Trade Deadline...

Ah, the NHL Trade Deadline, the time of year Ranger fans hold their breath, hoping for a big upgrade that will send them over the edge.

Please, Mr. Sather, not this year. Save the players. Save the draft pics. History is not on your side

In 2005-06, the Rangers got Sandis Ozolinsh for Ville Nieminen. Technically, Nieminen was moved for a draft pick, and that pick was then traded to Anaheim for Ozolinsh. Sather saw Ozolinsh as a puck-moving defenseman with playoff experience (Finals 3 times, Stanley Cup once). What actually happened was that he was a disaster and cost the Ranger 2 games in the playoffs that year. He was also a drain on the team the next year until they got rid of him.

In 2006-07, they traded Aaron Ward for Paul Mara. Great move. They also traded away Pascal Dupuis, who eventually landed on the Penguins and won the Cup with them.

In 2007-08, needing help on the blueline (once again), they traded a 4th-round pick for Christian Backman. Backman was atrocious offensively as well as defensively, leading many to question why he even started playing hockey in the first place, let alone why someone would draft him or trade for him. The 4th-round pick would have been better being wasted on a player who would never make the NHL.

So far, nothing horrible. However, I see them doing this year what they did last year.

Last year, they traded a 2nd-round pick to Toronto for Nik Antropov, an impending free agent who played decently for them but in reality didn't add much to the team. The team squeaked into the playoffs where he had a goal and 2 assists in 7 games, they got eliminated, and he signed a big deal in Atlanta in the offseason.

They also acquired Derek Morris for fan-favorite Petr Prucha, workhorse Nigel Dawes, and utter disappointment Dmitri Kalinin. Trading Kalinin was great, he was awful and cost more games than he contributed in. However, giving up Prucha and Dawes, both homegrown talent who played hard every game (or for Prucha, every 4th game, when he would dress), was awful to receive a defenseman who was let go after the season.

To be sure, Morris played good and had a great shot from the point, but the Rangers never had intentions of signing him.

Last year, they gave up a 2nd-round pick and two good roster players for rentals that gave them nothing. A 7th place finish in the Eastern Conference, a 3-1 lead on Washington, and losing the last 3 games of the playoffs were the reward.

This year, the Rangers already did a good move. By somehow traded Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins for Brandon Prust and Olli Jokinen, they freed up cap space and improved on offense and in toughness.

Please, stop there.

If Glen Sather must make a move, and we all know he must, please just make an even swap, like Mara-for-Ward. I'm not reacting to rumors, but a good even swap would be Sheldon Souray for Michal Rozsival. An even trade of money and an upgrade of talent. Of course, it's not this easy and would require a sweetened deal, either a pick or a play. Then don't.

It wouldn't even hurt to be a seller at the deadline.

What's going to happen, the same as last year? Trade picks for a rental like Dennis Seidenberg, who isn't going to put the team over the edge? Not good enough.

I'm not saying the Rangers should miss the playoffs. Hell, I want them to make the playoffs. But they're probably going to fizzle out in the first round if they make it. More realistically, they'll end up in 9th or 10th place, miss the playoffs, and get another mid-level pick.

How many draft picks in the 12-18 range can one team accumulate? Even when they were bad, they weren't that bad that they got Top 5 picks, like Washington and Pittsburgh. They were just bad enough to miss the playoffs and get to draft in the middle of the first round. You can't build a team like that, especially when most of your picks get traded at the deadline.

Today and tomorrow, it would be much better to accumulate draft picks and cap space than mid-level players who won't help this team.

Predictions...

Okay, I'll do them. I'll do some predictions for next year, if only so I can do my yearly look back at preseason predictions to see how good everyone did. For the record, out of 6 last year, I came in 6th, and Isles' Writer Bryan came in 2nd place.

So.

