From the delightful Canucks Library website, as part of a feature on the best/worst 'Nucks trades of all-time...
http://www.comnet.ca/~dmarchak/candeal.htm
September 10, 1987: A two for one deal
When Pat Quinn took over as general manager of the Vancouver Canucks, the team did not have many assets (I said assets). In one of his first trades, Quinn sent Patrick Sundstrom to New Jersey for Greg Adams and a minor league goaltender named Kirk McLean (there were a few draft picks thrown in just to make it more confusing). Sundstrom actually went on to have a good career in New Jersey, playing just over four more seasons. However that was only half the time Greg Adams spent in Vancouver. In addition, Kirk McLean turned out to be the best netminder in team history. McLean played over 500 games, recorded over 200 wins, 20 shutouts (plus 6 in the playoffs) and was named to the second NHL All-Star team in 1991-92.
For those of you who might have followed the Devils then (or have since studied your history), was McLean regarded as anything special while he was in the minors? Was the deal considered significant at the time? Granted the Devils eventually ended up with a fellow named Marty Brodeur, but did fans ever feel "robbed" in this trade the way Canucks fans view it as a stroke of genius?