The Rangers effectively sold the heart and soul of their team (along with sporadically-gifted Nigel Dawes and always-horrendous Dmitri Kalinin) for Derek Morris.
They tell me Morris is going to QB the PP. For those who actually watch hockey, Morris has 12 points in 57 games this year. Not one of those is on the power play. He has 35 career power play points. Petr Prucha had 16 power play goals in 2005-06 alone, as a rookie.
The one bright spot is that now atleast Prucha will get ice time.
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My computer were haywire before. I was typing letters and they would end up in random spots on the screen. Not fun. So I closed the laptop, shut it down like Vesa Toskala this season, and so I couldn't post.
I do indeed like the Nik Antropov deal. I think he is going to be good in NY. Maybe he can play with Zherdev. He is a UFA next year as well and if he re-signs (I realize we are talking about this before he even plays a game in NY) he will come around $3M.
Best deal of the day? I don't know. Seems like Boston stole Mark Recchi along with a 2nd round pick. Then again, Buffalo got a 2nd round pick for former Ranger Dom Moore? Uh... 12 goals (a career high), 41 points (same), and a shutdown center for a 2nd round pick in a deep draft? Get real. I'd rather have Antropov, for sure. (Granted, Buffalo basically sent the 2nd round pick they received for Ales Kotalik.)
Worst deal? Why would LA trade Patty O'Sullivan? Boston receiving Steve Montador for someone who couldn't stick on the Islanders roster? A win for the Bruins. In fact, Anaheim made a lot of bad trades today, trading Travis Moen, Montador, Sam Pahlsson, and others for a bunch of nobodies. The only one that might stick is Nick Bonino, a late-round pick from 2007. They did also receive Erik Christensen.
This Toronto/Tampa Bay deal sending Jamie Heward, Olie Kolzig, and others for some guy seems ridiculous, and I have to check on this one.
Favorite trade? Antoine Vermette for Pascal LeClaire. Helps everyone, and I am rooting for Columbus whole-heartedly.
Someone should re-name the Hurricanes to the Carolina Rentals. (Bad joke, I know.) In 2006, they traded for Doug Weight and Mark Recchi. Both players won the Cup with them, then re-signed in their respective cities (St. Louis; Pittsburgh). Then, Matt Cullen signs in NY. He later gets traded back. Over the summer, Erik Cole went to Edmonton. Today, he came back to Carolina. What, was Aaron Ward not available today?
Calgary and Phoenix definitely won today, though. Calgary got Jordan Leopold, Olli Jokinen, and a 3rd round pick, automatically strengthening them this year. Phoenix nailed Prucha, Dawes, Scott Upshall, Matthew Lombardi, and a slew of picks including a 1st round pick, helping them now and in the future.
Teams that stood still in the past few weeks: Vancouver (although they did get Glen Metropolit off waivers; they considered Mats Sundin their trade deadline deal); Nashville (no improvment and no fire-sale means they will probably miss the playoffs and not get a good draft pick); Washington (I guess that they wanted Bill Guerin but couldn't trade Michael Nylander's $5M contract). Am I missing anyone? A few teams, like the Devils and Canadiens, made moves in the past 2 weeks so I didn't count them.
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I know it's wishful dreaming, but how sweet would a Wade Redden for upcoming UFA Jay Bouwmeester be?
I remain convinced that if Dominic Moore played on any team besides Toronto, he wouldn't have fetched more than a fourth-round pick. The Toronto media has a habit of hyping the Leafs players to the moon to the point that GMs actually believe it. It's not unlike the Yankees and the way they act like every homegrown prospect is the next Babe Ruth.
ReplyDeleteThat Tampa-Toronto deal... oy. From what I read, Tampa needed to do it in order to either pay their bills or qualify for revenue sharing, I'm not sure which is which. They included the 4th rounder just to get Toronto to take on all the extra salary. I'm afraid we're going to see more of these deals as teams struggle financially, so the NHL would do well to take a look at this trade and try to legislate against any such deals going forward.