Excerpts from Pro Hockey, WHA 1976-77 (by Dan Proudfoot)
The outstanding trade of the 1975-76 season, without question, was the deal which brought 22-year-old Mike Rogers from Edmonton Oilers in exchange for 30-year-old Wayne Carleton.
Rogers scored 35 goals as a rookie Oiler the year before, the same number as the veteran Carleton notched for Whalers, but outscored him 30-17 in 1975-76. The most significant reason that the deal was so good for New England, however, is tied in with Rogers' future.
"He's good now,'' says coach Harry Neale, "but wait until I get him on a line with a real goal-scorer like a Pleau or
a Webster. He's going to be a great center."