East
1. Washington
2. Boston
3. Pittsburgh
4. Carolina
5. Rangers
6. Philly
7. Devils
8. Atlanta
9. Montreal
10. Ottawa
11. Islanders
12. Toronto
13. Tampa Bay
14. Buffalo
15. Florida

Notes: Let's start with the hometown boys - Why the Rangers over the Flyers? Simple: goaltending. Who would you rather have, 3-time Vezina finalist Henrik Lundqvist or NHL-castaway Ray Emery and career-backup Brian Boucher? Plus, I think Matt Gilroy and Mike Del Zotto can add a lot while limited Michal Rozsival and Wade Redden on the power play can only help. I also think Ales Kotalik and Vinny Prospal are nice compliments to Marian Gaborik, one of the best in the league when healthy (13-10-23 in 17 games last year).

The Islanders? Either way you slice it, Dwayne Roloson and Marty Biron are a solid 1-1A combo. Johnny Tavares is better than people are letting on. Rob Schremp was almost traded to the Isles for a 2nd round pick at the draft and they just got him for nothing. Mark Streit is excellent. Going to be a good team. Playoffs are a stretch, but I had them bordering at 10th or 11th.

Other Teams: NJ can never be counted out; Montreal improved but not that much. Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta were magical one season. Only one season; Tim Thomas and Zdeno Chara can lead you to the top of the conference when you're in a weak division, but then what?; Eric Staal is going to be a monster this year in Carolina; Atlanta! Bryan Little centering Ilya Kovalchuk and Nik Antropov is going to be a sick line; and Florida in 15th because their best player hates the team (Nathan Horton) and the 4,000 fans at every game can't put them in good spirits.

West
1. San Jose
2. Calgary
3. Detroit
4. Chicago
5. Anaheim
6. Minnesota
7. Columbus
8. Dallas
9. Vancouver
10. St. Louis
11. Phoenix
12. Nashville
13. Edmonton
14. LA
15. Colorado

Notes: What has Colorado done to improve themselves from being a lottery pick? David Koci and Craig Anderson? No way. Anderson is good but can't carry a team on his shoulders; I see nothing in Vancouver while others are predicting them to win the Cup. Roberto Luongo gave up SEVEN GOALS with the season on the line last year. And when your 2 biggest acquistions are a player once part of a 4-player package for Alex Kovalev (Mikael Samuelsson) and a goalie even Colorado didn't want (Andrew Raycroft), you aren't going far; Phoenix might be a mess, but they made a few good moves and have a great goalie in Ilya Bryzgalov to fall back on. Plus, Kyle Turris should come into his own this year; Detroit is setting up for a 1st round exit this year but again will dominate in the regular season; LA should actually be good and could surprise, if Dustin Brown bounces back from an awful year and if Jack Johnson plays as good as he could, but they have no goaltending, do they?; Anaheim and San Jose should beat each other senseless in the regular season and if they meet in the Conference Finals, we're in for a treat (the way I have it worked out, they'll meet in the 2nd round and it will be brutal); Minnesota's new system and new coach should help them into the playoffs. Plus, Brent Burns, Marek Zidlicky, and Martin Havlat are in for huge years without the trap to hold them down.

If it all shakes down as it should, I have the Sharks over the Penguins for the 2010 Stanley Cup. Joe Thornton and Dany Heatley are going to be unstoppable together. Danny Boyle and Rob Blake are going to be a great tandem, and Evgeni Nabokov will slam the door shut in goal.

What I Expect on July 1...

This is what I expect to happen on July 1 at noon, the start of free agency...

- TSN/Versus to have awkward coverage from noon until 2:00, when the signings start to happen. People like Ed Olczyk and Pierre McGuire (whose real name, by the way, no joke, is Regis) will sit talking about what might happen and periodically write text messages to other people, fishing for a story, while on the air.

- Colton Orr will not be offered a contract with the Rangers. On a related note, expect a lot more mangames missed in 2009-10 to injury without an enforcer in the lineup (remember the awful decision to sit him in Game 6 and what Donald Brashear did to Blair Betts?).

- The Islanders will sign an enforcer to protect John Tavares, Kyle Okposo, and Josh Bailey, much like the Capitals did when they signed Brashear to protect Alex Ovechkin. By the way, Orr and Brashear are both unrestricted free agents.

- Marian Hossa will sign on in Pittsburgh, citing "I think the Penguins give me the best chance to win a Cup, and I'm just happy to be here... again."

