2 Man Advantage

Free Agent Grades: The A-List

2008-07-13T15:06:00.002-04:00

As is always the case with free agency, teams went nuts and threw money around like it was nothing, leaving many people to wonder if GM’s remember if there is a cap. But this happens every year and yet we remained amazed, but that’s another matter. Still, not all of the deals were bad, and some were downright awful. In this segment I will grade the deals on the A-list free agents- those whoa re the most prolific and were seeking the highest contracts (even if they aren’t the best players in the league). The B-list segment will cover the lower line players, bottom pairing defensemen and backup goalies. This does not include re-signings before the free agency period started, sans Ryan Malone who was dealt for then signed.

Forwards

Marian Hossa
Team: Detroit Red Wings
Contract: 1 year, $7.4mm
Grade: A+
Hossa shocked the hockey world by forgoing multiple million dollar offers for many years from the Penguins, Oilers and Canadiens to sign a single year with Detroit. Detroit, fresh off a cup win is still the favorite for next year able to keep most their team intact, and making themselves the favorites by signing the most sought after forward on the market. Hossa is counting on that for his cup.

Markus Naslund
Team: New York Rangers
Contract: 2 years, $8mm
Grade: C+
Naslund is fading, each year his point total dropping noticeably. Part of that may be lack of a true scoring center in Vancouver, and Drury or Gomez may be what Naslund needs. But with the trend going on three years now, I don’t see him all of a sudden resurrecting. He’s no Jagr which is who he is meant to replace and I think the Rangers will be a bit disappointed in him.

Kristian Huselius
Team: Columbus Blue Jackets
Contract: 4 years, $19mm
Grade: B-
Huselius has emerged in recent years with the Flames, but seemed to regress once more under the guise of Mike Keenan. Though always having the offensive skills needed he has lacked them in the defensive area, and now he goes to a system run defensive guru Ken Hitchcock. Columbus definitely needed offense and they will see how he plays with a guy like Nash and Umberger, so we’ll which Huselius the Jackets are getting. For the risk the price is high, but it can pay off.

Pavol Demitra
Team: Vancouver Canucks
Contract: 2 years, $8mm
Grade: B-
It’s not like this was a surprise as the rumors of Vancouver courting Demitra had been around since before the start of free agency, including him going for tours of the city. While younger than Naslund, Demitra isn’t as healthy and that makes it somewhat a risk. If he can stay healthy though, he can be a good addition as he still has his skills and he may more than make up for the departure of Naslund.

Radim Vrbata
Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Contract: 3 years, $9mm
Grade: B
Paying for a guy that has only had one good year is always dangerous, but at least Vrbata is still young and he will be going to a now offensive laden team. His deal isn’t outrageous, plus I wouldn’t be surprised if he did bomb Phoenix would deal back for him. Manageable contract and still being young makes this a decent signing, but it could easily back fire if he’s a one year wonder.

Darcy Tucker
Team: Colorado Avalanche
Contract: 2 years, $4.5mm
Grade: A
After being bought out by the Leafs, I figured Tucker would take a little less, but this is a very good price for him. If he stays healthy and can get his scoring touch back after a sub par year, this will be a steal for the Avs. Worse comes to worse you're stuck with a good third liner for two years at a reasonable price.

Brian Rolston
Team: New Jersey Devils
Contract: 4 years, $20mm
Grade: B-
Rolston was always a good player, but he is one of the rare ones who gets better after the age of thirty. In his time with the Wild he emerged as not only a top scorer but also a leader. The reason the grade is so low is because Rolston is 35, meaning he counts against the cap, only removable if he is either dealt (which if you're trying to deal someone at that age you wont be able to) or if he is physically unable to play. Plus at 35, it’s that precarious age where one year can make a huge difference in playing ability.

Niklas Hagman
Team: Toronto Maple Leafs
Contract: 4 years, $12mm
Grade: B-
Hagman is a streaky scorer who normally puts in 15-20 goals. So to no surprise he put in 27 in his contract year. He got paid accordingly, so the question is will he be able to keep that up or was it a big contract that motivated his play? At 28 he still has some time to improve, but would anyone really be surprised if he ended up like Jason Blake?

Sean Avery
Team: Dallas Stars
Contract: 4 years, $15.5mm
Grade: C-
Despite his antics and mouth Avery is actually a pretty good hockey player. But he isn’t a top line guy so there is no way he should be paid like one. Yeah he can score some, play some defense and give the team a boost, but when you’re dishing out almost $4mm a year you should be putting in at least twenty goals or playing some stellar defense, neither of which Avery does.

Michael Ryder
Team: Boston Bruins
Contract: 3 years, $12mm
Grade: C
A risky move by the Bruins, but they are banking on Ryder having the success he had in Montreal when their current coach, Claude Julien was behind the bench there. If he can return to his thirty goal form than it will be worth it. If not, it will be the Bruins new Glenn Murray contract because Ryder cant do much outside of scoring. But you have to scratch your head as to why a guy who had a major points drop got a larger contract…

Miroslav Satan
Team: Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract: 1 year, $3.5mm
Grade: B-
Satan is coming off his worst year in his career, netting only sixteen goals and looking uninterested most the time. Some say it’s because the Isles were nose diving, but some say it’s the normal Satan. Pittsburgh is hoping he regains his scoring touch with Crosby and can start putting in thirty or more a year like he was before last year. It’s a bit much, but if it works it can easily be worth it. Worse comes to worse, he is there for a year then let go, and the one year deal shows Shero is even kind of wary of him (though Satan did say to papers he wanted to play for the Pens so he targeted signing there).

Todd Bertuzzi
Team: Calgary Flames
Contract: 1 year, $1.95mm
Grade: B+
Bertuzzi is reunited with the man who thought he was worth Roberto Luongo in Mike Keenan. Bertuzzi hasn’t been the same since the Moore incident, and his bombing in Anaheim and subsequent buyout probably isn’t going to help. Still, less than two million for what he can contribute is practically a steal and it’s only a single year deal. That is if he can finally pull himself together again.

Brendan Morrison
Team: Anaheim Ducks
Contract: 1 year, $2.75mm
Grade: A-
Though coming off knee surgery Morrison is still a capable center, and can score with talented wingers. If that doesn’t pan out, at least they have a defensively responsible center who they can let go after a year. He’s not really the scoring forward they need, but he was better than the other options available.

Cory Stillman
Team: Florida Panthers
Contract: 3 years, $10.5mm
Grade: B+
Stillman still has jump left in him, and his veteran presence will help the young Panther players. He also helps make up for the loss of Jokinen with his scoring. It’s a pretty affordable deal and in a way it’s odd to see the Panthers sign someone who isn’t a spare part.

Ryan Malone
Team: Tampa Bay Lightning
Contract: 7 years, $31.5mm
Grade: C+
Don’t get me wrong, I like Malone, but worth this deal he isn’t. While some debate Crosby and Malkin inflated his points total, which may be true, Malone can still grind it out and is willing to take punishment to get things done (like returning ten minutes after a slapshot nearly exploded his face). He’s good for about twenty goals a year and has good intangibles. However the price, and length for him are both too steep.

Defensemen

Brian Campbell
Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Contract: 8 years, $56.8mm
Grade: B-
Yikes! Campbell is good, but not that good. There is something wrong with someone being paid akin to Nik Lidstrom that has yet to even be nominated for a Norris trophy. Campbell will definitely help Chicago’s blue line, but it is a steep price. But most importantly, it tells the people of Chicago, often maligning the team because of former owner Bill Wirtz, that they are serious about being good again. It may be overpayment, but it sends the kind of message Chicago needed to send.

Wade Redden
Team: New York Rangers
Contract: 6 years, $39.5mm
Grade: C+
Most thought, myself included, two sub par years would lessen Redden’s salary some. Leave it to the Rangers to ruin that theory. After losing out on Campbell, GM Glenn Sather still wanted a big name to anchor his defense and went out and matched Redden’s previous salary and gave it to him for six year. He’s already thirty one so the last year or so could make him a huge albatross, especially if he doesn’t regain his form of a few years ago (not to mention if he can get over having the crap beat out of him by Ryan Whitney which is absolutely humiliating).

Mark Streit
Team: New York Islanders
Contract: 4 years, $12mm
Grade: C
The Islanders didn’t have much punch from the point and they addressed that with Streit. One must wonder how well Streit will fair though, as he was on the best power play in the league with Montreal. The question is how much was his contribution to that best power play? We’ll find out, but the Isles at least got something they needed.

Ron Hainsey
Team: Atlanta Thrashers
Contract: 5 years, $22.5mm
Grade: C-
There is a debate on how good Hainsey really is after being on a bad Columbus defense. Atlanta though, desperate to bring in defensemen and meet the cap floor was more than willing to dish out enough to Hainsey to make him forget he went to a bad team continuing its downward spiral. Time will show how good Hainsey is, but this is just too much for him plain and simple.

Brooks Orpik
Team: Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract: 6 years, $22.5mm
Grade: B+
Six years is a bit long, but after losing Hossa the Pens had the room to give Orpik what he wanted to stay. It’s a bit high, but in a few years can be a steal if he continues to improve, and has the playoff he did in coming years. To Orpik’s credit he was true to word of taking less to stay, leaving offers of more than $4mm a year from other teams on the table. With the rising price of defensemen every year, this may not look so bad in a few.

Mike Commodore
Team: Columbus Blue Jackets
Contract: 5 years, $18.75mm
Grade: C-
Commodore is a good bottom pairing guy, decent second pairing guy but nothing more. And I am going to put this simply: the only reason he has the notoriety he does has nothing to do with his play, but instead his god awful playoff beard and fro he grows. Yes, I am serious about that. You never heard a damn thing about him until Calgary’s cup run when they kept showing pictures of him. And Columbus, looking to improve a weak defense paid him good second pairing money. It’s not that Commodore is bad, but it’s not his game he is known for and he wasn't paid accordingly.

Michael Roszival
Team: New York Rangers
Contract: 4 years, $20mm
Grade: C+
Roszival has emerged as a good two way defenseman since joining the Rangers. But he’s not a top flight defenseman so the Rangers shouldn’t have given in to his demands and paid him like he is one. I get blue liners where going for high prices, but I just don’t think it can justify what Roszival got. It was a move made out of fear by Sather.

Rob Blake
Team: San Jose Sharks
Contract: 1 year, $5mm
Grade: B
San Jose was looking to replace the loss of Campbell and in return signed Blake away from the Kings. Though the price is high, they have no intention of trading him, wanting his leadership and experience for another playoff run (that will probably end in the second round, again). They were forced to deal Craig Rivet in order to fit him in their cap, but pairing him with their acquisition of Dan Boyle gives them a strong defense.

Jason Smith
Team: San Ottawa Senators
Contract: 2 years, $5.2mm
Grade: A
This is surprising. Seeing as what others were going for I’m surprised Smith got this little. Though aging and probably wearing down from the punishment his body has taken over the years, Smith at this price is a steal and he will add a lot of grit and leadership to the Sens defense. One of the best signings this off season.

Goaltenders

Jose Theodore
Team: Washington Capitals
Contract: 2 years, $9mm
Grade: D
Theodore did do much better this year, but it was after three dismal years where he looked like a backup goalie. Yes he did good against Minnesota in the playoffs, but he followed it up by not giving the Avs a chance against the Red Wings and being pulled multiple times. Plus let’s not forget he was playing for a new contract this year. I think this is a terrible move, paying money to a goalie who’s really only had a few good years. The Caps would have been wiser to ante up some more for Huet, and I think this deal will be a big mistake.

Cristobal Huet
Team: Chicago Blackhawks
Contract: 4 years, $22.5mm
Grade: B+
Got to give some credit to Dale Talon signing another starting goalie while keeping one of the highest paid goalies in the league on his roster. Granted he’ll move Khabibulin the first chance he gets but he smart in not passing up the chance to land a goalie for years to come once Khabibulin moves on (latest after this year). A bit high, but that’s a bidding war for you.

Free Agent Predictions

2008-06-30T21:09:00.002-04:00

With free agency fast approaching some big names will be heading to the market. Like always there will be bidding wars and many will get more than they are actually worth, but that’s supply and demand for you. But let’s take a look of who is available, what their new salary may be and where they may go. For the sake of brevity (and many internet problems over the last week) I am only going to list the most well known players.

Forwards
The crop of forwards is pretty good, but it’s aging. Many are getting past their prime in their mid thirties which is why their respective teams are letting them hit the market. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t good players to be had. I guess I should be thanking Tampa Bay and its new owners some for making this a bit easier for me by dealing for Malone and signing him (really overpaying in the process) and Rolston who is most likely going to be signed.

Marian Hossa
Estimated Yearly Contract: $7.5
Predicted Destination: Pittsburgh Penguins
Even though all signs point to him leaving, I just have a feeling he is going to end up staying with his deadline team. Hossa seemed to enjoy Pittsburgh, and was close to winning the cup so it may be enough to keep him. Though with his brother being cut loose by Phoenix I won’t be surprised if Marian forces a package deal of him and his brother by whatever team comes calling. Call this one a gut feeling.

Mats Sundin
Estimated Yearly Contract: $6.0
Predicted Destination: Montreal Canadiens
Sundin and the Leafs are seeming more and more indifferent towards each other, and the fact they’ve let the Canadiens openly talk to him shows how little interest there seems to be left. It’s hard to blame Sundin as he has watched the past few months as the team has been completely dismantled. There seems to be quite a bit going on behind the scenes with the Canadiens and its not that far from Toronto where he has played his entire career.

Pavol Demitra
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.25
Predicted Destination: Vancouver Canucks
Demitra was oft injured with the Wild, but he still managed to put up the points. If the Canucks let both Morrison and Naslund go, signing Demitra who can play either wing or center will help fill the void.

Markus Naslund
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: Minnesota Wild
Naslund is winding down in his career, as evidenced by the Canucks not showing the kind of effort one would expect from their best player in the past decade. But the Canucks are looking elsewhere, and I think the Wild are going to want to try and offset the losses of Rolston and Demitra by signing Naslund. While not the point producer he was, he can still contribute and can stay healthy.

