Photo: Capitals
40 years ago today, the Washington Capitals made the most significant trade in franchise history. On September 9, 1982, then-General Manager David Poile traded captain Ryan Walter and defenseman Rick Green to the Montreal Canadiens, in exchange for All-Star defensemen Rod Langway and Brian Engblom, and forwards Doug Jarvis and Craig Laughlin. Many considered this trade to be the one that kept the Caps in Washington.
During the news conference announcing the trade, Poile said, “This trade makes the Capitals competitive. We’ve added four quality players. For the first time in Capitals’ history, we have a defense.”
Langway himself told a Montreal news station that he was “ecstatic” upon hearing the news. Years later, Langway admitted it was much more than that.
“I pushed the button for that trade. I tried to rearrange my contract in my fourth year. I was married, I had two kids and the money situation wasn’t the greatest in Canada and because I am American, the taxes were a problem. I wanted to get a new deal with Montreal that would give me an extended contract in U.S. funds, but they didn’t want to cause problems within the organization.”
Photo: @Capitals
During his last year with the Caps, Walter, who had been the second overall pick in 1978, scored 38 goals and had 49 assists for 87 points. Rick Green, meanwhile, was the first overall pick in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft who developed into a solid defenseman by the 1981-82 season.
Poile had become General Manager of the Capitals just 10 days before the trade, on August 30. Just over a month earlier owner Abe Pollin had discussed the team’s bleak financial position and outlined “conditions” that would need to be met to ensure continued operations of the team in the Washington D.C. area. These conditions included doubling their season ticket sales, selling out their first 10 games at the Capital Centre in the 1982-1983 season and gaining tax relief from Prince George’s County. All of this had to be within 30 days or the team would have been sold or folded.
In Rod We Trust
Before the trade, Langway had played for the Canadiens for just over three seasons. He joined Montreal in 1978-79 after being recalled from their farm team. The 1979-1980 season was his first full season in the NHL. In 1982, he was named to the All-Star Team for the Prince of Wales Conference in a game that was, ironically enough, played at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland.
Engblom, the other defenseman the Caps acquired in the trade, began playing with the Canadiens in 1977-1978. He was the NHL leader in Plus/Minus during the 1980-1981 season and was named a Second Team All-Star for the 1981-1982 season. In short, both Langway and Engblom had great defensive resumes before the trade to Washington.
Washington also acquired two forwards in the trade in Jarvis and Laughlin. Jarvis was first recalled by the Canadiens during the 1975-1976 and typically scored between 10-20 goals a season, with his best season coming in 1981-1982, when he scored 20 goals and had 28 assists for 48 points. Laughlin was a promising rookie who had scored 12 goals in just 36 games played for Montreal.
While the players coming to Washington were excited about the prospect of playing for the Capitals, the outgoing Caps had very different reactions. Walter was shocked, given that he had been a leader both on and off the ice for Washington and had become settled there. Green, however, was glad to be leaving Washington and getting the chance to play a Stanley Cup contender.
Quick Change
The trade had a positive effect on the Caps for the 1982-1983 season. Langway was appointed captain of the team within days of the trade. They made the playoffs for the first time on the heels of a 39-26-12 record and finished third in the Patrick Division before losing to the New York Islanders in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It was also the first season in which the Capitals had finished with a winning record. Langway won the Norris Trophy (Best defenseman) and received First Team All-Star honors after the season. He was also runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for Most Valuable Player.
Langway played for the Caps for ten more seasons and earned many more honors for the team as they consistently made the playoffs. He was Team Captain from 1982-83 and did not relinquish that position until 1992-93 when his role was reduced.
As for the other players acquired in the deal, Engblom played only one season for the Caps before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings early in 1983-1984 for future Hall of Fame defenseman Larry Murphy.
Jarvis did not do as well for the Caps, statistically, as he had done for Montreal. He scored eight goals in 1982-1983, which was less than the 20 he had scored during his last season with Montreal. However, he helped solidify the Caps defensively, winning the Selke Trophy after the 1983-1984 season for his outstanding two-way play. He played for the Caps until the 1985-1986 season when he was traded to the Hartford Whalers for Jorgen Pettersson. He never missed a regular season game during his NHL career and holds the NHL record for consecutive games played with 965.
Laughlin played with the Caps until the 1987-1988 season and topped 15 goals in each of his five full seasons with the team, topping 20 goals, three times and scoring 30 goals once. He has been a television color analyst for the Capitals since 1990.
By Diane Doyle
Related articles:
Interview: Langway’s Legacy – A Culture of Success for the Washington Capitals
Looking Back on the Capitals Career of Craig Laughlin
Capitals Alumni Profile: Rick Green
Capitals Alumni Profile: Doug Jarvis
Capitals Alumni Profile: Ryan Walter
Capitals Alumni Profile: Rod Langway
NHL: Langway Number Retirement
NoVa Caps: Langway Home — Trade That Saved Franchise
Washington Post Story: Langway on Thin Ice — 1993
Washington Post Story: Langway — Defense Not Ready To Rest
Washington Post Story: Langway Chosen for Hall of Fame
Washington Capitals Alumni Association
Washington Post on Capitals Alumni Enjoying the Connection
Washington Capitals Biography of Langway
Hockey Hall of Fame Spotlight on Langway
Langway is such a humble dude for such a legend.
Brian is the television color analyst for the Lightning on Bally Sports Sun. Very analytical, explains things very well. Very good at educating the viewer.
Langway had the best defensive technique I’ve ever seen. He just played his position perfectly shift after shift. Nice fella, too, when I met him at a golf event.
Jarvis and Locker were very good with the Caps. I don’t remember much about Engblom’s playing days or Green or Walter. All good players, I think. Can’t imagine life without the Caps.
I remember standing in line to register for classes at the UofMd in College Park in a stifling basement with about a hundred other registerees. In one of the offices, someone had a portable radio tuned to WTOP, then, as now, all news. The Caps almost never warranted an item unless they were doing a sports segment — which they didn’t do every hour — but this was big news. “And big news from the Washington Capitals. . .” (or something like that). My ears perked up. “The Capitals have traded Ryan Walter and Rick Green to the Montreal Canadiens or Rod Langway, Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis, and Craig Laughlin.” I was outraged! Two of our brightest young stars traded for who??
But outrage or no what was really shocking was the immediate effect Langway had on the team. It’s as if he’d instantly brought some secret sauce and suddenly, they all believed. There was a pre-season story with a picture of Langway clearing the puck and somehow you could feel the confidence building. The team became a legit contender — hell, they were in first place in December! — and pretty much has been a playoff quality team ever since.
No shoulder pads. 💪 he’s probably not even wearing a t-shirt.