- The Rangers will not make a big splash in the free agent pool for once, mostly because they'll have no Cap-space due to 4 big splashes in the past 2 Julys.

- Noticing that they only have Aaron Voros, Mark Bell, and Brian Boyle under contract, the Rangers will go and sign another "gritty" 3rd/4th line winger who can't fight and won't score. Oh, what? Ryan Hollweg is a free agent? Quick, give him a million dollars!

- Glen Sather will once again laugh at Nik Antropov wanting $5M for his 59 points last year, while basking in the fact that he gave Chris Drury over $7M for comparable numbers.

- Bill Guerin will stay in the Atlantic division, either re-signing in Pittsburgh, or heading to Philadelphia or back to New Jersey.

- No free agents will want to play on Long Island again, regardless of who they drafted 1st overall.

- Both the Islanders and Rangers will want Mike Cammallari and his 40-goal season, but won't be able to sign him. The Rangers won't because they have no money, and the Islanders won't because, well, see above.

- The Sedin twins will not get their 12-year contracts because no GM in their right mind would give away two contracts to people who will be 40 when they expire. And no GM would be willing to pay $6M against the Cap to two different players when they are 37, 38, 39, or 40. Except, of course, Glen Sather, but luckily, the Rangers have no Cap room.

- Blair Betts and Freddy Sjostrom will not re-sign in New York. On a related note, the #1 PK will fall to around #15 or so, and Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Michal Rozsival, etc., will be too tired to do anything on offense from playing so much PK-time.

- Journeyman Mike Sillinger will retire.

- Sather will forfeit 4 1st round draft picks by sending a $6.5M offer sheet to Vancouver for horrendously out-of-shape Kyle Wellwood.

- Instead of big, mean, passionate Antropov, Sather will opt for gutless, fancy, non-scoring Nik Zherdev.

- Instead of going for a good defenseman like Rob Scuderi, Mike Komisarek, Mattias Ohlund, or Francois Beauchemin, they'll probably take a salary-eater like Hal Gill or Marc-Andre Bergeron.

- Scuderi... Islander? He's in line a for big raise and they have the Cap-space, and he's from Syosset.

A Vacation...

As the Rangers disappear, so do I.

Been watching a little of the NHL Playoffs (mainly Anaheim/Detroit). I'm rooting for Vancouver, even though I wouldn't be angry if Boston won.

Read about Markus Naslund retiring also. Some outlets (New York Times, for one) claim that if he didn't retire, he would've been bought out. The outcome of a buyout or a retirement would've been the same - him not on the ice - but now he saves the Rangers cap space (if my calculations are correct, about $1.3M per year is saved in cap space). Class act from a good guy. He could've done the scumbag think and taken the buyout like most people in NY would have done (Stephon Marbury, Alex Rodriguez, etc.), but he chose to go out on his own terms. It's just sad that the news of an upcoming (and unconfirmed) buyout had to leak.

Naslund had the will, but he didn't have the legs anymore. He tried every game, but his skills declined severely, from a career-high 104 in 2002-03, to 84, 79, 60, 55, and now 46. He did have a decent showing in 7 postseason games this year, going 1-2-3.

* * *

So what can the Rangers, saddled with 4 cumbersome contracts, do next season?

Of the pending UFAs, Blair Betts and Colton Orr should be invited back. Betts is the best penalty killer in the league and is good on faceoffs (49.3% this year, not great, but serviceable). Orr is needed so goons like Donald Brashear don't take liberties with Betts or Sean Avery. Nik Antropov should be back, I think. I know other fans don't agree, but I think he plays with a passion in NY and likes being a Ranger.

On D, Derek Morris and Paul Mara are UFAs. I like both of them, but there won't be room unless Wade Redden or Michal Rozsival get traded. Redden is nearly immovable, but Rozsival might be moved if the Rangers lose picks in the process.

Of the restricted free agents, a lot of people are torn on Nik Zherdev. I think he has all the talent in the world, but can he mine it? I wouldn't mind him coming back on a one-year deal, maybe to play with Artem Anisimov and Antropov, but if they let him go, fine. A friend of mine said it would be good if another team offers him a contract and the Rangers take the draft pick compensation.