Brian Rolston
Estimated Yearly Contract: $4.0
Predicted Destination: Tampa Bay Lightning
Rolston has emerged as a leader and first line forward since arriving in Minnesota and was a boon for the team when Marian Gaborik went down with injury (again). But he and the Wild have different ideas of the monetary compensation of those qualities. He was traded to Tampa Bay over the weekend and given the new owners willingness to spend is going to sign with the team with a figure to his liking.

Brendan Morrison
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: Atlanta Thrashers
Its not a good market for scoring centers under the age of 33 this year, and Morrison is one of the few. Though more defensive than offensive he is capable of adding some offense though a bit streaky. Atlanta needs a center for Kovulchuk and with the departure of Holik have the money already freed up to sign a key player. Morrison’s two way abilities will also help the defensive starved team.

Kristen Huselius
Estimated Yearly Contract: $4.25
Predicted Destination: Columbus Blue Jackets
Huselius has pretty much been run out of town the past two cities he played in, and to no coincidence Mike Keenan was their both times. Regardless he is entering the prime of his career after having a few good seasons. The Jackets really wanted Malone who was signed by Tampa and I think they still want a scoring winger who will be around for a while, so Huselius will be their man.

Jaromir Jagr
Estimated Yearly Contract: $5.5
Predicted Destination: New York Rangers
Jagr loves New York and he showed flashes of his dominant self during the playoffs. The two are fit for each other and I think they know it, which is why Jagr won’t be going anywhere. The deal may be incentive laden but Jagr needs to realize he isn’t getting top end salary from the NHL anymore.

Todd Bertuzzi
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: New York Islanders
Bertuzzi will have always have a chip on his shoulder for the Moore incident and it will make teams reluctant to sign him. Being bought out by his biggest supporter in Brian Burke doesn’t help. Still he is a power forward. The Isles are looking for more firepower and need to get people to their team, not a favorite destination for free agents. I expect them to overpay Bertuzzi to land him, though after giving Fedotenko almost $3mm a year, it wont seem that bad.

Miroslav Satan
Estimated Yearly Contract: $2.25
Predicted Destination: Pittsburgh Penguins
With Malone gone and Hossa hitting the market the Pens desperately need a winger who can put the puck in the net. Yeah, Satan may not be that so much anymore, and he is pretty one dimensional, but at this point he will be cheap and all he has to do is take a pass from Crosby or Malkin. I see it being a late signing in free agency when the other big names are signed up, and our hopes for Satan playing for the Devils will be dashed yet again.

Radim Vrbata
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: Vancouver Canucks
Vrbata had a career year in Phoenix and wants to see what he can get in free agency. But being a one year wonder thus far teams will be reluctant to sign him up to a large or long term deal. The Canucks are looking for more offense, and while they have the cap room for a big name if they let Naslund and Morrison walk, they’ll probably want depth more and I think Vrbata will be a target.

Niklas Hagman
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.0
Predicted Destination: Boston Bruins
Hagman seems to have gotten lost in the mix of all the other free agents, but he is physical and can score 20 goals a year. Though flying under the radar he will be targeted by quite a few teams. I don’t think the Bruins can realistically fit Hossa into their cap like they want so they will go for someone who is more cap friendly, and Hagman will fit the bill.

Darcy Tucker
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.0
Predicted Destination: Phoenix Coyotes
Though bought out gritty forwards who can score aren’t the most frequent things to hit the market. Though age may be catching up Tucker is well known throughout the league (for better or worse) and he will be sought after. Phoenix’s addition of Bryzgalov last season and Jokinen this season is making Phoenix a playoff contender. Plus the need to replace the departing Varbata is necessary.

Michael Ryder
Estimated Yearly Contract: $2.75
Predicted Destination: New Jersey Devils
Ryder’s stock has dropped the past year, it being particularly dismal as he was benched many times in both the regular season and playoffs. He put up 25 and back to back 30 goal seasons his first three years and that means he does have the talent. He won’t get a big pay day but he’ll get a payday. I’m sure Lou will love to throw a long term deal to get him at a slightly discounted price on the Devils.

Sean Avery
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.75
Predicted Destination: New York Islanders
Avery is hated by most people, but can actually play if his antics aren’t getting in the way. Though an agitator first he can get you that key goal and that makes his value high. He isn’t worth what he is going to get, but someone will give it to him. And I think that someone is the Islanders who are looking for warm bodies.

Defensemen
The defensive crop this year is quite thin, with only two big names on the market in Campbell and Redden since the Avalanche resigned both Liles and Foote. Nothing against the remaining guys, but top pairing men they aren’t.

Brian Campbell
Estimated Yearly Contract: $6.5
Predicted Destination: New York Rangers
Campbell will more than likely be going to the highest bidder this year unless somehow the Sharks get him under contract in the next few days. The Rangers will be clearing plenty of space by letting guys go. They will want a stabilizing force on their blue line which is young and upcoming, and Sather has always been known to make the big splash.

Wade Redden
Estimated Yearly Contract: $5.5
Predicted Destination: San Jose Sharks
The past two years have been lackluster for the Sens blue liner, and it will cost him going into free agency. Despite that he is still reliable in both ends and will command top pairing money. If Campbell walks from the Sharks they will probably make Redden their first target (and it was rumored they were the ones trying to deal for him over the summer).

Mark Streit
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.25
Predicted Destination: Philadelphia Flyers
There doesn’t seem to be much interest to resign Streit from the Canadiens so he will be hitting the market. There are teams looking for puck moving defensemen (Streit also played some forward) and as a mid-grade defenseman Streit will still get plenty of calls. Philly doesn’t have a whole lot of room but their inability to move the puck from the defense to the forwards let the Penguins pick them off in the Eastern Conference Finals. He is affordable and fits the Flyers needs.

Jason Smith
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.0
Predicted Destination: Columbus Blue Jackets
Smith is being let go by the Flyers who don’t want to pay for the gritty defenseman who is wearing down, partly because they disagree on his value and partially because the Flyers don’t have much cap space. Still teams love a stay at home who hits, and Smith certainly does that. The Jackets need to get to the cap floor, plus are getting quite desperate to make the playoffs and I see them going after Smith is who much like Adam Foote that they dealt away at the deadline.

Ron Hainsey
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: LA Kings
Since being claimed off waivers from Montreal Hainsey has developed into a steady blue liner. Nothing flashy but he gets the job done, and that was on a bad Columbus team. He managed to put up a good amount of points and is entering the prime of his career. LA Has cap space to spare and being under thirty they are willing to target him, especially after dealing Vishnovsky to the Oilers.

Brooks Orpik
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: Pittsburgh Penguins
Orpik had a breakout year and was an unsung hero in the playoffs until the finals where he got noticed, and that always feeds the hype machine. A defender who is good in his own end, mobile and hits doesn’t come along often, so if he hits the market he is going to get a good payday. But I don’t see the Pens letting it go that far.

Brad Stuart
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.0
Predicted Destination: Detroit Red Wings
After forgettable stings in Boston, Calgary and LA Stuart was dealt to the Wings at the deadline and was a factor in their winning the cup. I don’t think other teams will be as willing to sign him to a larger contract, not to mention he would be playing for the cup champions. I think he will hit the market, but go to Detroit when he sees the fields aren’t greener on the other side.

Michal Roszival
Estimated Yearly Contract: $3.5
Predicted Destination: New York Rangers
Roszival has developed into a steady blue liner since coming to the Rangers, being reliable in both ends. I don’t expect him to be going anywhere as he has been key for the Rangers and he knows it.

Goaltenders
To put it simply, the free agent goalie pool sucks. Huet is the only capable starter amongst the group and the others are either aging starters no longer fit for the role or career backups. Don’t look for much to happen with goalies this off season.

Cristobal Huet
Estimated Yearly Contract: $4.25
Predicted Destination: Washington Capitals
I expect the Caps to bite the bullet and give Huet the money he is seeking as the goalie market is paper thin this year. If Huet were to hit the market he will be easily the most sought after. My guess then would be the Avs to pick him up as Budaj and Theodore were lackluster at best in the playoffs.

Olaf Kolzig
Estimated Yearly Contract: $1.5
Predicted Destination: Tampa Bay Lightning
Kolzig only has a few years left, and feeling spurned by the dealing for Huet has caused him to break from the only NHL team he has ever known. A starting role is pretty much out of the question at this point, but some team is going to be looking for an experienced backup. My guess is he will end up in Tampa where he will be a backup plan in case new goalie Mike Smith cant handle the spotlight, and it will give Karri Ramo another year to prepare for the jump to the NHL.

Jose Theodore
Estimated Yearly Contract: $2.5
Predicted Destination: Colorado Avalanche
Theodore will most likely be staying with the Avs, but at a much reduced rate. To be frank I think the only reason they are doing this is because the goalie market is so weak because in the playoffs Theodore just couldn’t get it done. Though him and the Avs aren’t talking, I think they will have little choice but to bring him back.

Draft Day Deals

2008-06-21T01:07:00.002-04:00

In what was one of the more exciting drafts in recent memory, fans were greeted with a bevy of trades to start and throughout. Though I cant help but think of the football draft some with how many teams traded up or down, and what they gave up to do so, but its not like its uncommon. For the sake of brevity, I’m only going to cover the deals that involve players. There were a few surprises, and some that were expected, but on to the trades.

3 Way Deal:
To Calgary: Mike Cammelleri
To Los Angeles: #12 pick
To Anaheim: #17, #28

Calgary gets a young forward in Cammalleri who is capable of putting up big numbers, but has been hampered by injuries in recent years. He can play either wing, and a scoring winger is something Calgary needs with the likely departure of Kristian Huselius and Alex Tanguay (mentioned below).

LA gets a higher pick so they continue to rebuild their roster and prospect system, and things are going to be looking bright for them. As they already have the 2nd over all pick, they will have a good chance at landing two impact players in the first round.

Anaheim gets two first round picks, and while they aren’t really in need of adding a lot of assets, they are up at the cap and unless Scott Niedermayer retires they wont be getting much relief. Still two first round picks in a good draft is always good.

Winner: Calgary
I am giving it to the Flames for the sole reason they got an established young player that can contribute, while picks are always crapshoots no matter how good the prospect is. Of course time will tell.

To Montreal: Alex Tanguay
To Calgary: #25 pick
Calgary was looking to offload some salary, and Tanguay carried a $5mm price tag. With the addition of Cammalleri earlier it made him expendable.

Montreal gets the scoring winger they have been seeking. It was rumored they were going to make a pitch for Marian Hossa in free agency but it seems he will be signing with the Penguins, who beat out Montreal to obtain him in the deadline deal. I’ve never been a fan of Tanguay, feeling his success is too dependent on the team around him. He has talent no doubt, but I don’t think he is as good as his hype. Still Montreal now doesn’t need to get into bidding wars with other teams so it was a savvy move to get what they needed.

Winner: Calgary
It’s a deep draft and as I said, I am not high on Tanguay and I think $5mm a year for him is high. Yeah he looked good in Colorado, but so would I if I always played with Sakic and Forseberg…

To Phoenix: Olli Jokinen
To Florida: Keith Ballard, Nick Boynton, #49 pick

The much rumored Jokinen deal finally happened, which is good because the rumor mongers will finally shut up (well at least for a few weeks until we start hearing Phoenix isn’t pleased with Jokinen and on the block again). I am honestly not surprised Phoenix jumped in on this. I felt a dark horse would end up with a player like Jokinen (if he was truly available) as Phoenix is looking to increase their profile, and an all star forward is a way to go. He will definitely help the Coyotes offense which has been looking for scoring for years.

Florida, well, they got hosed. Again. Ballard is good and will definitely help their team. Boynton though was on waivers a year ago so any team could have had him for free. No one bit. That means it was a salary dump for Phoenix.

Winner: Phoenix
Not as bad as the Luongo trade, but not much better. Florida handed Phoenix their best player and a player with large salary they wanted to get rid of and got a good young defenseman and a second round pick. However, they failed to replace Jokinen’s scoring to any extent in the deal and something tells me a big free agent forward in free agency isn’t coming. Rick Dudley made bad trades. Mike Keenan made awful trades. Jacques Martin hasn’t done much better. Maybe there’s something in that state that turns gm’s into idiots.

To Columbus: RJ Umberger, #119 pick
To Philly: #19 pick, #67 pick

Columbus gets a much needed center, and Umberger fits the bill. He had a good year and excellent playoffs that really raised his stock. He was a former first round pick by Vancouver, but their attempts to lowball him caused him to leave and sign with the Flyers.

Philadelphia gets a first round pick and a third round pick to further bolster their young talent. With their cap near the limit the likeliness of them being able to sign Umberger and having any room left was not good.

Winner: Philadelphia
I’m started to think when he goes to make a deal, Paul Holmgren literally puts a gun to the other GM’s head. It seems he gets away with robbery nearly every time. Not that Umberger won’t develop into something, but it seems a bit steep a price for a guy that’s probably won’t be a first line center.

And since I haven't had time to post these pre-draft deals…

To St. Louis: 3rd round pick
To Toronto: Jamal Mayers
Toronto added some grit with Mayers, who can put up decent numbers. Rumor has it Toronto did this because they plan to buy out Tucker, but I’m not buying it. Mayers is an affordable $1.5mm and is the kind of player Toronto likes.

St. Louis did this to free up cap space. What are they spending that cap space on? Well…

To St. Louis: Chris Mason
To Nashville: 4th round pick
Nashville came to a contract agreement with Dan Ellis (surpsiginly only $3.5mm for two years) and so Mason and his $3mm was deemed expendable. Though Mason struggled last year, St. Louis is hoping he regains his form, and at the very least the competition between him and Manny Legace will push both to better play.

This was primarily a salary dump for Nashville, though a bit of a risk as Ellis has so little pro experience.

To Carolina: Darcy Hordichuk
To Nashville: 5th round pick
Hordichuk was expendable and easily replaceable. They already had a similar player in Jordin Tootoo and were probably looking to give him a little more ice time.

