10. Brian Rolston, Claude Lemieux swap
The New Jersey Devils made a lot of strange moves for a team that was so dominant. They fired head coach Robbie Ftorek and replaced him with Larry Robinson. They made three major trades in the month of March, including getting Alexander Mogilny and trading away Lyle Odelin (in separate deals). However, it was the move they made in November that will go down as the move that helped put them into the Stanley Cup conversation.
Claude Lemieux had a very messy exit from New Jersey. He was demanding a raise, and Lamoriello was famous for squeezing every penny out of his players. He literally just won the Conn Smythe Trophy by helping the Devils win it all, and Lemieux was being sent to the Colorado Avalanche. There had to be a bad taste in the mouths of Devils fans after the way he left. However, once he came back, he was welcomed with open arms.
The Devils traded away Brian Rolston, who spent his entire career with New Jersey at that point and was coming off his best season. He eventually became a 30-goal scorer, so the Devils might be upset they lost him, but Lamoriello said he was worried about losing young players in the expansion draft (Minnesota and Columbus were joining the league, and Rolston was eventually traded to Boston in the Ray Bourque trade).
This could have been bad if Lemieux help any ill will, or it could have hurt if Rolston became a superstar. The Devils ended up winning the Stanley Cup as Lemieux stepped up his game. Rolston had a good career with Boston, and he eventually returned for another short stint with the Devils.