Ryan Callahan and Brandon Dubinsky will obviously be re-signed. Corey Potter probably will, the be a 6th defenseman this year, or just to serve as a backup incase injuries occur.

Now, Fred Sjostrom and Lauri Korpikoski.

I vote in favor of Sjostrom. He is one of the fastest on the team, and he gives it his all every single shift, much like Petr Prucha did. Plus, him and Betts are a great tandem on the PK, and Sjostrom is so versatile, he can play 2nd line or 4th line.

Korpikoski? Dump him! I know the Rangers didn't have dynamic offensive skills this year, but he didn't help. I know he is a first-round pick a few years ago (in 2004), but who cares. Let him go. Either trade his rights on Draft Day for a pick or prospect, package him with someone, or let him walk.

That's all for tonight. I have in-depth thoughts on this, but they're still muddled right now.

For now, let's just enjoy the playoffs.

Nik Antropov...

Patrick Kaleta is a punk, we know that. Paul Mara broke his eye socket and cheek bone in a collision last year with him, and in their first meeting this year on October 15, he left his feet for a hit then taunted Mara about his face.

Last time the Rangers played the Sabres, in Ryan Miller's last game, he was doing the same stuff. He ran amok, hit dirty, got under their skin, and tried injuring players. In my post-game wrap that night, aside from calling the Rangers awful (as they most certainly were in the dead of February), I called out Colton Orr for not teaching Kaleta a lesson. Why have someone like Orr, who doesn't contribute offensively or defensively, on the team if he isn't going to punish the players taking runs at his teammates? Tie Domi or Bob Probert would've pummelled Kaleta into the hash marks.

Well, tonight, one of the sweetest things my eyes ever have seen was Nik Antropov using his 6'6" body to crush Kaleta, then seeing him dazed on the bench. I normally don't root for people to be injured, but when you intentionally attempt to injure someone, I'm all for you getting rocked hard.

For example, Domi never tried to hurt people. Trent Hunter is irritating to play against, but he's clean. Darcy Tucker takes runs at players (or at least did when he was relevant). Sean Avery, like him or not, will get under your skin, but he won't try to take you out of the game. Matt Barnaby and Ville Nieminen played the same way, just not as good. Gary Roberts, Chris Pronger, Chris Simon, and Jarkko Ruutu try to injure opponents, so when someone like them gets absolutely nailed, I smile.

Antropov creaming Kaleta fits that bill. It was awesome, and worth the 2nd round pick just to have him do it. (And yes, worth next year's conditional pick as well.)

0-4-1...

Let me regale you a tale about a fellow hockey fan - and hopefully, avid reader of this blog - named Lou.

I’ve known Lou since 1997 or 1998, and while I don’t follow other sports as much as hockey, we share the same teams in all sports (Rangers, Mets, Jets, nobody likes basketball).

I like Lou, and consider him a good friend. However, we have one problem: We have never been together at MSG to see the Rangers win a game, and we try every year. 

Sure, we’ve had our successes alone. We’ve been to the Coliseum a few times when the Rangers beat the Islanders (including the game where Jaromir Jagr broke the Rangers’ points record with a slew of first period assists). 

Oh, we’ve even seen wins at MSG when we were both there but not together. We both saw the shootout victory on Brian Leetch Night, and we both were at a Penguins game where they won 4-2 (his seats were much better than mine).

But together, we are the Buffalo Bills of Ranger games - there once a year, can’t win.

And they lose in majestic fashion as well. This tradition started in 2002-03 and here are the games...