Carolina has never been a very tough team, and they traded for Hordichuk (his rights to be specific) to change that some. While he’s not really a fighter he’ll provide some big (and questionable) hits to help out the Canes.

Firings, Hirings and Retirements

2008-06-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

With the Stanley Cup finals over for almost a week now (Congrats to the Red Wings by they way), things haven't been all that quiet on the front. Teams are preparing for the entry draft in a few weeks but some things of note have happened.

Dominic Hasek Retires
What better way than to go out on top? Hasek is doing exactly that rather than coming back for another year and most likely playing second fiddle to Chris Osgood. Hasek has had a stellar career and earned his nickname “The Dominator” for a reason. In the past fifteen years he has been one of the most dominant (no pun intended) goalies along with Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. He had a long career with many accomplishments so I think he can rest easy knowing he can be proud of what he did.

Toronto hires Ron Wilson as their new coach
The Maple Leafs keeping things in hockey a secret from the media in their home town is pretty much an exercise in futility. Before Wilson even got on a plane back home to contemplate his offer it was all over the news he had been made an offer. It wasn't any surprise either he accepted. Wilson is a pretty good coach who takes a hard line stance, but isn’t that big on the media, so it will be interesting to see how he reacts in Toronto. My prediction is he will make the Leafs a better team, but how far he will take them is another matter. His playoff success has been rather limited, and he failed to take multiple talented Sharks teams beyond the second round all but once. It was pretty much the same story with the Caps before he joined San Jose. I think you will see some improvement in Toronto, just don’t expect a deep run.

Trevor Linden Retires
The long time Canuck is ready to hang them up once and for all. Joining the team in a front office capacity, Linden has had a successful career and been the heart of many Vancouver teams. While many in Vancouver will be sad to no longer see him on the ice, it was time to hang them up.

Los Angeles Kings fire head coach Marc Crawford
After two seasons of dwelling near the Western Conference basement, Kings GM Dean Lombardi fired Marc Crawford. The move wasn't totally unexpected given that the Kings failed to improve at all under him, even after Lombardi acquired multiple players in free agency. After his failure to take the Canucks very far and his failure to do anything with the Kings, I wouldn’t expect teams to be lining up for his services as a head coach. Plus, there is something to be said for a guy who thinks you can go far with Dan Cloutier in net…

San Jose Sharks hire Todd McLellan as head coach
To no surprise the Red Wings dominance of the playoffs has led to a team taking one of their own. San Jose took assistant McLellan as their head coach in hopes he can bring a successful system and better playoff attitude to the Sharks, who have perennially exited in the second round in recent years. McLellan has coached in the minors, but the Sharks are banking on what he learned from the Red Wings organization, filled with great hockey minds will translate into a winning formula for their team.

Ottawa Senators hire Craig Hartsburg as coach
Instead of going with an NHL experienced coach Brian Murray opted instead to go with a face from the junior leagues. Hartsburg foes have NHL head and assistant coaching experience, but has spent the past few years in juniors including the Canadian world junior team where he has met with success.

Panthers hire Peter DeBoer as head coach
Another team has gone for a juniors coach in DeBoer, something that isn’t totaling surprising. It seems that teams are becoming reluctant to hire an established coach who has had either limited or only regular season success. DeBoer, like Hartsburg has had an accomplished junior career, and his working with young players will come in handy when coaching a young Panthers team.

What to do now: North East Division

2008-06-17T22:12:00.000-04:00

Continuing the “What they should do now” series, I’ll take a look at the North East division.

(F)- forward
(D)- defenseman
(G)- goalie

Montreal Canadiens
UFA’s- Michael Ryder (F), Bryan Smolinski (F), Patrice Brisbois (D), Mark Streit (D)
RFA’s- Andrei Kostitsyn (F), Maxim Lapierre (F), Josh Gorges (D), Ryan O’Byrne (D)
Analysis:
Montreal was the top seed in the east going into the playoffs but future star goaltender Carey Price never gave them much of a chance to win having a poor performance in the playoffs that doomed the team. For the most part Streit is the only significant unrestricted free agent they have, Ryder being the only other but his salary demands and inconsistency will prevent Montreal from signing him. They still need some secondary scoring and their failed attempt to land Hossa at the deadline shows Gainey is well aware of it.

What they should do:
Streit may want more than Montreal can offer, but they should try and keep him anyways. With Ryder, Smolinksi and Brisbois gone Gainey will have almost $5.5mm to work with, but some of this money will go to resigning the RFA’s they have, all of which I see them keeping. Add in the cap expected to rise almost $5mm you can expect Montreal to land at least a second line scoring winger, possibly two with the departure of Ryder in the off season.

Ottawa Senators
UFA’s- Chris Kelly (F), Shean Donovan (F), Randy Robataille (F), Cory Stillman (F), Wade Redden (D), Luke Richardson (D), Mike Commodore (D)
RFA’s- Antoine Vermette (F), Brian McGratton (F), Andrej Meszaros (D)
Analysis:
Easily the hottest team the first half of the year, the Sens were one of the coldest the second half as if the glue that held them together just disappeared. Not even a coaching change or trades helped them get out of their funk and they were swept in the first round. Murray has already locked up his two young stars in Heatley and Spezza long term and Alfredsson is under contract for another few years. His big decision will be which of the UFA’s he wants to keep because two of his restricted free agents in Meszaros and Vermette are too important to let go. There is also the situation with goalie ray Emery who has seemingly worn out his welcome less than a year after being a playoff hero.

What they should do:
Like I said, Meszaros and Vermette need to be kept. Stillman seemed to enjoy playing there and if he is willing to accept a reasonable deal to stay than keep him. Redden has already stated he is gone, so Murray should put that $6.5mm towards finding another defenseman or two, a puck mover a definite need as trading Joe Corvo had more impact than they thought it would. Emery will probably be bought out but a lot of space will be going to signing restricted free agents and the increases to Spezza and Heatley, who will be making a combined $14.5 the next six years.

Boston Bruins
UFA’s- Glen Metropolit (F)
RFA’s- Marc Stuart (D), Dennis Wideman (D)
Analysis:
The Bruins made a surprise visit to the post season despite injuries to their starting goaltender Fernandez and best scoring forward Bergeron, give a lot of credit to coach Claude Julien for that. Chiarelli has already gotten a head start on the off season, signing defense Aaron War and forward Chuck Kobasew to multi-year deals. There are few free agents this year of note but next year will have some more, but ones the Bruins may not miss if they depart.

What they should do:
Chiarelli has already done the smart thing by keeping Ward and Kobasew, and if Fernandez and Bergeron cant return healthy next year this team is already in pretty good shape. Both Stuart and Wideman are keepers and should get decent raises, as will Metropolit who had a good comeback year. Expect the Bruins to add maybe another scoring forward or defenseman of the second line/pairing caliber, and despite the rumors of them pursuing the likes of Hossa I don’t see them really landing someone this year, but rather next year when both Fernandez and Murray’s deals finish. Still I wouldn’t be surprised if they just signed one big name as Chiarelli has been shown to do such things in the past.

Buffalo Sabres
UFA’s- Dimitri Kalinin (D), Teppo Numminen (D), Jocelyn Thibault (G)
RFA’s- Paul Gaustad (F), Dan Paille (F),
Analysis:
Not wanting to lose him for nothing the Sabres dealt defenseman Brian Campbell at the deadline in order to get something for him. The ownerships unwillingness to spend, plus their now defunct habit of not negotiating during the season has turned this team from cup favorite to borderline playoff team within only a few years. It’s hard to say if they will spend any money, but they definitely need to in order to be a contender again.

What they should do:
What they should do is resign Kalinin and definitely get Gaustad under contract as he is a guy many teams would want. Paille showed promise too. Numminen is aging and having heart problems again so they shouldn’t resign him, and Thibault is easily replaceable. They have a good young forward corps (though I still shake my head at giving the oft injured Connolly $3mm a year) but could definitely use another finisher, plus Vanek and Afinighenov need to step up their games. They’ll need a defenseman or two to replace just Campbell, three if they let Kalinin walk. I don’t have much faith the Sabres will do much else than sign their restricted guys then some spare parts UFA’s to fill out the roster though.

Toronto Maple Leafs
UFA’s- Mats Sundin (F), Dominic Moore (F)
RFA’s- Matt Stajan (F), Kyle Welwood
Analysis:
Ah Toronto. How many years now have people been doing a “how to fix the Leafs” analysis? This team is in so much disarray from the trades and signing past GM’s Pat Quinn and John Ferguson Jr. have done that they fired the latter before the year was even out and hired interim GM Chuck Fletcher to clean house. This saw Hal Gill, Chad Kilger and Wade Belak moved at the deadline, and the only reason more didn’t move was because of no trade or movement clauses. Look for them to continue to dump players via trade or buyout this summer.

What they should do:
Sundin will probably take less than the $5.5mm to free up some space. If they can deal Kubina during the month window his no trade clause isn’t in effect, do it because he isn’t worth his contract. Neither is Blake who said publicly he probably wouldn’t mind a trade, but at 34 and four more years on his deal don’t look for many takers. If they can find a taker for Raycroft and his $2.2mm do it, but I’d say let him finish the year rather than buying him out. They need to keep their young players even if they arent that great, and if there are any young free agents they need to target them because their prospect system is poor. They also need to not spend big money on free agents that are either aging or not worth it, especially giving out no trade clauses because that has put the team in the situation it is in right now.

What To Do Now- Northwest Division

2008-06-07T16:46:00.001-04:00

Continuing the “What they should do now” series, I’ll take a look at the North West division.

(F)- forward
(D)- defenseman
(G)- goalie

Minnesota Wild
UFA’s- Pavol Demitra (F), Brian Rolston (F), Chris Simon (F), Keith Carney (D), Sean Hill (D), Petteri Nummelen (D)
RFA’s- PM Bouchard (F), Kurtis Foster (D)
Analysis:
The Wild had a disappointing first round, but they also saw little production from two of their big guns: Gaborik and Demitra. The latter is a UFA along with Rolston who has emerged as a true leader. The defense has mostly aging blue liners up for contract but is anchored by two young players in Burns and Schultz signed long term. The good news is that the Wild are a relatively young team with some young guns that will only get better, so there is definitely hope.

What they should do:
Rolston needs to kept pure and simple; he was the heart of the team. Demitra constantly seems indifferent and paired with his age the Wild should seek other options. All three of the UFA defenders are aging and would free up over $4mm, which can be put to better use for a scoring forward or better and younger defenseman.
The two RFA’s in Bouchard and Foster can be a central part of the Wild team for years to come so they should be retained. GM Risbrough got a bit of a head start this year by already signing Nick Schultz and Bret Burns to long term deals. Also keep an eye on Gaborik. With his constant injuries and lack of playoff production, he is only one year away from being an UFA and the Wild may be tempted to deal him for some other players.

Colorado Avalanche
UFA’s- Joe Sakic (F), Peter Forsberg (F), Andrew Brunette (F), Scott Parker (F), John-Michael Liles (D), Adam Foote (F), Kurt Sauer (D), Jose Theodore (G)
RFA’s- Marek Svatos (F), Wojtek Wolski (F),
Analysis:
It’s a bit hard to judge how successful the Avs really were as they were so injury riddled by the halfway mark of the Detroit series they had no chance to really keep up. Still, they have many big name UFA’s, but most are past their prime already. Giguere has an interesting off season ahead of him.

What they should do:
Kick Forsberg to the curb: they don’t need his drama. It’s not worth the few games he can even play. Sakic wont put on another uniform and he will return so they can hold off on signing him, but hopefully at a reduced deal to free up more space. Foote too is aging and should only be retained if at a much cheaper price than his current $4mm tag, but judging from his inability to get a deal with the blue Jackets done that’s not going to happen. Liles seems rather intent on testing free agency and is really the one UFA they should keep. Theodore was horrible in the playoffs and there is no need to even reconsider offering him a new deal. If Brunette and Sauer are willing to take relatively the same pay, keep them. If the Avs can get Wolski and Svatos signed to decent deals than they should be able to add another impact player, or at the very least some good depth players, but save room because Paul Stastny will need a big raise the next year.

Calgary Flames
UFA’s- Craig Conroy (F), Owen Nolan (F), Daymond Langkow (F), Kristen Huselius (F), Stephane Yelle (F), David Hale (D), Jim Vandermeer (D), Curtis Joseph (G)
RFA’s- none
Analysis:
Daryl Sutter has already locked up Iginla, Phaneuf and Kiprusoff long term, so the core of the team is set. Pretty much everyone up for a new deal is a contributor in some way save for Vandermeer, a deadline acquisition. Still Sutter will be busier than most other GM’s trying to decide which of these guys is most important to keep.

What they should do:
Hale, Vandermeer and Joseph are all replaceable so not much worry should be put to them. Yelle is aging as is Conroy who seems to only succeed in Calgary. Nolan can be let go with little recourse so the real tossup is between Langkow and Huselius. Of the two Langkow has shown more consistency through his career (yikes!) so he would be the better option. If Huselius can’t find any takers and can be kept at a decent price than go for him, but its unlikely. I still maintain dealing for Aucoin and his $4mm salary was a mistake. Regardless, don’t expect anything but a resigning for depth signing from the Flames this year.

Edmonton Oilers
UFA’s- Geoff Sanderson (F), Marty Reasoner (F)
RFA’s- Jarret Stoll (F), Marc Pouliot (F), Joni Pitkanen (D)
Analysis:
Edmonton has fallen far from when they came within a game of winning the cup, but sadly it is all GM Kevin Lowe’s doing as he quickly gave the good playoff performers deals they weren’t worth (Fernando Pisani and Dwayne Roloson come to mind). Pronger’s demand to be dealt after one season has seemed to have scared away potential free agents which has forced Lowe to give out offer sheets to RFA’s.

