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.

Scouts?...

Being an NHL scout has to be one of the easier jobs in the world. I admit, a minor league hockey scout probably has a tough job - traveling to obscure cities in Oklahoma, Alberta, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Texas; low pay; lots of hours; writing reports on people that no one knows.

But a pro scout? Isn't that why there are TVs? That's why the NHL has highlights of every game on its website. We are all basically pro scouts. We watch TV, we see replays, we decide if a player is good or bad.

So what exactly is it that the scouts for the Calgary Flames do?

I can understand the executives in Calgary wanting to trade Dion Phaneuf. He was a disease in the locker room, and even with him in the lineup they had only 1 win in the past 9 games. It was time for a change for him, so they traded him for a bunch of players. Matt Stajan is pretty good, Nik Hagman is skilled, Jamal Mayers is tough, and Ian White is a decently high-scoring D-man (though he's no Phaneuf).

Still, they lost out big time on that trade. A top-6 forward, to bottom-6 forwards, and a 2nd- or 3rd-pair defenseman does not make up for losing a huge talent like Phaneuf (like him or not, and I don't, he's good) and a great penalty killer in Freddy Sjostrom.

So how does Calgary follow up? By trading for Ales Kotalik and Chris Higgins. Really? Olli Jokinen and Chris Higgins are both going to be unrestricted free agents after this season, so it wasn't a salary dump (Higgins' + Kotalik's salary = Jokinen's). Wouldn't you rather have Jokinen then Higgins? I would, because I watch the games, though I don't get paid.

And how could they have possibly wanted Kotalik? Don't get me wrong, I liked Kotalik as a Ranger and think he could've been good here, but he's sat out 8 of 9 games. The one game he played? Against Carolina where the Rangers lost 5-1 and he was a rusty screwdriver out there.

How could a paid individual go, "That guy who hasn't played for 7 games, played horrible in his 1 game, then got benched again. We want him. What, he has a no-trade clause to Calgary? That's fine. We want to pay him for the next 2 years also." This has buy-out written all over it.

(I can see a team wanting Higgins. He's a tough guy who has scored in the past but was awful in NY. Maybe they see him as a reclamation project who they can dump in the offseason if it fails.)

The only way it makes sense for Calgary is if it's the first of a few moves (well, second of a few moves, I guess) to land a big fish.

It reminds me of when the Canadiens took Scott Gomez off of our hands, as I'm sure it reminds you as well. Remember how they then couldn't afford to make a run at Marian Gaborik?

Thank you, Canadian teams.

Hey, is Vancouver looking to trade the Sedin twins for Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival?

Good Players...

You know who was good? Olli Jokinen from 2005 through 2007.

You know who isn't that good anymore? Olli Jokinen.

Of course, if the rumors are true, and Olli Jokinen is about to be a Ranger (along with Brandon Prust for Chris Higgins and Ales Kotalik), then he becomes the 3rd highest-scoring Ranger, behind Marian Gaborik and Vaclav Prospal.

And yes, he is a 1st-line center who can play with Prospal at left wing and Gaborik at right wing.

But the big thing is that Kotalik is making $3M for not only this year but the next 2 seasons as well. Jokinen's cap hit is $5.25M, and he is an unrestricted free agent this summer. So the Rangers effectively clear $3M off the books for the next two seasons.

(Higgins is making $2.25M this year, but that's unrelated because he'd be a UFA after this season, and the Rangers probably weren't inviting him back for another campaign. The only thing that his salary has to do with this is that it's an even exchange, just over $5M for just over $5M. Prust is making $500,000 only.)

Maybe Jokinen isn't as good as his two seasons when he averaged over a point per game, but to add more offense this year while clearing $3M for the next two years is a good move.

Keep in mind that this doesn't address the real problems of the Rangers cap issues - that would involve moving any combination of Wade Redden, Chris Drury, and Michal Rozsival. But the moves are going to have to be made before the Olympic break because there is only 1 game before the March 3 trade deadline.

Coming Up...

I find it very amusing that 40 minutes from now, Islanders writer Bryan, will be either celebrating with thousands of other fans - by the way, apparently the way to sell out an Islanders game is to give away free tickets - or drowning his sorrows in pretzel twists.

Contrary to popular belief, I am not rooting against the Islanders picking John Tavares. I am hoping they do, and I'm hoping that all the "will they/won't they" about Victor Hedman and Matt Duchene will go the way of the Mats Sundin to NY stories (as well as the Michael Peca and Dave Scatchard to the Rangers rumors).

