Yesterday was trade deadline day. Was anybody else bored? Even with the number of total players on the move, I expected even more movement.
Surprise Deal of The Day
I was a little surprised Glen Sather of the NYR traded highly touted goalie prospect Al Montoya to The Coyotes along with Marcel Hossa. The Rangers got back Fredrik Sjostrom, goalie prospect David Leneveu and tough guy Josh Gratton along with a conditional draft pick.
Winner: In this trade it has to be Phoenix.Hossa is a pretty good player and Montoya is going to be a great goalie one day If all his hype and scouting reports are true.
The “Are You Kidding Me” Trade of the Day
I thought the oddest trade was the Islanders trading Chris Simon to the Minnesota Wild for a 6th rounder in 08.The winner the Islanders. Great job in even being able to find a trading partner for this guy. Let alone getting a 6th rounder.
How many enforcers do the Wild need?
The Wild have one of the toughest guys in the NHL in Derek “boogie man” Boogaard. They also Have a guy that will toss em’ with anyone in the league in Todd Fedoruk. And now they have Chris Simon.
I would cut off my left pinky finger for a Anaheim Ducks and Minnisota Wild playoff series.
Most Interesting Trade
The “hmmmmmmmm” trade of the day has to be Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to the Pens for Angelo Esposito, Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen along with a 1st round pick in 08.
On paper the Penguins power play looks absolutely stunning. Having to penalty kill against Sidney Crosby-Hossa-Evgeni Malkin with Gonchar and Whitney on the blue line will make any opposing team pee a little bit with fear. But who knows, maybe Hossa won’t fit.
This trade looks good but it’s all going to be in the in chemistry. Please remember the New York Rangers all those years with those “money” players. They couldn’t gel. Even ask the St.Louis Blues from that one year they had Gretzky and all those stars.
NO CHEMISTRY= NO CUP!
The Winner (as of right now?!) I would give a slight edge to the Penguins but not by much.
Colby Armstrong is a pretty decent third liner. Angelo Esposito seems to have the upside of Alexander Daigle. Christensen has 20 pts in 49 games this season. Plus they got a 1st rounder in 08 in what is looking like a really deep draft. So that 1# pick could turn out to be really good.
And who knows, will Marian Hossa even re-sign there? Can the Penguins afford to keep him after this season?
Bonehead Deal of The Day
Guess who is the number one goalie for Montreal Canadiens going into the playoffs?
Carey Price!
Montreal traded Cristobal Huet to the Caps for a 2nd round pick in 2009.
Bob Gainey couldn’t even get a 2nd round pick in the much deeper 08 draft? WOW
If I was Carey Price right now I would have the biggest ego and a huge mass of confidence.
The most successful franchise in NHL history just put a massive amount of confidence in him and gave him the number one goalie, franchise tag.
I don’t really understand this move by Gainey.
Ok Ok you’re probably thinking “well, don’t they have insurance in a backup goalie?”
No. Jaroslav Halak is the back up. remember Halak…the one who recently required “farm conditioning”.
Hey Mr.Gainey…..Why didn’t you get a back up that had experience at least?
I have watched Montreal a lot on TV this year (thanks again CBC for Toronto- Montreal games every week)
I thought Montreal was the team to beat in the East. They have wonderful chemistry on that team. But to win you need a goalie and I am sorry, Carey Price will be good one day, But he is not going to lead this team all the way.
Winner: CAPS
One of Tampa’s “BIG THREE” Was Finally Moved
Brad Richards along with goalie Johan Holmqvist are off to the Lone Star State to become “Stars”. The Lightning got back a promising goalie in Mike Smith, Shootout master Jussi Jokinen, along with Jeff Halpern and a 4th rounder in 09.
I see this being a pretty good trade for Dallas. If Marty Turco gets over his choking epidemic in the playoffs, we could be seeing the Stars going deep in the playoffs this spring.
Brett Hull wanted to make a big deal and he did make a big deal and a great one too.
Winner: Dallas
The “Wait and See” Deal of The Day
Buffalo Sabres fans have been pretty spoiled the last few years being able to cheer for a highly entertaining and winning team.
What I want to know is what the heck did Sabres fans do to the hockey gods!!!!
While the Sabres were the team to beat last year, they just simply ran out of gas.
Then came the summer that broke the hearts of Sabres fans every where. “Little Munchkin” Danny Briere left to be with his Buddy, Marty Biron, in Philly. Captain Clutch, Chris Drury, left for his boyhood team in the Big Apple and Teppo Numminen hasn’t played a game this year due to health problems.
What else could go wrong?
Well yesterday another crack went into Sabres fans hearts.
All-star defenseman Brian Campbell left to San Jose along with a 7th round pick in ‘08 in exchange for Steve Bernier and a 1st rounder in 08.