What they should do:
Pitkanen, Stoll and Pouliot can be staples for the future so Lowe should do what he can to get them signed long term. Reasoner is a reliable, and affordable third liner that should be easy to resign. Sanderson is winding down so the Oilers may want to look elsewhere for a replacement. A goalie is also needed as Roloson looked every bit his age this year and there were no takers for his contract. Don’t look for them to be big spenders, but they’ll probably be after a second tier free agent, unrestricted or otherwise.

Vancouver Canucks
UFA’s- Markus Naslund (F), Brednan Morrison (F), Trevor Linden (F), Aaron Miller (D), Curtis Sanford (G)
RFA’s- Ryan Shannon (F)
Analysis:
The Canucks hit a wall with injuries, though ownership decided to blame it on GM Dave Nonis and give him the boot instead. It’s a shame because the upcoming off season would have been a true test for him with the free agents he had which gave him the ability to give the team a good nudge in the right direction. Long time players Naslund and Morrison are both up for contract with a combined $9mm in cap space devoted to them. Aging defenseman Miller is very replaceable and Linden, long time Canuck fan favorite needs to finally hang them up. Cutting the latter two will free up almost $3.5mm.

What they should do:
All those guys I mentioned? Cut them loose. Naslund is fading and Morrison is a decent two way center, but nothing more and not worth what he will be asking. If new Gm Gilles can put that freed up money towards some replacements, including some scoring depth because frankly someone other than the Sedin twins need to score. The defense is locked up long term and if injury free is one of the better defenses in the league, and arguably the best goalie in Roberto Luongo mans the pipes. In other words: get some scoring forwards, it’s what’s holding this team back.

What to do Now: South East Division

2008-06-03T19:40:00.000-04:00

Though the quest for the cup continues, for all but two of the teams the season is finished and it is time to look towards the summer. Every team will need to evaluate their roster, budget and see which UFA’s to try and keep, sign and get any important RFA’s under contract. With the entirety of the South East division gone from the playoffs, my first look will be at them. For the sake of ease I will only look at the more significant players (guys on two ways won’t be mentioned).

(F)- forward
(D)- defenseman
(G)- goalie

Washington Capitals
UFA’s- Sergei Federov (F), Matt Cooke (F), Matt Bradley (F), Olaf Kolzig (G), Crisotbal Huet (G)
RFA’s- Mike Green (D), Shaun Morrison (D), Steve Eminger (D)
Analysis:
The Caps surprisingly made the playoffs by taking over the division, but granted winning the South East division is about as hard as beating the French in battle. Deadline acquisitions of Federov and Huet especially helped the team, but alas they couldn’t make it happen in the post season. If Federov can be retained for cheap, around $1mm or less, then he should be signed for a year, but no more since age is catching up to him. Huet is younger and a legitimate starter and should be resigned as long time Capitals goalie Kolzig has announced he won’t return to the team.
The biggest problem facing the caps is that they will already have almost a $10mm increase in just the new deals for Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin alone so they won’t have much to spend. With Huet an UFA and defenseman Greene who will seek a healthy raise there won’t be much room to bring in free agents even with Kolzig’s salary off the books.

What they should do:
Huet and Greene should be the Caps top priorities bar none. Huet’s intentions aren’t known but being able to test free agency for the first time may prove too luring. Greene will be susceptible to an offer sheet should the Caps fail to sign him before then, and some team will probably take a chance on him that way. I don’t think you will see any big spending this year, so try and retain guys like Morrison, Eminger and Cooke who while not top players can contribute. They’re still young and getting better.

Carolina Hurricanes
UFA’s- Brett Hedican (D), Glenn Wesley (D)
RFA’s- Tuomo Ruutu (F), Ben Eaves (F), Tim Gleason (D),
Analysis:
Once again Carolina failed to make the playoffs, offering up injuries as a reason for the second year in a row. Not that injuries aren’t a legit reason, and they have had quite a bit, but it should tell you something: sign people that don’t have injury problems. They already have $38.5mm tied up for next year, but luckily it includes their significant players.

What they should do:
Both Hedican and Wesley are aging and between them make about $4mm. The Canes would be better off spending that on a defender or two who can stay healthy, but they’ll need both an offensive and defensive guy. Unfortunately that money won’t get you anything more than a second pairing guy at best, so going for one impact defenseman may be a better option if you’re willing to spend a few million more. Ruutu, Eaves and Gleason are all young and should be signed as they can be a steady part of the Canes lineup for years. If they can manage to bring in a young forward via trade or free agency (which there aren’t a lot of this year) then they should do so as much of their core is aging, and that Stanley Cup win is becoming a distant memory more every day.

Florida Panthers
UFA’s- Branislav Mezei (D), Jassen Cullimore (D), Steve Montador (D)
RFA’s- Ratislav Olesz (F), Greg Campbell (F), Jay Bouwmeester (D)
Analysis:
Florida has been a mess for years, and Mike Keenan didn’t help much a few years back trading away one of the best goalies in the league for nothing, and before that Rick Dudley wasn't much better. They always have a few good players but nothing surrounding them, though the past few years that has changed with some young players coming into their own. Florida needs to stop what I call “futility signings” which are over the hill or average players known for one good year five years ago as their big signings. They add little to nothing and money is spent better elsewhere.

What they should do:
Absolutely the Panthers cannot afford to lose blue line stud Bouwmeester; his signing should be top priority. Olesz can be valuable and should also be signed. Mezei, Cullimore and Montador while aren’t bad aren’t great either. Mezei and Montador can do half decent but Cullimore is fading. More than anything though the Panthers need some more scoring, so a winger or two would be nice. They have $37mm already used for next year and will probably spend mid 40’s, so an impact winger should be targeted.

Atlanta Thrashers
UFA’s- Bobby Holik (F), Steve Rucchin (F), Marc Recchi (F), Johan Hedberg (G)
RFA’s- Kari Lehtonen (G)
Analysis:
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: the Thrashers cannot succeed with Don Waddell as GM. Constantly overpaying aging free agents, not addressing a pitiful defense and poor drafting have kept this team from being good. Only once have they made the playoffs and the Rangers had to put forth more effort to take a crap than to beat them. Unless Waddell is gone, there is no hope, and the rumor that Marian Hossa refused to sign with the team because he didn’t like their direction should give some credence to that.
All the unrestricted free agents can afford to be let go as save for Hedberg are reaching the end of their careers. In Rucchin’s case it is over due to injury. Hedberg is a good backup so he should be considered, and Holik only if he takes a significant pay cut from his $4.25mm.

What they should do:
Well first, fire Waddell. With a crappy prospect system, one further depleted by deadline deals the previous year (including a defenseman they sorely needed in Braydon Coburn for the aging Alexei Zhitnik) so you cant count on anyone other than Erik Christiansen and Colby Armstrong, the two players acquired from the Pens in the Hossa deal to step it up and help.
Next, let go everyone who is a UFA, all are replaceable and you will have about $6mm to spend right there. Go out and get some defensemen. This team has lacked anything akin to a good defenseman since they came into the league. It’s sad when Andy Sutton is one of your best known franchise blue liners. They need both stay at homes and puck moving ones.
The Thrashers also lack forwards after Kovulchuk and Kozlov. Christensen can help at center but wings are desperately needed. However with the losing culture in Atlanta free agents will be hard to lure.
Lehtonen is the goalie of the future, but has had injury and consistency problems. Regardless he is too young to give up on and needs to be retained.

Tampa Bay Lightning
UFA’s- Chris Gratton (F)
RFA’s- Ryan Craig (F), Alexandre Picard (D)
Analysis:
Sadly the Lightning are just like the Thrashers: plagued by a GM who overpays and can’t draft worth a damn. They were forced to trade Brad Richards and his large deal in order to get better depth, which despite what many think I feel was a pretty good trade as they got a decent scoring winger, two way center and a young goalie. Unfortunately he went and spent most the money he saved by vastly over paying Dan Boyle, who now makes more than Scott Niedermayer. Like the Thrashers, until Jay Feaster is gone the Lightning aren’t going anywhere.

What they should do:
For the love of god, fire Feaster. In three short seasons since the Lightning won the cup he has made them bottom dwellers. If he isn’t fired, pack it in and take the high pick. The Lightning will be better because of some young players having another year under their belts plus the guys they got from the Richards deal. Still they need another good defenseman to help out plus outside of Lecavalier and St. Louis have close to zero scoring depth. It’s hard to say which area needs more help, but I’m going to say go for the forward because they have at least some young defensemen that may be good.

Stanley Cup Final: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Detroit Red Wings

2008-05-24T10:38:00.003-04:00

And then there were two. From the Eastern Conference the Pittsburgh Penguins and from the Western Conference the Detroit Red Wings. Both teams have been dominant through the playoffs, the Pens with a record of 12-2 and the Wings 12-4. Both have gotten where they are with a strong balance of scoring, defense and goaltending. But which, if either, really hold an edge?

Forwards
We all know about the Penguins skill up front with the likes of Crosby, Malkin and Hossa. The Wings aren’t exactly lacking with Zetterberg who is making a strong case for winning the Conn Smythe trophy for playoff MVP and Datsyuk. The Pens have a greater balance of scoring and defensive styles, and have been getting scoring from the lower lines a key to their success. Detroit has more grit though with the likes of Holmstrom who can crash the net like no other, and isn’t without its own two way players like Draper. Both own the top end talent and defensive minded grinders you need in the forward lines. But because of their better scoring depth I am giving the edge to the Pens, and it is a very slight edge.

Advantage: Pens

Defense
The Pens defense on paper looks mediocre, something the team would have been glad to accomplish in the last decade. The likes of Gill, Orpik and Letang aren’t the best or most flashy, Gonchar being the only big name back there, but they’ve gotten the job done and have shut down three teams and giving up the least goals per game in the playoffs. The Wings field an impressive lineup though starting with uber defenseman Lidstrom. He is supported by defensemen like Rafalski (remember him Devo?), Kronwall, Stuart and super douche Chelios. Nearly all have strong play in their own end and they can move the puck good too. They are also one of the faster defensive corps in the league, quite a bit faster than the Pens defense.

Advantage: Red Wings

Goaltender
You have one goalie in his second post season ever and another who already won a cup. So which would you say is better? Off hand Osgood for the Wings for his experience and goals per game average, and though he hasn’t played bad the reality of his situation is this: the team in front of him is so good he doesn’t need to be anything but average. Detroit has given up the fewest shots on goal of any team in the post season and Osgood hasn’t had to be brilliant much at all. He’s also aging and at 35 doesn’t have the same skills that won him the cup with Detroit years ago. Fleury though continues to shows flashes of brilliance, being quicker and more limber than probably any NHL goalie period. Considered a head case most of his young career as he was easily frustrated, he hasn’t shown any signs of that and remains confident in his play and the team in front of him.

Advantage: Penguins

Coaching
Mike Babcock has always been a solid coach, a reason Detroit took him from the Ducks when his contract expired. He is a good motivator and knows the X’s and O’s of hockey, and most of all he knows how to use the talent he is given. For the Pens there is Michel Therrien who though much maligned has begun to show he is more than someone who can go on a good tirade. He’s gotten the team committed to playing a defensive game when needed, but one that also allows them to open it up and score if needed. The team is close, on the same page and not showing a hint of nervousness. However, if the plan fails the only adjustment Therrien knows how to do is switch the lines, something Babcock is not limited by.

Advantage: Red Wings

“Age and experience will always defeat youth and skill” they say. Well experience hasn’t been much advantage against the Pens who have ousted three teams with a lot more than experience than they have. Of course though the Red Wings aren’t exactly lacking in that skill department. Though many would probably disagree, I am still under the assumption the Pens will lay an egg, but at the very least feel they will be outplayed by a team that is their better.

Prediction: Red Wings in 5

More Recent NHL Happenings

2008-05-24T10:37:00.001-04:00

Canucks fire assistant coaches, give Vignault an extension
This was an odd move to say the least. It’s not often the assistants get canned but the head coach gets rewarded with a new deal. The Vancouver situation is just reeking of ownership meddling which never ends up good. And you have to wonder if the only reason they kept Vignault was because he won coach of the year last season. Plus you also get the feeling this may only be the tip of the iceberg for the Vancouver saga…

Avs hire Tony Granato as Head Coach
Talk about coming out of left field. No one, be it fan or analyst or journalist saw this one coming. Many thought Giguere would pursue an established coach on the market but instead not only went to an assistant coach within the organization, but also one that was head coach not to long ago. Giguere claims Granato has learned much in the five years but you have to be skeptical of a guy who couldn’t make much happen when Colorado had the likes of Sakic, Forsberg and Roy in their primes. But maybe he did learn and will be good. Regardless, it was quite a shock.

Chris Simon goes to Russia
Claiming he is tired dealing with the NHL. Well Chris, the NHL and its fans are a hell of a lot more tired of dealing with you. Good riddance, and don’t come back. Ever.

Dallas makes Hull and Jackson full time co-GM’s
Not very surprising considering the Stars made it to the conference finals. They showed they weren’t afraid to give out money (Ribiero) or land a big name (Richards) and I’m sure that impressed ownership. They now have their first draft and free agency period coming up which to me is always two of the biggest tests, especially the latter since it has immediate impact.

Predators give Erat to a 7 year, $31.5mm deal
Listen, I like Erat and think he is pretty good, but a deal this big is just too much. Many say it means the Preds are serious about rebuilding or long term success, I say its overpayment for a player that may (but probably wont) live up to a long term deal. Time may prove me wrong but I feel the Preds really handed way too much to a second line winger.

Thoughts on Recent Happenings

2008-05-14T22:21:00.002-04:00

So, to say the least, a few things have happened since I went on hiatus. So I’m going to do my best to do give my thoughts on the major events that took place.