2002-03 :: 3/26/03 :: A game against the Penguins (we had a total of 3 Ranger fans and 1 Penguins fan with us) where the Rangers got thoroughly outplayed by the equally-crappy Penguins (Rangers ended the year with 78 points; Penguins had 65). The Penguins didn’t have Mario Lemieux, hadn’t won a game in over a month, and had Sebastian Caron in goal. Of course the Rangers would lose this game. PIT 3, NYR 1

2003-04 :: 1/20/04 :: We lost the Penguins fan, and me, Lou, and another Rangers fan went to see Boston on Vintage Night, where both teams wore retro 1970s jerseys and prices on cotton candy and popcorn were rolled back to 75 cents. Disco music even played during the game. Apparently the Bruins beat the Rangers a lot in the 70s, because it happened this night too. The one saving grace was me yelling “SHOOOOT!” (which, ironically, I don’t like when people yell that now) when Leetch had the puck, and he shot, and scored the Rangers lone goal. Joe Thornton didn’t play in this game. BOS 4, NYR 1

2005-06 :: 3/12/06 :: The Rangers were beating the Thrashers 2-0 entering the 3rd (on goals by Jagr and Marty Straka), and then gave up one midway through the period. “Sweet Caroline” came on with 5 minutes left in the game, Ilya Kovalchuk scores, and the Rangers lose in overtime. Quite a depressing ending, and if the Rangers had won the game, they would’ve had an extra point in the standings, and at the end of the season that would’ve translated to home ice advantage in the 1st round. One point. ATL 3, NYR 2 (OT)

2006-07 :: 2/5/07 :: Okay, so seeing Detroit play probably wouldn’t help our winless streak, we admitted, but we wanted to see an Original Six matchup, as well as Brendan Shanahan’s first game against his old club. Two red-clad females sat in front of us and asked us not to hurt them (we didn’t). I was on the phone with my friend Dan, talking about the Sean Avery trade that just went down, when I saw Shanahan skate down the wing and I said, “I’ll talk to you later. Shanny’s about to score.” Shanahan actually scored 2 minutes in and then 13 seconds later Michael Nylander followed suit. A Marcel Hossa goal gave them a 3-1 lead after the first period.

In the third, the Wings made it 3-2, and the whole place fell silent. When it was 3-3, we knew what was happening. Keep in mind, the Rangers weren’t on their “run to the playoffs” yet, and they had blown mutliple 2-goal leads. They lost 4-3 in regulation, dropping their record to 25-24-4. DET 4, NYR 3

2007-08 :: 12/6/07 :: Desperate to break the streak, we picked an easy game. A slumpbuster, if you will. Toronto. One of the worst teams in the league. How could they not beat Toronto? This was also the 3rd Original Six matchup we'd gone to.

Tied 2-2 after one, Nik Antropov took over and scored 3 straight goals. The final was 6-2 Toronto, and the Rangers completely mailed in the 3rd period. I have memories of Michal Rozsival giving up (what? him?) and having Alexander Steen ravage him for the 6th goal. Toronto actually only had 10 shots in the first 2 periods, yet had 4 goals. TOR 6, NYR 2 

* * * 

So the point of the story is that me and Lou will be going to the matinee against Philadelphia at the Garden today, carrying an 0-4-1 record when going to a game at the Garden together. If the Rangers lose, please blame us (unless it's squarely Wade Redden's fault - entirely possible), and we promise we’ll pick a game against Tampa Bay next year.

Trade Recap via Zach...

Now we know why Petr Prucha has been in the lineup for the past few games. A showcase. But does Don Maloney really need to know what Prucha brings? He was a big proponent of him in NY. Did Tom Renney pull the strings on this deal?

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.

* * *

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.

* * *

I know it's wishful dreaming, but how sweet would a Wade Redden for upcoming UFA Jay Bouwmeester be?

Trade Deadline Wrap-Up

The post directly this one was truly exhausting. What you see on this page is the result of five hours of rumor scouring, quick posting when the boss wasn't looking, and general hockey obsession. We got a ton of hits for it, which is awesome, but that's not the point. Instead, the point is that this was a pretty unique trade deadline. We didn't see any superstars move; hell, we barely even saw any good players dealt. Probably the biggest name dealt today was Olli Jokinen, he of his zero games of playoff experience.

So what did we see? Glad you asked.

 - There were something like 25 teams buying and 5 teams selling. So we had the usual assortment of "veteran role player for premium draft pick" deals.  We expected this. But one thing we didn't expect would be this little nugget - not one first-round pick was traded today. In fact, the only first-round pick dealt in this entire trading season is the one the Islanders received for Chris Campoli and Mike Comrie.