Buffalo is known for being a soft team. With some moves this year I really hope they are moving in a more “tougher” direction. They picked up Nolan Pratt earlier this year to toughen the blue line. I know, it’s Nolan Pratt, but at least it’s a guy who hits. Clarke Macarthur was brought up and has looked good. Patrick Kaleta too. Yesterday they got a guy who will hit anything and is BIG force. He can put the odd puck in the net as well.
Positive signs?
Sure Brian Campbell is fun to watch skating up the ice doing his little 180 degree turns past defenseman. However, he also has a lot of bad passes, takes games off. In my opinion, I am glad the Sabres did this. Campbell was offered a 3 year deal believed to be in the neighborhood of $6M a year. The deal wasn’t long enough for Brian so he wouldn’t sign. Good! Brian you aren’t worth that money.
The experts say the Sabres got robbed in the deal…I don’t think so.
Why would Regier want to risk losing another player to UFA and not getting anything back in return? The Sabres got a player that has upside and that can play now.
They also got a 1st round pick in a deep ‘08 draft. Sure, the draft pick most likely won’t pan out for a couple of years, but in a draft with a lot of talent it’s worth the wait.
The Sharks get Brian Campbell. A mobile puck moving defenseman which is exactly what they need.
Winner: The Sharks are the winner as of right now, but who to say Campbell even re-signs there in the summer? If he doesn’t re-up with San Jose, then the Sabres will be the winner.
Canadian team Deadline Re-Cap
- Ottawa did nothing about their goalie situation.
- Calgary did nothing
- Kevin Lowe’s fax machine was broken or something
- Vancouver had an arsenal to deal, but did nothing.
- Toronto got rid of some salary and Mats Sundin can keep making chunky soup commercials in a Leafs jersey, not to mention play at the fine golf courses around the greater Toronto area.
- Montreal did make a deal, but moved backwards instead of forward.
That’s my take on the deals that were at the 2008 NHL Trade Deadline. For nhldigest.com…I’m Neil Bristow.
February 27th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
You’re a little off on the Habs situation. The market for goaltenders in the NHL at this point is nil. Let’s not forget the Coyotes got Bryzgalov off waivers for NOTHING. Huet didn’t have a future with the Habs and they chose to get what they could for him and have confidence in the young guys. Maybe some people would have kept Huet until the end of the year, then lost him for nothing, but Gainey chose to get what he could and based on BG and Trevor Timmons work in the past in terms of drafting, they will probably plcuk a solid player with that pick, but only time will tell.
As for Halak, you may be unfamilar with him, but he was the starter at the end of last year when Huet went down with an injury. He came to Montreal after being the top goalie in the AHL and beat out Aiebersher for the starting role down the stretch. His 10-6 record with a 2.89 GAA with the Habs wasn’t that great, but he played in a ton of “playoff” like games at the end of the season last year and was solid. As for him getting sent for “farm conditioning”, I assume you are talking about him getting sent to Hamilton to get some game action after playing only 39 minutes with the big club when Huet was playing well. He started the year in Hamilton and has the top GAA and save % in the AHL to date. He also played with Slovakia at the World Championships last year.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:53 am
i appreciate the comments bud.
I still don’t like what Gainey did.He got a pick in 09 for one,when he should have got a 08 pick cause the draft in 08 is gonna be deep.
To throw Price into a number 1 role just like that could either help him or ruin him.Montreal better hope it helps him.As for Halak,you would rather have Halak and Price then Huet going into the playoffs?
When i watched Montreal with Huet in net a few weeks ago,i thought that team looked really really good.
I understand what your saying.But i don’t think it was smart and we shall see in a few weeks if it was the right move.
the World Championship is alot different then the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Thanks Tim for the feedback……keep them coming buddy!
February 28th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Yea I see your point too, and trust me, many Habs fans feel that same way you do about not liking what BG did. Keeping Huet and losing him for nothing in the offseason was an option, but I have a feeling BG, as well as the rest of the Canadiens brass, weighed the options and decided to go with the young guys and thought it was the best move for the team. Is it a gamble, for sure, but the issue with Huet is that he is either lights out, or he lets in weak goals. Plus he has yet to play a full NHL season, so I think injuries with him are always an issue. Time will tell if they made the right move, or totally struck out. I feel that any combination of the three goalies is about equal. Huet has played all of 6 career playoff games, so his experience in those situations doesn’t add much. Let’s not forget too, that BG played with both Dryden and Roy so he probably has dreams of those situations happening again…lol. I loved Huet when he played for the Habs and think he is a really solid goaltender. But the writing was on the wall that he didn’t have a future in Montreal, and the Habs cut their losses and got what they could. Two kids in the Stanley Cup playoffs is a HUGE gamble….but Price seems to like the pressure…..and I hope he continues to, for my sake!