Canucks fire Dave Nonis, replace him with Michael Gillis
Nonis was a scapegoat for not making the playoffs, but he shouldn’t be at fault because he can’t control injuries. He built probably the most underrated defensive corps in the NHL and stole one of the best goalies for close to nothing. Yes, Vancouver lacked scoring, but then again so do a lot of teams, and he was saddled with $9mm being taken up by an aging Marcus Naslund and Brendan Morrison, who was never really a point producer to begin with. He should have been given at least this next year when he had more cap space to work with to see how he would remedy the problem.
Just as surprising was how the Canucks brass stated there would be an intense search and the candidate had to have many years experience. The result was Michael Gillis, a player agent with no front office experience. The whole thing reeks of an internal plan to get a friend in, especially with former GM Steve Tambellini serving as Nonis’s assistant. While it would be premature to say Gillis won’t succeed, putting someone with no experience in the spot usually isn’t a good start. Plus, the last time a player agent was directly put into the role was Mike Barnett for the Phoenix Coyotes who set the team backs years.

Maple Leafs Fire Paul Maurice
Out with the old, in with the new. Though it’s a bit odd when no one has any clue what the “new” is. Maurice was let go in what is becoming a mass expunging of bodies from the Maple Leafs. Interim GM Cliff Fletcher said they wanted to do this early so he has the summer to find new work, which in a way is commendable. Fletcher though is basically under order to clear out as much as he can to make way for the new GM, which is still up in the air. I think it was a bit unfair as Maurice wasn't the one who handed big deals to above average players, but since they already fired that guy and weren’t satisfied, off goes Maurice. He shouldn’t have trouble finding a head coaching job at some level of hockey.

The Toronto GM rumors continue to swirl.
And pretty much everyone and their mother has been named, but that’s the Toronto media for ya. Gretzky already said he isn’t available, and don’t think Colin Campbell will leave his cushy job with security at the NHL home offices for one of the few positions he would get even more scrutiny for and no security whatsoever. Nonis has already interviewed, but rumors continue to swirl that Anaheim GM Brian Burke is merely playing out his final contract year and then bolting to the Leafs. Personally I don’t believe it, and I think Toronto would do well to hire Nonis.

San Jose Fires Ron Wilson
Another one that came with no surprise. San Jose once again pulled their standard second round choke job, and one cant help but think that “missing thing” that kept the Sharks getting over the hump was the coach. Whether it was or not Wilson is gone. Personally I think he was part of the problem as aside from a very forgettable trip to the finals he did the same with the Capitals. Of course it doesn’t help when your best player is invisible in the playoffs (yes, that would be Joe Thornton). Wilson wont have a hard time finding a job as many credit him with ascending the sharks to a western elite.

Joel Quenville and Avalanche mutually agree to part ways
Quite the odd occurrence as coaches rarely leave on their own accord, but obviously Quenville and GM Francois Giguere didn’t agree on where the team should go. All in all I think it’s a good move for the Avs as he hasn’t been able to take the Avs that far in his time there, same as when he spent many years in St. Louis. He reminds me of Wilson in that the smarts seem to be there but he cant take it to the next level.

New Posts Coming

2008-05-14T21:51:00.001-04:00

I abrubtly went on hiatus after the trade deadline, but it's because I have a lot going on right now. I've got some posts in the works so be on the lookout for those.

Trade Deadline Analysis

2008-02-28T21:42:00.001-05:00

The trade deadline has come and gone, and so with that it is time to look back on each trade and determine, on paper, which team won the deal. In part two of my deadline fallout I will take a look at each individual deal that happened and give my two cents on whether or not it helped the teams involved or not.

Wade Belak (Toronto) for 5th Round Pick (Florida)
Analysis: Belak does little more than fight, so I don’t really see why Florida wanted him. He was worth a late pick at best. As Toronto was looking to stock up picks and prospects Fletcher was going to get whatever he could for an expendable player like Belak.
Winner: Toronto

Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis (Atlanta) for Erik Christenssen, Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito and a 1st round pick (Pittsburgh) ‎
Analysis: Pittsburgh gets the biggest name on the market and a winger for Crosby and Atlanta gets four building blocks for the future. The chances of Pittsburgh being able to resign Hossa with Crosby’s new deal beginning next year plus Malkin due one the following, are quite slim making him a rental. However, he provides a big boost to an already potent offense. Atlanta recoups some of what they lost in bad deadline deals last year, getting two young players to help now, plus a once highly touted prospect in Esposito and what will amount to a late round pick.
Winner: Atlanta

Cristobol Huet (Montreal) for 2nd round pick in 2009 (Washington)
Analysis: With the aging Kolzig and no one in the system the Caps needed a goalie of the future, and the got it in Huet for a mere second round pick. Number one goalies never go for so little, even when the goalie market is low. Caps make out like bandits and Montreal takes a big risk in handing their cup hopes to a rookie goalie for the playoffs.
Winner: Washington

Brad Stuart (LA) for a 2nd and 4th round picks (Detroit)
Analysis: Though not having a stellar year, Stuart is reliable in both ends. The price was reasonable and the Wings needed someone to replace their four injured defenseman, and when they come back they will have additional depth. Stuart is a UFA at years end so there is a chance LA would have lost him for nothing so they got what they could. It should work out for both teams.
Winner: Even

Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist (Tampa Bay) for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern and a 4th round pick (Dallas) ‎
Analysis: Tampa needed to rid themselves of salary and were able to get Richards to waive his NTC. Dallas gets a top flight center that will be able to replace the aging Modano and lighten the load on the older players. Tampa gets a large contract off the books and gets a young goalie and forward depth that they desperately need. Despite the fact people say it’s heavily in favor of Dallas, they neglect to mention Richards deal is still a cap killer. Though both teams got what they needed, Richards is still a very good player moved out of necessity, so Dallas gets the edge.
Winner: Dallas

Adam Foote (Columbus) for conditional 1st round pick and a 4th round pick (Colorado) ‎
Analysis: Colorado brings back another member of their previous cup winning team in Foote (Forsberg being the other) and though aging is still rugged and reliable. Columbus couldn’t come to terms with the blue liner and was forced to deal him rather than losing him for nothing, something Foote sounded upset about. The price for an old an injured defenseman though was a bit high, even if it is conditional.
Winner: Even

Hal Gill (Toronto) for a 2nd in '08 and a 5th in '09 (Pittsburgh)
Analysis: Pittsburgh needed a big, physical defenseman to clear the crease and Gill fits that bill. Though nothing special he is better than some of the Pens other options. Still a second and fifth is a high price for a guy another team was trying to unload for cap space.
Winner: Toronto

Jean Sebastian Aubin (LA) for 7th round pick (Anaheim)
Analysis: A pure depth move, for a pick that more than likely will amount to nothing.
Winner: Even

Christian Backman (St. Louis) for a 4th round pick (New York Rangers)
Analysis: Backman adds a physical blue line presence the Rangers don’t have much along with a stay at home presence they also lack. St Louis had an abundance of defensemen that were becoming UFA’s so were looking to get something for them. I think New York gets more of what they needed though.
Winner: New York

Sergei Fedorov (Columbus) for Teddy Ruth (Washington)
Analysis: A stay at home defenseman that was drafted in the second round in 2007, Ruth doesn’t seem to be on many people’s radars. Though Fedorov has lost a step or five it’s hard to imagine this was all he could fetch. Washington gets a center to help out Ovechkin and adds veteran experience as they push for the playoffs while Columbus gets pretty much nothing.
Winner: Washington

Alexandre Giroux for Joe Motzko
Analysis: Pretty much a minor league swap, no real advantage for either team.
Winner: Even

Chris Simon (New York Islanders) for a 6th round pick (Minnesota)
Analysis: Minnesota already had Derek Boogaard and Todd Fedoruk, yet somehow saw the need to trade for Simon who carries a ton of baggage. Mindless deal and a waste of a 6th, and 6th’s usually aren’t considered a waste.
Winner: New York

Bryce Salvador (St. Louis) for Cam Janssen (New Jersey)
Analysis: Salvador is a decent stay at home with a physical edge, Janssen is a goon that doesn’t have much real value and is only known for hitting Tomas Kaberle late. Geez, wonder who won this one?
Winner: New Jersey

Marc-Andre Bergeron (New York Islanders) for 3rd rounder (Anaheim)
Analysis: A depth move by Anaheim, but Bergeron has been much maligned the past few years by both Edmonton and New York fans, and for good reason. A third for him is too high for a guy that will bee more insurance than anything.
Winner: New York

Brian Campbell and 7th (Buffalo) for Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick (San Jose)
Analysis: San Jose finally got the high end defenseman they were looking for in Campbell. In return Buffalo gets a big young forward that has a bright future and a first round pick in a deep draft. Still, their failure to get more for the biggest name defenseman at the deadline where there weren’t a lot of them available tips this in San Jose’s favor.
Winner: San Jose

Chad Kilger (Toronto) for 3rd rounder (Florida)
Analysis: Kilger has actually played well for Toronto but still gets crap for some reason. He can add some secondary scoring to Florida along with decent defensive play. However, I don’t think he is worth a third.
Winner: Toronto

Martin Lapointe (Chicago) for 6th round pick (Ottawa)
Analysis: Lapointe adds good lower line depth and grit, and all Ottawa had to do was give up a sixth. Chicago shouldn’t have let him go for such a low price.
Winner: Ottawa

Josh Gratton, Patrick Sjostrom and David Leneveu and a conditional pick (Phoenix) for Marcel Hossa and Al Montoya (New York Rangers)
Analysis: Henrik Lundqvist’s extension sealed Montoya’s fate and his dealing was inevitable, the Rangers dealing him with the inconsistent Marcel Hossa for the similar but more consistent Sjostrom and tough guy Gratton. Leneveu, at one time the Yotes goalie of the future seems to be destined for backup duty anymore if that. Montoya will be in the minors for a while then play behind Bryzgalov until he is ready to take the reigns.
Winner: Phoenix

Jan Hlavac (Tampa Bay) for 7th round pick (Nashville)
Analysis: Hlavac has done little in recent years, and a 7th rounder isn’t much of anything. Sadly, a nothing-nothing swap.
Winner: Even

Matt Cooke (Vancouver) for Matt Pettinger (Washington)
Analysis: Cooke adds some grit and toughness to Washington’s playoff run and Vancouver gets someone who is a little more skilled.
Winner: Even

Andrew Ladd (Carolina) for Tuomo Ruutu (Chicago)
Analysis: A swap of talented young players, Ladd is more finesse and Ruutu more grit. Unfortunately Ruutu is often injured and it really hurts his effectiveness, so for that reason Chicago gets the edge in the deal.
Winner: Chicago

Vaclav Prospal (Tampa Bay) for Alexandre Picard and 2009 conditional pick (Philadelphia)
Analysis: I’ve never been a Prospal fan, seemingly only doing well when placed on Lecavalier’s wing (what a surprise). Still he’s not bad and will help offset the losses of Richards and Gagne for extended periods. Tampa reportedly couldn’t come to terms so got what they could in a young defenseman (something Feaster really wants) and a conditional 2nd or 3rd round pick.
Winner: Tampa Bay

Ruslan Salei (Florida) for Karlis Skrastins + 3rd rounder (Colorado)
Analysis: Florida seemed to want to trim some salary and traded the physical Salei for \ Skrastins and a third round pick. Salei will add good depth and experience to the Avs blue line and the now oft scratched Skrastins will get more playing time in Florida.
Winner: Colorado

Deadline Speculation Accuracy

2008-02-27T14:51:00.002-05:00

The deadline has come and gone and all of us hockey fans are left to muddle in the wake of the trades. Some where good, some were bad, and as always everyone will argue over the big ones. This is the first part of a three part trade deadline follow up I will be doing. This first piece is on how well I fared in what I expected, second will be the trades themselves and an analysis, and finally the deadline awards. And I do apologize for cutting off the live trade posting mid afternoon, I had some personal things to take care of that had me away from the computer when a lot of things went down.

But without further adieu, here is part 1: how well I called things.

Marian Hossa, Atlanta Thrashers
What I said:
Contract talks seem to have completely failed meaning Atlanta is going to get what they can for him. Expect them to land a first round pick and a young player or two in return. Hossa is the biggest name and definitely an impact player so his value will be high.
How I fared:
Hossa was dealt, and for quite the load landing Armstrong, Christensen, Esposito and a 1st from the Penguins. Got this one, but it was obvious.

Bobby Holik, Atlanta Thrashers
What I said:
Holik is a UFA at the end of the year and whether or not he gets dealt will depend on how likely Waddell thinks the Thrashers will make the playoffs. He won’t get them a lot, but if they think they cant go far (which I don’t think they can), they should get what they can for him.
How I fared:
I thought they would deal him, but either they couldn’t get anything or Waddell believes they will make the playoffs. Wrong here.

Mats Sundin, Tornto Maple Leafs
What I said:
He’s stated he wont waive his NTC, so he wont be going anywhere
How I fared:
No credit for what we already knew.

Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs
What I said:
He’s their best dman, but his NTC doesn’t kick in until next year. For his price and what he brings I think Fletcher is smart enough to keep him around.
How I fared:
Got this right, but Fletcher’s comments in his presser seem to indicate he was trying to deal someone, maybe Kaberle. We won’t know for sure.

Bryan McCabe, Toronto Maple Leafs
What I said:
With multiple years on his deal remaining and a no movement clause, I don’t expect him to be going anywhere.
How I fared:
Was right here, but I don’t think anyone really expected him to be moved out.

Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning
What I said:
Richards have given Jay Feaster a list of teams he would accept a trade to and that means the ball is rolling. Whether or not it will keep going is another story. The Richards contract was a mistake from the get go, another idiotic move by Feaster in giving in to an agents demands. Now the Lightning have little depth and their only chance to recover is to offload one of the big 3, Richards having the biggest salary and currently the worst play. If Feaster can get a decent deal, and Richards waives his NTC, this will happen, but it is really the latter that is the big question.
How I fared:
It happened, though admittedly I didn’t think it was.

Dan Boyle, Tampa bay Lightning
What I said:
Rumor is Boyle is seeking Scott Niedermayer money. If he truly thinks he will get that he vastly over rates himself. Still, with new ownership plus lagging far behind in the playoff race expect the Lightning to deal the defenseman for young players and free up salary to sign some guys in the off season.
How I fared:
Well I once again under estimated Feaster’s stupidity (somehow despite constantly calling him an idiot I somehow keep doing this) and he gave Boyle Niedermayer money. Was pretty far off here.

