Punch Imlach, the coach of the Leafs, referred to Vachon as a junior B goaltender in an attempt to rattle him during the Stanley Cup finals.

After losing the Canadiens' starting job to rookie Ken Dryden early in 1971–72, Vachon requested a trade to a team that needed a starter, which happened on November 4, 1971 when he was sent to the Los Angeles Kings for Denis DeJordy, Dale Hoganson, Noel Price and Doug Robinson.

Red Wings coach Bobby Kromm told Sports Illustrated: "When we signed Vachon, we thought we'd improved our club and give ourselves as good a 1-2 goaltending punch as there was in hockey.

Because he was a restricted free agent, the Red Wings were required to give compensation to the Los Angeles Kings, Vachon's former club.

An arbitrator ruled that young centre Dale McCourt, whom the Red Wings had selected first overall in the 1977 NHL amateur draft, would go to the Kings.

McCourt, who had led the Red Wings in scoring as a rookie in the 1977-78 season, refused to report to Los Angeles and sued the league.

[4] After two disappointing seasons in Detroit, the Red Wings traded Vachon to the Boston Bruins in the summer of 1980 for fellow netminder Gilles Gilbert.

[5] In Boston, Vachon served as a mentor to rookie goalies Marco Baron and Jim Craig, who had starred for the US National Team at the 1980 Winter Olympics.

However, in the playoffs, things went poorly as the Bruins were swept in three games by the Minnesota North Stars and surrendered twenty goals in the process.

Vachon's final NHL appearance came in the 1982 playoffs, when he played one period in relief of starter Mike Moffat in a 7-2 loss to the Quebec Nordiques.

[8][citation needed] On June 27, 2016, Vachon was named an Honored Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame,[9] and was inducted on November 14, 2016.