EDIT: Zach - Olli Jokinen fetched a 1st round pick from Calgary to Phoenix. Phoenix sent Jokinen and a 3rd round pick for a prospect, Matthew Lombardi, and a 1st rounder.

 - There wasn't a single trade made today that helps both teams win now. Similarly, there weren't any "my problem for your problem" trades, unless you count Derek Morris for Petr Prucha. Most of these trades were horribly lopsided - and the vast majority of those deals favored the teams getting good picks for rental players.

 - Let's get into the local teams for a second. A lot of Islanders fans are already killing Garth Snow, not just for failing to get more for Bill Guerin, but for only making one deal today. We'll respond to each of these gripes individually.

Regarding the Guerin deal, I am convinced that the deal the Islanders received on Saturday - assuming this deal actually existed - was far better than the deal the Islanders made with Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, all the buzz regarding this mystery trade caused everyone to, pardon the expression, shoot their collective loads and quickly sour on the idea of a Guerin trade. And when that initial deal fell through, Snow was kind of stuck. But here's the thing. Everyone's complaining that it's a fifth-round pick. It isn't. The Penguins are going to make the playoffs. And they learned enough last year to steal a round. So it could easily end up being a third round pick. If it's not, does it matter? Not really. It's still a crapshoot; even a second or a first round pick doesn't guarantee a future NHL player. So let's back off Snow on this one. He got what he could; outside of the Dominic Moore deal, it's not like any other teams got much better picks for their rental players.

Sure, Snow only made one deal. But what people seem to forget is that next year's team will not be comprised entirely of kids. You still need veterans to lead the team. Brendan Witt is signed to a reasonable contract. Doug Weight could be resigned. And you never know, Guerin could end up back here next year. The point is, Snow is aware that guys like Weight and Witt have value, and that's why he kept them. Hockey is not just about sticks and pucks; there's a lot of stuff behind the scenes we never see. And Weight is reportedly as good as they come in the clubhouse. Besides, the same people who bash Snow for not being active are the same people who bitch about the Islanders never having a consistent core over a number of years. If there was a deal to be made, the Islanders would have made it. It's over now. Let's move on.

EDIT: Zach - I think the deal was to Washington, but Washington had to make room and couldn't move Michael Nylander and his $5M contract.

 - As for the Rangers... um... it's almost as though Glen Sather found out it was the trade deadline at about 2:30 and hastily threw together some Sather Staples (TM) - you know, the type that makes the team a little better now, but at a great future cost. Nik Antropov is a good pick-up - if you can sign him. The Rangers are screwed cap-wise from now until eternity. Derek Morris isn't a bad rental, but at the cost of Petr Prucha and Nigel Dawes, two of the better players to come out of the Rangers' organization in recent years? Prucha should fare very well with a change of scenery, and Dawes will probably out-perform Morris this year alone. But hey, least they addressed a need instead of picking up yet another anonymous forward.

The Rangers are taking a huge risk. You could make the argument that since Prucha is a healthy scratch most nights and Kalinin is horrendous, it's not really a risk. That line of thinking is incorrect. The Rangers, who should have had a playoff spot sewn up months ago, had to give up a second-round pick, a conditional pick, and two young players just to get into the playoffs, where there are few guarantees. It's one thing to sacrifice a bit of the future for the present, but it's much easier when there's a good chance of success.  The Rangers, not unlike the Islanders of two years ago, stand a great chance of getting into the playoffs and being unceremoniously bounced in the first round. The Rangers obviously feel they can make a run, and good for them, but now would be a good time to start thinking about the future. Especially since the present isn't all that much to write home about.

EDIT : Zach - The only thing that this does for the Rangers is clear cap room for next year. Antropov and Morris are both UFAs on July 1. Prucha and Dawes were RFAs, and Kalinin is a UFA.

---

All in all, a trade deadline that wasn't super-exciting, but had its share of interesting trades. Only time will tell how the Rangers' deals will work out. But if you're an Islanders fan, just be happy you got anything for Bill Guerin. Given the quality of players who were waived just this week, it sure beats the alternative.