Vaclav Prospal, Tampa Bay Lightning
What I said:
Apparently far apart on contract talks, and almost out of contention, expect Feaster to get what he can for Prospal.
How I fared:
Pretty much spot on with Prospal being dealt for a mediocre defensive prospect and a conditional pick.

Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
What I said:
Things don’t look too good for Jagr returning to new York after this year for various reasons, but his value for the playoffs is too great to get rid of. He will be with the blue shirts for the remainder of the year.
How I fared:
There was no rumors about him at all, so I got this one right.

Adam Foote, Columbus Blue Jackets
What I said:
As mentioned earlier he has an NTC and doesn’t seem to want to waive it. If he doesn’t the Jackets are missing out on a big return because Foote is the kind of player teams love to get at the deadline. I expect him to not waive it and stay put.
How I fared:
Wrong. Apparently last minute negotiations failed and he agreed to waive it, but regardless, I’m still wrong.

Sergei Federov, Columbus Blue Jackets
What I said:
He hasn’t been the same since he left Detroit but his experience can bring a good return. No way the jackets will keep him at his current deal so I expect for him to off loaded for whatever they can get for him.
How I fared:
I expected some picks, not just a below average prospect. I was right, but I didn’t think the return would eb that low.

Rob Blake, LA Kings
What I said:
Like Foote he seems to be intent on not waiving his NTC. He likes LA and doesn’t mind being on a rebuilding team. Also like foot that is somewhat bad as the Kings can command a lot for him. I don’t think he will waive his clause, and I expect him to resign with the Kings for a lesser price in the off season.
How I fared:
Got this one.

Ladislav Nagy, LA Kings
What I said:
Nagy hasn’t done that well since the lockout and his stock continues to drop. LA will move him just to gain some assets, but don’t expect it to be much for this fading forward.
How I fared:
Apparently zero interest in him around the league, even for teams looking for a minimal boost. How far he has fallen. Missed this one.

Brad Stuart, LA Kings
What I said:
Stuart hasn’t done that well for the Kings, but hasn’t been bad. As defensemen are a hot commodity this time of year, I wont be surprised if he is dealt, or if the Kings keep him to sign him for another year or two.
How I fared:
I can’t get credit for saying a deal would go either way.

Martin Havlat, Chicago Blackhawks
What I said:
His salary and injury history make this talented player all but tradable. I don’t see anyone taking a risk on paying a guy $6mm a year for half a season
How I fared:
Correct. They did unload Ruutu though who I considered putting on this list but didn’t. Feel free to give me a scratch for that if you want.

Glen Murray, Boston Bruins
What I said:
Every year his name pops up. Look, he’s aging, he’s injured and his production keeps dropping. As long as he has a year remaining on his contract he’s not going anywhere because no one is dumb enough to take him (with Mike Milbury gone and Feaster having no room for him).
How I fared:
Dead on.

Mike Comrie, New York Islanders
What I said:
The Isles like Comrie and he has played well there. Expect them to try and sign him long term
How I fared:
I was right they would keep and sign, but I was wrong about the length. But since this was based on whether or not I thought he would get dealt, I’ll give myself a correct here.

Ollie Jokinen, Florida Panthers
What I said:
People always ignore the fact that Jokinen likes Florida and signed a long term deal and passed on free agency two years ago. He’s not moving, get over it rumor mongers
How I fared:
Against spot on, no rumors of him being dealt surfaced.

Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres
What I said:
Negotions failed to sign the blue liner to a long term deal, and past history indicated Buffalo wont be able to sign him in the off season. Campbell will most likely be the big name defenseman moved at this deadline.
How I fared:
It was a pretty easy one given Buffalo’s trend since the lockout.

John Michael Liles, Colorado AvalancheWhat I said:
As long as the Avs think they can make the playoffs he will be staying put, even if it seems he is already gone after this year.
How I fared:
I was right.

Alex Tanguay and Kristen Huselius, Calgary FlamesWhat I said:
Honestly, do we really think Sutter isn’t going to try and win it all and keep his big guns? I didn’t think so.
How I fared:
Can’t get credit for Tanguay as Sutter did say he won’t be trading him, but I guess I can get some credit for Huselius staying put.

All in all I faired pretty well. Granted since the cap era began deals are a lot easier to call, but still I didn’t a pretty good job. Check back later this week for part two where I analyze all the deadline day deals.

-Jordan

Trade: Matt Pettinger for Matt Cooke

2008-02-26T13:40:00.001-05:00

Caps get a little more gritty Canucks get a little more skilled. Even deal.

Trade: Federov to Caps

2008-02-26T13:17:00.002-05:00

for Ted Ruth. I honestly have no idea who he is.

Trade: Foote to Avs

2008-02-26T13:11:00.004-05:00

As my esteemed blogger Omkar said "What's up 2001?"

CBJ will get a conditional 1st round pick

Trade: Lapointe to Ottawa for a 6th

2008-02-26T12:40:00.001-05:00

Quite a steal for Ottawa. They get an experince defensive forward with some grit for basically nothing.

Trade: Ruslan Salei for Karlis Skrastins and a 3rd

2008-02-26T12:22:00.001-05:00

Colorado continues to gear up for a playoff run by acquiring the rugges Salei. Back to Florida goes karlis Skrastins and a 3rd, Martin obvisouly going for the assets.

Trade: Tuomo Ruutu for Jordan Ladd

2008-02-26T12:08:00.002-05:00

The oft injured Ruutu is shipped to Carolina with Ladd going back to Chicago in a straight up deal for young players. Dont get a whole lot of these, but I've giving this one to the Hawks as Ruutu's injury problems really limit his effectiveness.

Trade: Huet to Caps for a 2nd

2008-02-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

Crisotbal Huet has been dealt to teh Capitals for a second round pick.

This is mind boggling. Huet is the starter and has playoff experience. I cant fathom why Gainey would let him go, even if hes afraid of losing him for nothing.

Trade: Brad Richards waives NTC to go to Dallas

2008-02-26T11:40:00.002-05:00

Richard and goalie Johan Holmqvist have been dealt to Dallas for goalie Mike Smith, and forwards Jeff Halpern and Jussi Jokinen

This actually isnt a bad deal for Tampa. Smith can help the goalie situation and is still young and improving, while Jokinen and Halpern give the Bolts some much needed depth while freeing up some cap space.

Also to note, I will do more thurough analysis in the coming days of all the trades

Trade: Brian Campbell to San Jose for Bernier and a 1st

2008-02-26T11:27:00.002-05:00

To nobodys surprise Buffalo has moved Campbell rather than lose gim for nothing. In return they get young forward Steve Bernier and a 1st from San Jose, who has been looking for a top flight defenseman since last year.

Pretty good deal for both, but if San Jose keeps campbell and what that 1st becomes will decide the winner.

Trade: Belak to Florida for a 5th

2008-02-26T11:17:00.002-05:00

Fletcher has begin his supposed dismantling by sending tough guy Belak to Florida for a pick. I've never been a fan of Belak but this is probably his max value. A pretty even trade, but I'd give a slight edge to Toronto since Belak cant do anything but fight.

Trade: Cam Janssen for Bryce Salvador

2008-02-26T10:44:00.002-05:00

The first trade of the day comes from St Louis and New Jersey. Jersey dealt enforcer Cam Janssen for physical blue liner and UFA to be Bryce Salvador.

Jersey wins this deal hands down, its not even close. I cant imagine that Pleaus wasnt getting a better offer than this. Of course I dont think Pleau is a good gm so I shouldnt be that surprised. Terrible move by St Louis.

Forsberg, Prospal, Jackman and Boyle

2008-02-25T22:34:00.003-05:00

With less than 24 hours to go we've got three major things that have happened.

First is Peter Forsberg (or Floppa for constantly flopping on the ice on the ice and diving) has returned to the Colorado Avalanche for the remainder of the year. It will gives the Avs, an injury riddled team fighting for a playoff spot, a much needed talent and emotional boost.

Next up the Flyers have acquired Vaclav Prospal from Tampa for Alxandre Picard and a conditional 2nd or 3rd round pick. Some say this is a stealf or Philly, but frankly I dont think Prospal is much without a good center like Lecavalier feeding him the puck. Tampa GM Jay Feaster was probably more interesting in a young dman, something he is desperate for. He gave up a first lst year to Anaheim for one at the deadline. I suspect Prospal wont be with the FLyers next year for cap reasons.

Barrett Jackman also resigned with the Blues for 4 years $14.4mm. About what he was expected to get as being injury prone has brought down his value. Still he will continue to be a valuable member of the Blues defense.

Finally Tampa resigned defenseman Dan Boyle to a contract worth $40mm over 6 years ($6.66mm a year). This just further jsutifies that Jay Feaster is one fo the worst GM's in the league. Boyle is good, but Scott Niedermayer money good? Nope. I;m sorry, but this is overpayment big time for him. Ironically it seems Tampa will be moving Brad Richards in order to free up his $7.8mm cap hit that Feaster overpaid for, and now he goes and does the same thing with a defenseman.

Advice to new Tampa owners: GET RID OF FEASTER!

Also, a contract of this size pretty much guarantees Brian Campbell is done in Buffalo. Look for his return to be quite big.

-Jordan

Deadline Speculation

2008-02-25T12:39:00.001-05:00

The trade deadline is about 24 hours away and all remains quiet on the front. Expect it to remain that way for the most part for a few reasons.

First that there aren’t as many big name UFA’s that will be changing hands this year. Last year there were quite a few, this year it’s paltry for ones that not are free agents and don’t have a no trade or movement clause. Guys like Adam Foote and Rob Blake would normally garner a bounty, but neither seem willing to waive their clauses so they’re taken out of talks.

Secondly how close the playoffs races are. There are few teams that are actually out of it right now, meaning most teams are buyers rather than sellers. That dries up the available pool even more.

Lastly is that last year showed the big name acquisitions had little impact on the teams they were dealt to. Bill Guerin and Todd Bertuzzi, two big names had little to no impact on their teams. This will make GM’s more wary about dealing for anyone in general with a high price.

But that’s not to say there won’t be any deals, and names continue to be thrown out there. So lets take a look at what big names could be moving on by tomorrow.

Marian Hossa, Atlanta Thrashers
Contract talks seem to have completely failed meaning Atlanta is going to get what they can for him. Expect them to land a first round pick and a young player or two in return. Hossa is the biggest name and definitely an impact player so his value will be high.

Bobby Holik, Atlanta Thrashers
Holik is a UFA at the end of the year and whether or not he gets dealt will depend on how likely Wadell thinks the Thrashers will make the playoffs. He wont get them a lot, but if they think they cant go far (which I don’t think they can), they should get what they can for him.

Mats Sundin, Tornto Maple Leafs
He’s stated he wont waive his NTC, so he wont be going anywhere

Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs
He’s their best dman, but his NTC doesn’t kick in until next year. For his price and what he brings I think Fletcher is smart enough to keep him around.

Bryan McCabe, Toronto Maple Leafs
With multiple years on his deal remaining and a no movement clause, Id ont expect him to be going anywhere.

Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning
Richards have given Jay Feaster a list of teams he would accept a trade to and that means the ball is rolling. Whether or not it will keep going is another story. The Richards contract was a mistake from the get go, another idiotic move by Feaster in giving in to an agents demands. Now the Lightning have little depth and their only chance to recover is to offload one of the big 3, Richards having the biggest salary and currently the worst play. If Feaster can get a decent deal, and Richards waives his NTC, this will happen, but it is really the latter that is the big question.

Dan Boyle, Tampa bay Lightning
Rumor is Boyle is seeking Scott Niedermayer money. If he truly thinks he will get that he vastly over rates himself. Still, with new ownership plus lagging far behind in the playoff race expect the Lightning to deal the defenseman for young players and free up salary to sign some guys in the off season.

Vaclav Prospal, Tampa Bay Lightning
Apparently far apart on contract talks, and almost out of contention, expect Feaster to get what he can for Prospal.

Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
Things don’t look too good for Jagr returning to new York after this year for various reasons, but his value for the playoffs is too great to get rid of. He will be with the blue shirts for the remainder of the year.

Adam Foote, Columbus Blue Jackets
As mentioned earlier he has an NTC and doesn’t seem to want to waive it. If he doesn’t the Jackets are missing out on a big return because Foote is the kind of player teams love to get at the deadline. I expect him to not waive it and stay put.

Sergei Federov, Columbus Blue Jackets
He hasn’t been the same since he left Detroit but his experience can bring a good return. No way the jackets will keep him at his current deal so I expect for him to off loaded for whatever they can get for him.

Rob Blake, LA Kings
Like Foote he seems to be intent on not waiving his NTC. He likes LA and doesn’t mind being on a rebuilding team. Also like foot that is somewhat bad as the Kings can command a lot for him. I don’t think he will waive his clause, and I expect him to resign with the Kings for a lesser price in the off season.

Ladislav Nagy, LA Kings
Nagy hasn’t done that well since the lockout and his stock continues to drop. LA will move him just to gain some assets, but don’t expect it to be much for this fading forward.

Brad Stuart, LA Kings
Stuart hasn’t done that well for the Kings, but hasn’t been bad. As defensemen are a hot commodity this time of year, I wont be surprised if he is dealt, or if the Kings keep him to sign him for another year or two.

Martin Havlat, Chicago Blackhawks
His salary and injury history make this talented player all but tradable. I don’t see anyone taking a risk on paying a guy $6mm a year for half a season

Glen Murray, Boston Bruins
Every year his name pops up. Look, he’s aging, he’s injured and his production keeps dropping. As long as he has a year remaining on his contract he’s not going anywhere because no one is dumb enough to take him (with Mike Milbury gone and Feaster having no room for him).

