessyko Bernard from Rouyn-Noranda for an eight-round pick in 2014. The move came after overage forward Pier-Antoine Dion was released from the team.

During the trade period, the Rocket made its biggest move on Dec. 29. The Rocket traded its captain Matthew Hobbs, 20, to the Victoriaville Tigres for 18-year-old forward Benjamin Laliberte, a second-round pick in 2012 (Baie-Comeau) and a sixth-round pick in 2012 (Saint John).

The final trade was made Jan. 4, swapping defencemen Jordan Moore, 19, to Saint John for Tyrone Sock, 18.

Analysis:
The only good trade that came out of this season was acquiring Bursey, and it was made two months before the trading period. In fact, Bursey's Rocket debut saw him score two goals in a 6-2 route over the Moncton Wildcats.

Bursey scored five goals and 12 points in 36 games with the Rocket. The following season he scored seven goals and 18 points in 60 games while adding a pair of goals in six playoff games. Last season, Bursey scored four goals and and 11 points in 30 games before being traded to the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada.

The trading period itself was overall horrible.

Acquiring Bernard was neutral as it didn't hurt the Rocket but did not improve them either. Bernard helped offensively scoring 10 goals and 28 points in 37 games.

The Hobbs trade was horrible. Yes, Hobbs was a 20-year-old and it made sense to trade him at the time, but Laliberte never reported to the Rocket. You can write this trade off as a bust.

Hobbs spent two and a half seasons with the Rocket and played a very offensive game on the back-end. Through 36 games in 2011-12, he struggled offensively and defensively with three goals and 13 points with a minus-25 rating. The season prior, he enjoyed a 16 goal, 40-point season in 65 games. With Victoriaville, Hobbs scored four goals and 16 points in 30 games.

The second-round pick turned into defenceman Mark Trickett who was used as a trading asset the following season.

The final trade made no sense. Moore was playing Jr. A with the Weeks Crushers and Sock was playing Jr. A with Miramichi. Both players suited up in two games with their new respective teams but recorded no points. Neither played another game in the QMJHL.

This trade period made no sense at all when the team was ready to sell and build for the future. Instead, only one "big" move was made and it ended up benefiting the opponent.