No matter who they pick, they'll be getting a great player. Hedman is a beast and very well could be their #2 guy behind Mark Streit tomorrow, and Duchene could be a nice compliment to Kyle Okposo and Josh Bailey. However, Tavares is the real deal, and I've been saying for 2 years now that I think he'll be better than Sidney Crosby.

Enjoy the show.

P.S.: Hey, you think Olli Jokinen will be moved again? I think he has been traded 3 times on draft day: from LA to the Islanders; from the Islanders to Florida; and from Florida to Phoenix.

Playoff Predictions...

Since my predictions are generally not entirely correct, and since everyone, their mother, and their mother's father are doing predictions, I'll keep mine short and simple. I imagine Bryan will be doing some as well tonight or tomorrow, even though his beloved Islanders are now dearly beloved. Hey, Bryan, if you want to make things interesting, let me know.

Eastern Conference
(1) Boston vs. (8) Montreal - Boston in 5
- Say what you want about the "history" between the 2 teams in the playoffs, mostly how Montreal has won 24/31 playoff series (a fraction normally reserved for longer months on a calendar), but Zdeno Chara, Marc Savard, Milan Lucic, and Tim Thomas weren't on the Bruins when the Habs were whooping them. And I don't see Maurice Richard, Patrick Roy, Ken Dryden, or Larry Robinson suiting up for the Canadiens, either.

(2) Washington vs. (7) Rangers - Rangers in 7
- Sticking with my prediction from the other day. Shut down Ovechkin, keep Green in control, and score a few goals. Henrik Lundqvist will outplay Jose Theodore any day of the week, and if the over-priced players on the Rangers actually play worth half of their contract, they can and will win.

(3) Devils vs. (6) Carolina - Devils in 6
- This is the least interesting series there is in the whole playoffs, besides maybe Vancouver vs. St. Louis. I vote the Devils, because this incarnation of the '06 Champs is 3 years older, slower, and doesn't have Doug Weight or Mark Recchi. Cam Ward is overrated, as well.

(4) Pittsburgh vs. (5) Philadelphia - Penguins in 6
- Flyers have a fantastic offense with Briere, Carter, Gagne, Giroux, and Richards, and Braydon Coburn can be a game-changer. But Martin Biron, as much as I like him, is no match for Crosby, Ovechkin, and Sykora.

Western Conference
(1) San Jose vs. (8) Anaheim - SJ in 4
- San Jose would have much rathered seen St. Louis, Columbus, or Nashville, but got stuck with Anaheim. Still, they should walk by them because they're hungrier and deeper than the last time the two met.

(2) Detroit vs. (7) Columbus - Columbus in 6
- I'll give the sentimental pick to the Blue Jackets, in part because I think Steve Mason will outplay Chris Osgood/Ty Conklin. I think Antoine Vermette adds a lot of dimension to the club, and if their injured players (Freddy Modin, Derick Brassard, Rostislav Klesla) can return, they can give the Wings a good run for their money. I think the Blue Jackets can beat Detroit, but that might be the end of their run. However, if this series goes to Game 7, I would give the edge to Detroit. Jackets in 6, though, final answer.

(3) Vancouver vs. (6) St. Louis - Vancouver in 4
- Vancouver has been hot, and I think Roberto Luongo is going to shut it down. Mats Sundin probably won't win his first Stanley Cup this year, but he should atleast go further in the playoffs than he has with Toronto the past 3 years.

(4) Chicago vs. (5) Calgary - Chicago in 5
- Simple: Calgary enters cold, Chicago enters hot, and with a smokin' hot goalie in Nikolai Khabibulin. He has been on fire, and if he cools off, Cristobal Huet is ready to go. Mikka Kiprusoff had a good season, but has been uncharacteristically inconsistent, which could be his downfall. Olli Jokinen and Jordan Leopold will help this team, but any team with Jamie Lundmark on it can't go far. Trust me.

What teams have the edge? A solid offense, a respectable defense, and a great goaltender is what you need. If Lundqvist catches fire - entirely possible - will the rest of the team follow suit? Probably not. If Ovechkin becomes Gretzky, will his goaltender become Roy? No.

So, who? Boston seems to have the total package, so does San Jose. But of the teams who are not ranked 1st in their conference, it seems Chicago has the best combo of goalie and forwards.

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?

Reported Trades & Quick Reactions...

We're going to use this space to mention trades and quickly react on them. Everything will be on this post. I also highly doubt that there will be as many trades as in the past 2 seasons (I think each one had 25 trades). Teams seem to be re-signing their players quickly (Filip Kuba also re-upped in Ottawa). The only "blockbuster" deal out there might be Jay Bouwmeester, if Florida - in the middle of a playoff race - decides to trade their best player.