Mike Comrie, New York Islanders
The Isles like Comrie and he has played well there. Expect them to try and sign him long term

Ollie Jokinen, Florida Panthers
People always ignore the fact that Jokinen likes Florida and signed a long term deal and passed on free agency two years ago. He’s not moving, get over it rumor mongers

Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres
Negotions failed to sign the blue liner to a long term deal, and past history indicated Buffalo wont be able to sign him in the off season. Campbell will most likely be the big name defenseman moved at this deadline.

John Michael Liles, Colorado Avalanche
As long as the Avs think they can make the playoffs he will be staying put, even if it seems he is already gone after this year.

Alex Tanguay and Kristen Huselius, Calgary Flames
Honestly, do we really think Sutter isn’t going to try and win it all and keep his big guns? I didn’t think so.

-Jordan

Sens-Canes Swap Players

2008-02-12T15:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we got the first big deal of the season when the Sens shipped Joe Corvo and Ben Eaves to the Hurricanes for Mike Commodore and Cory Stillman. This trade helps both teams, but for different reasons.

The Sens immediately get tougher as Commodore is a gritty defenseman and Stillman adds much needed secondary scoring touch. Both won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006, and Commodore made the finals with Calgary in 2004 while Stillman, on the other side with Tampa won the cup, and both bring a wealth of playoffs experience. Plus, both are UFA's at the end of the year. That may sound like a detractor but remember, both Heatley and SPezza are getting big raises for next year plus the status of Wade Redden is unknown. By having two guys who are UFA's it allows GM Bryan Murray some wiggle room in the offseason.

The Canes get a young player in Eaves who can be a long term contributor to the team and continye to get better. Corvo helps fill their need for a puck moving blue liner something they have been starving for. Both are under contract after this year so both will spend multiple seasons with the Canes, making this a long term investment.

Immedtiately, the Sens win this one getting some good assets for a playoff run. In the long run though the Canes win as it is doubtful both Stillman and Commodore would resign with the Sens. Though if the Canes were able to bring back one or both of the guys they dealt it would definitely go to the Canes.

-Jordan

Burnside on US Olympic GM Choice

2008-02-07T10:43:00.001-05:00

In his February 5th column Scott Burnside said that of the four NHL GM’s that make up the USA committee, Don Waddell of Atlanta (and previous GM for the last Olympic games), Ray Shero of Pittsburgh, Brian Burke of Anaheim and David Poile of Nashville that the choice should be obvious as to which should take the reigns, and that is Brian Burke. Burnside is absolutely right.

He sites his reasons for Burke as his connections to US coaches and other GM’s and players plus, and to me more importantly, the fact that he is very aggressive and pushes for what he wants. He is fiery and passionate and has no qualms with earning the ire of others if it accomplishes his goal. That is exactly what is needed for this position. Burke has demonstrated his GM skills and accomplished much both working within limits (Vancouver) and when given more open and free reign control (Anaheim).

But for the sake of argument let’s take a look at the other candidates.

Dave Poile
Poile has been the Nashville GM since the team started and has done a good job building within. He is very patient and can scout talent well. But Poile has also had his hands tied a lot by dealing with an expansion team in a non-traditional market, no easy task. Poile though hasn’t been given much free reign at all and as he likes to stick with things for a while, may not be the best to pick a squad.

Ray Shero
Shero has proven to be a smart GM unwilling to blow his wad so to speak on deadline deals and free agent acquisitions. Like Poile who he worked with as an assistant GM until coming to Pittsburgh, he has much patience and a knack for understanding his players. Still he is rather inexperienced in the grand scheme of things being only a second year GM.

Don Waddell
I don’t hide my dislike for his GM abilities (or lack thereof), and it showed for the last Olympics. Waddell was more interested in having names on the roster, but unfortunately those names were mostly past their prime. The team comprised mostly of aging veterans and little youth or mid level talent, and it killed the US who had an extremely poor showing, and it wouldn’t be out of place to call it embarrassing. After his last showing, plus his continued mishandling of the Thrashers, frankly I don’t see how he is even on this committee.

So I must agree with Burnside that Brian Burke is the most logical choice. He values both youth and veteran talent and isn’t afraid to step on anyone’s toes to get things done right.

-Jordan

Fixing the Maple Leafs

2008-01-30T12:18:00.000-05:00

The big thing now seems to be trying to fix the Tornoto Maple Leafs. So like any hockey fan who thinks putting together an awesome team in East Side Hockey Manager makes me qualified to give my input in this matter, I will.

First though, please refer to this web page for Toronto’s cap status as I will be basis my analysis off it: http://www.nhlnumbers.com/overview.php?team=TOR

Let’s start off with the biggest item and one that will circulate until the trade deadline: Mats Sundin. He’s a free agent and as many people are saying the Leafs need to blow up the roster, he’s the obvious target for a deadline deal. Now, if he does say he’ll accept a trade, and the Leafs can get a Ryan Smyth like package for him, then they should do it. Their prospect pool is awful, neglected by Pat Quinn who always dealt picks and prospects for veterans, and it’s finally caught up to them in the cap world. Though the return will not be immediate, their system needs a major jump start. Plus, if Sundin plays another year, and the way he has played this year would suggest it, he will resign with the Leafs in the off season.

Next, let’s take a look at the defense. Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina are the first names that pop up in the rumor mill. McCabe has a no movement clause and Kubina a no trade clause, effectively making them un-tradable, if their over priced deals didn’t already do that. Don’t expect either of these two to be moved for the duration of their deals. Hal Gill’s contract will expire in a year, but if they can deal him to free up the $2mm in cap space, even if the return isn’t great, I would suggest it. Tomas Kabrle is too important to give up, so he shouldn’t be considered as trade bait, however if there is a very good deal involving established younger players than it should be looked at. Carlo Colaiacova and Ian White are both young and should be kept around.

For the forwards, the obvious one to move (Sundin aside) is Jason Blake. But at four more years at $4mm a pop paired with poor production, 34 years old and a battle with cancer, well, I pretty much just spelled I out. No coincidence that forty goal year came in time for the next big deal he would land in his career, huh?

Mark Bell is another that has yet to have an impact, the same way he was with the Sharks. He is due another $1.75 against the cap next year, but his lack of production means his value is down. Still, if he can be dealt for a pick, I say do it because I doubt he is going to have an impact on the team. Maybe Chicago will take him back where he was a twenty goal scorer?

Darcy Tucker, though having a slow year partially due to injuries, should be kept as he is still an integral part of the Leafs lineup. Nik Antropov will be a UFA after this year, and while he started off hot, has once more turned into the Antropov we’ve known since he entered the league. The $2mm is better spent elsewhere. Steen, Wellwood and Stajan need to be kept as they are some of the only young talent the Leafs really have. If you can clear out some of the vets, than that’s more playing time they can use to develop.

Finally, there are the goalies. While Vesa Toskala hasn’t been the savior they hoped, he has been the best they had since Cujo left and after what they gave up for him I think it would be foolish to deal him. Andrew Raycroft has seen his stock plummet even further than when he was with Boston, and at $2.2 for one more year is un-tradable. Normally I would say the Leafs should give up a pick to someone with cap room and take him off their hands, but their prospect system is so depleted they cant afford to give it up.

So, what does that leave to do? Well to be frank I don’t think the Leafs can be turned around in a year, barring they can somehow get a few players to waive their clauses and fool another GM into taking them, and with Mike Milbury gone those chances drop significantly. Everyone expects new GM Chuck Fletcher to right the ship rather quickly, but there is no quick fix. Blowing up the roster is impossible due to the contracts JFJ gave out, and even if they did they would go through a few years of rebuilding, which as a Pens fan who bore witness to the 2003-04 season I can tell you is quite painful.

After next season, with Bell, Antropov, Gill and Raycroft all being UFA’s there is about $9mm worth of cap space they can use. I suggest they do some minor adjustments after this season, trade Sundin if you can, and then spend some money, albeit much wiser, the following season.

-Jordan

Ferguson Fired, plus Unposted Article: GM's on the Hot Seat

2008-01-22T12:06:00.000-05:00

After weeks of speculation, the Toronto Maple Leafs have finally fired GM John Ferguson Jr. After having failed to get the Maple Leafs to the playoffs and eating up the cap with deals their respective players cannot live up to (McCabe, Kubina, Blake), and a poor season at the half way mark, Maple Leafs management had enough.

I cant say I'm really surprised at this, nor anyone else for that matter. Ferguson was given one more year reluctantly by management but did nothing that actually helped the team. It is still full of over priced veterans with little in the prospect system coming up to help. While I would say to watch for a fire sale, that wont be the case as McCabe, Kaberle and Kubina all have no movement or trade clauses in their deals. There is little a new GM can actually do to revamp the team within the next few years until some of the deals expire.

Also, I am taking this time to post an article I had thought I posted a few months back, but obviously didn't. It is about GM's who are on the hot seat, with Ferguson included. Sorry for getting this so late.

As forever is the case in sports, there is talk about which team’s GM will be fired by the end of the season for lack of a winning product. This past year three teams: The Phoenix Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Ottawa Senators (in an odd set of circumstances though) all have new men at the helm and Dallas has already relieved Doug Armstrong of his duties. Let’s take a look at what NHL GM’s are on the hot seat, and some who should be even though they aren’t.

(Note: it doesn’t seem like a lot, but since the lockout Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Boston, Columbus, New York Islanders, Phoenix, Ottawa, Florida, Los Angeles and Colorado all hired new GM’s)

On The Hot Seat

Don Waddell, Atlanta Thrashers
Waddell took almost ten years to bring the Thrashers to the playoffs, and once they got there they almost wished they didn’t. They put on an embarrassing display after he paid heavy priced for deadline rental Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik. He failed to address the defense in the off season (a constant weakness under his reign), and the team continues to lack forward depth. He’s fired Bob Hartley, but the coach can only do so much with what he is given, and that was very little. If the Thrashers don’t make the playoffs, expect him to be looking for a new job. (Note to US Hockey: get rid of this guy and choose from the NHL GM’s whoa re helping him)

John Ferguson Jr., Toronto Maple Leafs
Granted every year the Leafs don’t do good the GM is technically on the hot seat, but JFJ is really there. He paid heavy prices for over rated defensemen Bryan McCabe and Pavel Kubina for multiple years, tying up his cap situation. They have the most expensive defense in the entire league and it is only average. He needs to resist the constant media and fan pressure to trade for immediate help in exchange for his young talent. Regardless, if the Leafs aren’t in the post season, he will be let go.

Should Be On the Hot Seat

Kevin Lowe
Lowe was so enamored with his Stanley Cap runner up roster he signed most players to large extensions. Sadly most cant live up to those contracts (though he gets a mulligan for last year since he cant control injuries). He had to overpay to land Souray, and was forced to throw offer sheets at RFA’s because he couldn’t attract UFA’s. While I think Burke’s description of “running his team into the sewer” is harsh, I don’t think Lowe should have gotten the contract extension that will keep him in Edmonton at least a few more years.

Jay Feaster
I’ve never been one to hide my dislike of the Tampa GM. He gave in to the Big Three’s demands and eating up most his cap in the process. I don’t fault him for the Denis deal, but he continues to not address the lack of defensive and scoring depth on the team (Michel Ouellet doesn’t count, sorry). Plus Tampa continues to have one of the worst prospect pools in the league. He’s living off his cup run and I don’t see things getting any better under his reign. New co-owner Doug MacLean has stated he likes what Feaster is doing, but then again MacLean was fired for doing nothing with his roster, so I think that only helps my argument.

Larry Pleau, St. Louis Blues
I really don’t know how this man still has a job. Through the late 90’s and early 2000’s he gutted his up and coming talent for top priced, but not elite veterans like Doug Weight and Keith Tkachuk (Ladislav Nagy and Mikal Handzus, Jeff Taffe and a 1st for just him) who while they had some good years, aren’t in the same categories of Jaromir Jagr or at the time Rob Blake, other superstars who changed hands at the same time. He got a lot of value for vets at last years deadline, but for some strange reason dealt back for Tkachuk when they were most likely going to sign him in the off season again anyways. I don’t think the Blues can win under his management with his constant brain dead deals.

On the Bubble

Dale Talon, Chicago Blackhawks
Ok, I admit he is not totally to fault for the situation. Bill Wirtz made Chicago an undesirable location and Talon had to overpay to get people to go there. But still, the contracts he gave out, and more so the people he gave them to our questionable. He has done this since the lockout ended and still the Hawks remain at the bottom of the west. Plus add in a different controlling owner and you never know what will happen.

Peter Chiaralli, Boston Bruins
He’s only on the second year of his job but I don’t think things are shaping up well. He handed big contracts out to Savard and Chara, plus dealt for Fernandez, add in Glenn Murray and Patrice Bergeron and most his cap is gone. Yet the Bruins still could not pull it together. His dealings of young players such as Boyes and Toivanen after having sub par years is idiotic. And let’s not forget he hired Dave Lewis and after one season told him his job was safe only to fire him a month later. It may be early to put him here, but from what I have seen so far I don’t have much faith in him to turn the Bruins back into a contender.

-Jordan

Richard's Signs 12 year Extension

2007-12-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

Mike Richards signed a 12 year, $69 million dollar contract yesterday that will keep him a Flyer for most of his career. It averages out to $5.75 million per year. Richards has been heralded as the future Flyers captain for a while now, and though he wears the ‘A’ he always seems to be the one talking to the refs during penalty calls. He was also known for his leadership during his minor league and junior hockey career.

Deals like this are always risky. Yeah you have the guy locked up at what the Flyers are hoping is a good price, but the sheer length of the deal means that you may never get it off your books. The Flyers can afford to send Richards to the minors so it wont count against the cap if need be, so they have that going for them at least. I don’t think I really need to go over the specifics of the risks deals like this include as that seems to be have been done to death when Rick DiPietro signed his 15 year deal.

Again, the amount is based on potential. Holmgren is hoping Richards continues to develop into the two way center and leader they hope he would be when they drafted him. But also, for the next seven years the Flyers will be spending $12.25 in cap space on Briere and Richards. It’s a risk, but one Holmgren obviously feels is worth it.

