Carlo Colaiacovo tells tale of massive Leafs trade bust

Some trades are just straight up bad.

Some are so terrible, that even the players being sent the other way know exactly what a one-sided deal it is. Take the trade that sent former first-rounders Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Steen to St. Louis in exchange for Lee Stempniak, for instance.

Interim GM Cliff Fletcher made the deal back in November 2008 and first delivered the news Colaiacovo and Steen without divulging some key details.

“(Cliff Fletcher) is like ‘you’ve been traded, so thanks for everything and good luck,'” Colaiacovo said on TSN’s ‘Landsberg In The Morning’ Wednesday.

“And me and Steen look at each other like ‘okay, we’ve been traded, but where are we getting traded too?”

“‘Oh, oh, sorry yeah, you’re getting traded to St. Louis.’ Then me and Steener look at each other again and Steener’s like ‘okay great, what’s the deal, who are we being traded for?’ He’s look ‘oh, oh, oh sorry yeah, we’re getting Lee Stempniak,’ and then he just pauses… we’re like… ‘and?'”

Waiting and fully expecting for Fletcher to tell them who else is included in the package coming back from the Blues, the former Leafs GM delivered some ego-slaughtering news.

“Thats it. Just Lee Stempniak.”

How did that one work out? Well, Colaiacovo had a decent six-year career after leaving Toronto, while Steen has been exceptional — posting over 450 points over the past decade with the Blues. Stempniak, meanwhile, managed to play just 123 games over two seasons with the Leafs.

Oh, Cliff.