3:17 :: BUF gets Dominic Moore. TOR gets a 2nd round pick.
- Bryan :: Must be nice to play for a Canadian team and be overvalued as a result. Moore was awesome for the Rangers in 2005-06 and had a resurgence this year, but a 2nd round pick? Come on. Guerin only fetched a fifth-rounder for the Islanders. And if you don't think this trade wasn't at all influenced by the pompous Toronto media, I don't know what to tell you.


2:45 :: PHX gets Scottie Upshall and 2nd round pick. PHI gets Dan Carcillo
- Zach :: A steal for Phoenix? I loved Carcillo... last year. This year he has no edge and isn't contributing offensively.

1:59 :: PIT gets Bill Guerin. NYI gets Conditional Draft Pick.

- Bryan :: It doesn't matter what kind of pick the Islanders get back. It beats the alternative of not getting anything back for Guerin, a supposedly unhappy player who will probably walk at season's end anyway. Good pick-up for Pittsburgh, who needs something resembling all the role players who helped them get to the Cup Final last year.

- Bryan :: Scratch all that. The pick is a fifth-round pick that becomes a fourth-rounder if the Penguins make the playoffs and a third-rounder if they reach the second round. A far cry from the second-round pick we were all expecting. Great to get Guerin off the books and get something back, but this is a severe let-down.

- Zach :: I think they should've gotten a prospect instead, but what do I know.

1:33 :: BOS gets Mark Recchi, 2nd round pick. TBL gets D Matt Lashoff and F Martins Karsums.

- Zach :: Not just a rental for Recchi because of the 2010 pick they received. Lashoff definitely has potential and was probably the sticking point here for Tampa Bay.

- Bryan :: This is a tremendous trade for both teams. Boston gets better over the short term, but gets a second-rounder. Tampa Bay gets Lashoff, a great defensive prospect. This the kind of trade the Islanders should be making today, but for some reason, they aren't.

12:42 :: BOS gets D Steve Montador. ANA gets F Petteri Nokelainen.

12:40 :: CGY gets C Olli Jokinen, 3rd round pick. PHX gets C Matthew Lombardi, F Brandon Prust, 1st round pick

- Zach :: Jokinen was rumored for years to be traded from FLA and never was, now he's been traded twice in 9 months. Lombardi is good but no Jokinen, but Phoenix had to get what they could on this upcoming UFA. Good for both teams.

12: 13 :: Eric Reitz claimed off waivers by TOR.

12: 10 :: DAL claims C Brendan Morrison. TOR claims G Martin Gerber.

- Zach :: Dallas re-fills their Brendan M. quota. This helps them a lot.

12:07 :: BUF gets G Mikael Tellqvist. PHX gets 4th round pick.

- Bryan :: Pretty obvious one. Phoenix gets to rebuild yet again, while Buffalo gets a nice option until Ryan Miller returns, not to mention insurance should Miller get injured again.

11:49 :: CGY gets D Jordan Leopold. COL get 2nd round pick, D Lawrence Nycholat, and D Ryan Wilson.

- Zach :: Originally traded to Colorado for Alex Tanguay (2nd round picks also exchanged hands), Calgary gets him back. Leopold is an improvment on Nycholat, who they plucked off waivers yesterday. Very interesting, it's like they picked up a dollar off the ground and then bought something with it (as in they took someone they didn't used to have and then got a player for it, even after the Avs could've taken Nycholat).

- Bryan :: Nycholat was actually sent to Colorado as part of this trade, along with defensive prospect Ryan Wilson. Calgary still wins this trade, though, as Leopold was a huge part of their Cup Finals run in 2003-04.

10:57 :: BUF resigns F Tim Connolly to a 2-year, $9M deal.

- Bryan :: Tim Connolly has played 79 games since the start of the 2006-07 season and has 67 points in those games. Not a bad point-per-game ratio. But $4.5M per year for a player who doesn't even play half your games is a lot. This is a deal only Buffalo would sign. Sabres fans are tired of seeing their players walk away via free agency, so this is a bone thrown to them... but I'm sure they'd rather have Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, or Brian Campbell.

10:12 :: CBJ gets F Antoine Vermette. OTT gets G Pascal LeClaire and 2nd rounder

- Zach :: Good for both teams. LeClaire has been hurt and is irrelevant now that Steve Mason is the future in Columbus. Vermette hates playing in Ottawa and was almost traded this year, so he should help the Jackets immediately.