-Jordan

NHL Wishlist 2k7

2007-12-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

As the Chanukah/ Christmas season approaches, we all get certain things in our minds such as gifts, snow, long lines at the mall, gifts, Santa, his elves and reign deer, the same twelve songs played 24-7, gifts, movies like Christmas Story, Miracle on 34th Street, Christmas Vacation, Die Hard, Bad Santa, BOOZE and finally gifts.

So in the spirit of the holiday we at 2 Man Advantage (or 1.5 Man Advantage if you’ve paid attention recently) have put together our Chanukah/ Christmas wish list for the holiday season.

1) The Reebok Edge Uniforms cast to the seventh level of hell
It’s probably debatable who hates them more between the fans and players, but I’m going to say the players because the fans can just not buy the crap, the players have to wear them. As of November Reebok already stated they would be going back to the old fabric because the new fabric made the players feel like they were in a sauna. It’s been gone over many times, but the truth is this: the new uniforms look ridiculous and most of the improvements that were touted have already been cast aside or negated by the players adjusting things (such as wearing a bigger jersey cause the normal streamlined size is too constricting). NHL and Reebok need to swallow their pride and money, and cast these jersey’s away and go with the old ones. You will have much happier players and fans (seeing as how a nameless replica is $115 US Dollar up from $85 US Dollar).

2) Chris Chelios to retire
I’ve never hidden my disdain for the spoiled, whiney brat that is Chris Chelios, and frankly I think the guys body is kept going out of spite for everyone. He’s nothing but a whiner and crybaby, and has created nothing but havoc in the players union (notice how he didn’t have a problem with Bob Goodenow reading players e-mails but he did with Ted Saskin?). The best thing he could do for the league is to retire and not show his face again. He’s the only person I know that’s 45 with a 5 year old mentality without suffering from any form of mental disabilities.

3) Wayne Gretzky steps down as coach
Listen Wayne, you were a great player but you can’t coach. The Coyotes have been anemic under your reign, and while they lack a lot of top end talent, they should be better than they are. I figure at the end of the season he will step down and say something to the affect of “my heart wasn’t in the right place” or some other BS excuse, but what it boils down to is this: he isn’t a good coach and the best thing he can do for his team is let someone else run the bench.

4) No more instigator rule
It was created to keep tough guys from going after star players, but in reality they still go after the star players but the star players team can’t do anything about it because if they retaliate they get a host of penalties. Still in my mind from last year is Sheldon Souray getting a host of penalties for starting a fight with Colby Armstrong after his hit on Saku Koivu. The rule has done the opposite of what it was supposed to, so getting rid of it would be nice.

5) The Fox Tracks puck to return
Yeah, I am joking, but you probably hadn’t thought about this in a long time until I just mentioned it, huh?

6) More Inventiveness for TV Broadcasts
The Rail cam last year was a start, but it also needed a lot of perfecting. Putting a commentator between the benches was also something else added. The NHL, Versus and NBC, TS, CBC and whomever I am leaving out need to continue to add more things like this to add appeal to tv broadcasts and hope to catch more casual viewers.

7) An end to the Scott Niedermayer/ Teemu Selanne/ Peter Forsberg stories
Really, this is just plain ridiculous. Every fricken week some jack ass member of the press has to bring up something about them. ENOUGH ALREADY! Every hockey fan is sick to death of hearing about these three and the ramifications of their decision. Even with Scott Niedermayer back they’ll still be talking about him and thus going to refer to the others in the same article. I’m about ready to break all their legs and make their retirement definitive just so this crap ends. My god.

8) Gary Bettman to step down
He’s done some good things, but more bad things. Of course seeing as how he just got a big raise at the beginning of the year, this isn’t going to happen. As long as the NHL keeps making money, he wont be let go.

9) An end to the ridiculous ideas of increasing scoring
Forget bigger nets, forget new uniforms and definitely ignore Darcy Regier’s idea of not allowing defensemen to block shots (what the hell is he thinking?) The refs seem to be making as many BS calls as regular calls now, and that doesn’t help. Plus instead of making the nets bigger, why not just reduce the size of goalie equipment again? And don’t just leave it at the leg pads. Reduce the size of the shoulder pads, blocker and glove pads also. Goalies are more talented now than before, and definitely more acrobatic, so they don’t need these ginormous pads to stop the puck

10) JR Hockey to take his show to the retirement home.
I’m sorry I hate this guy. Sure he is a decent sound bite at times but come on this is 2007. We need to start marketing the newer guys not this old has been! I don’t care if he played well for a month or so. He still gets as much hype now as he did in 1997 and it’s unwarranted.

11) NBC to market the NHL
This is sort of a pipe dream but it needs to happen for the game to become relevant again. I like what Versus has done overall but still no one watches the games anymore. We need to have NBC push the shit of the games they have and have the fanbase tune into it. I’m digging how they are already doing that with the Pens and Sabres game but they need to do it for every game. I want people to say man I’m looking forward to that Rangers vs. Canadians game on NBC next week like we do now with football, basketball, etc.

12) Referee Consistency
Yet another pipe dream but a guy can wish can’t we. How many times have we seen something called in favor of one team and than not returned when the other team does the same? NHL needs to spell out these rules and to actually be willing to fine these POS refs that think they are bigger than the game itself and thus need to be the focal point of it.

13) Good announcers
My god does hockey have some of the WORST announcers in the business. We either get the homers, the misspronouncers, annoying voicers or even the no nothings. I would kill for some announcers to rise up from the level of mediocrity and to finally bring some umph to the game. Don’t get me wrong we have some out there now but there is also a whale of a lot of filth around.

14) Less Cotton Eye Joe
If I hear this piece of shit song one more time during a game I'm going to yell. Actually, I do already. Seriously, COTTON EYE JOE has no place in our game of hockey. More organs would be music to our ears. Seriously, nothing like a good tune on the organ to get me in the mood for some hockey.

All Star Shenanigans

2007-12-04T12:10:00.001-05:00

It’s that time of year again where us fans can vote for our favorite All Stars into a game meant to display the best skills and entertain the fans but usually doesn’t do the trick. As always, there are questionable players on the ballot, and while we know you cant make everyone happy, let’s take a look at the ones we feel really aren’t deserving of being there (official names on the ballot at the end of the article).

But first let me say this. I know a lot of people see the All Star game as a joke, and I won’t try and prove otherwise. You like it or you don’t. But really, did they have to make the jerseys a joke too? At least give us a decent set of jerseys for the damn thing. (jerseys can be seen here: http://nhllogos.blogspot.com/2007/11/atlanta-all-star-jerseys.html)

Should not be on the ballot:

Eastern Conference

Ray Emery, Ottawa Senators
What exactly has he done for this? No, honestly, tell me, what has Emery done for a nomination?

Bryan McCabe, Toronto Maple Leafs
Maybe two years ago, but not now. McCabe is pretty good, but not all star worthy.

Ryan Whitney, Pittsburgh Penguins
Horrible in his own end, afraid to shoot the puck and even more afraid to be hit. Sergei Gonchar should be put here ahead of him no ifs ands or buts.

Slava Kozlov, Atlanta Thrashers
Kozlov is good, but not elite, and that’s who should be on the ballot.

Justin Williams, Carolina Hurricanes
This must be some kind of sick joke. Not that Williams is bad, but to suggest he is at the level of the best in the game is absurd.

Western Conference

Nikolai Khabibulan, Chicago Blackhawks
Khabibulan has yet to be anything close to All Star caliber, or even the goalie that won the cup in Tampa since he came to Chicago.

Rob Blake, LA Kings
He may still be better than a lot of defenders in the league, but Blake isn’t the same player he was. Not a huge stretch, but still.

Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix Coyotes
Another guy that hasn’t been the same since he switched teams, Jovo has yet to provide the Yotes with the defensive stalwart they needed, and that tells me you shouldn’t be here. He’s doing better this year, yes, but not his old alls tar caliber play.

Mike Modano, Dallas Stars
Talk about living off name, Christ. Ok you’re the highest scoring American born player, but you’re not still the player that got you to that status.

Keith Tkachuk, St. Louis Blues
Not that he’s taken a nose dive in recent years, but it’s enough that there are better options than him.

On the bubble:

Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers
Has been shaky in net at times, but the potential is there.

Bill Guerin, NY Islanders
Not too bad, but his main strengths have been things other than scoring this year.

Sheldon Souray, Edmonton Oilers
I’ve always felt he was a bit over rated, and the fact he took so long to sign in the off season tells you he wasn’t as impressive as some make him out to be. Plus he’s been injured much of the year.

Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks
Still living off that Richard Trophy I see…

David Legwand, Nashville Predators
I’ve always been a fan of Legwand, but not this much.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Goaltenders

Martin Biron, Philadelphia Flyers
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils
Rick DiPietro, New York Islanders
Ray Emery, Ottawa Senators
Cristobal Huet, Montreal Canadiens
Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres
Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers
Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes

Defensemen

Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers
Dan Boyle, Tampa Bay Lightning
Brian Campbell, Buffalo Sabres
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs
Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
Bryan McCabe, Toronto Maple Leafs
Chris Phillips, Ottawa Senators
Wade Redden, Ottawa Senators
Henrik Tallinder, Buffalo Sabres
Kimmo Timonen, Philadelphia Flyers
Ryan Whitney, Pittsburgh Penguins

Forwards

Maxim Afinogenov, Buffalo Sabres
Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators
Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs
Daniel Briere, Philadelphia Flyers
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Chris Drury, New York Rangers
Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils
Simon Gagne, Philadelphia Flyers
Brian Gionta, New Jersey Devils
Scott Gomez, New York Rangers
Bill Guerin, New York Islanders
Dany Heatley, Ottawa Senators
Marian Hossa, Atlanta Thrashers
Jaromir Jagr, New York Rangers
Olli Jokinen, Florida Panthers
Saku Koivu, Montreal Canadiens
Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
Slava Kozlov, Atlanta Thrashers
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Brad Richards, Tampa Bay Lightning
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning
Marc Savard, Boston Bruins
Brendan Shanahan, New York Rangers
Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators
Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes
Mats Sundin, Toronto Maple Leafs
Thomas Vanek, Buffalo Sabres
Justin Williams, Carolina Hurricanes

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Goaltenders

Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild
J.S. Giguere, Anaheim Ducks
Dominik Hasek, Detroit Red Wings
Nikolai Khabibulin, Chicago Blackhawks
Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames
Pascal Leclaire, Columbus Blue Jackets
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks
Marty Turco, Dallas Stars

Defensemen

Francois Beauchemin, Anaheim Ducks
Rob Blake, Los Angeles Kings
Scott Hannan, Colorado Avalanche
Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix Coyotes
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings
Mattias Ohlund, Vancouver Canucks
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames
Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks
Brian Rafalski, Detroit Red Wings
Robyn Regehr, Calgary Flames
Sheldon Souray, Edmonton Oilers
Lubomir Visnovsky, Los Angeles Kings
Sergei Zubov, Dallas Stars

Forwards

Jason Arnott, Nashville Predators
Mike Cammalleri, Los Angeles Kings
Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose Sharks
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes
Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild
Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
Martin Havlat, Chicago Blackhawks
Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche
Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers
Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Paul Kariya, St. Louis Blues
Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings
Daymond Langkow, Calgary Flames
David Legwand, Nashville Predators
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Andy McDonald, Anaheim Ducks
Mike Modano, Dallas Stars
Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars
Rick Nash, Columbus Blue Jackets
Markus Naslund, Vancouver Canucks
Brian Rolston, Minnesota Wild
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
Daniel Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Henrik Sedin, Vancouver Canucks
Ryan Smyth, Colorado Avalanche
Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche
Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks
Keith Tkachuk, St. Louis Blues
Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings

Hartnell, Brooks and Fergurson

2007-11-28T12:09:00.000-05:00

This past week there have been a few interesting things going on the NHL, a bit too many to write full length articles on due to a shortage of time, but they are rather significant and need to be looked at.

Scott Hartnell’s hit on Andrew Alberts
It was a dirty hit, and ask anyone who played the Preds the past five years if Hartnell is dirty and they will say yes. He may have let up, but when you see a guy on his knees like that, you don’t keep heading towards him for a hit. He still threw his body into it and didn’t make much attempt to avoid Alberts. Two games is too little. There are also growing questions about the Flyers now that they have injured four people on vicious, illegal hits since pre-season started, two of which have resulted in major suspensions. It’s time to start reprimanding the coach and team because the Flyers have more of these instances than the rest of the league.

Larry Brooks claims Ovechkin needs to play somewhere other than Washington
If you’re a hockey fan, you know right off at the mention of Larry Brooks there is no credibility to this statement. Brooks has been saying things like Lemieux was selling his share in the Pens to play for the Rangers and the draft lottery for Sidney Crosby needed to be fixed so he can go to a large market like the Rangers (notice that trend?). Washington may not be a great market, but Brooks is an idiot to think that only big markets should get the high profile players. And he is wrong to think that it will help the NHL more. It won’t. You see Larry, you need the smaller markets to do well too, otherwise the whole system will fail. Why strengthen an already strong market, especially at the expense of a weaker market that needs to be built up? You need to strengthen your weaker markets so they can become a strong market, and taking away their good players won’t help that. You really need to think things out before you speak Mr. Brooks.

And should you have any thought that maybe he just has a little credibility to his idea, just read this statement: “The Caps did nothing to earn Ovechkin other than being lousy in 2003-04 before then winning the Draft lottery to leapfrog both the 29th-overall Blackhawks and 30th-overall Penguins.”

Well by this logic Mr. Brooks, no team has earned any of the top picks in the history of the NHL. Do us all a favor: quit and never talk about hockey again because you obviously know nothing about it.

Richard Peddie: “Hiring John Ferguson Jr. as GM was a mistake”
Peddie is the president of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment for those that don’t know. Earlier this week he came out and said, and has reiterated that hiring JFJ as the Leafs GM was a mistake due to his inexperience. While my GM rankings have showed that I agree with this assessment, this is pretty damn harsh. For the rest of the season JFJ will assume he wont be the team’s GM going into the summer, and that always makes for a bad situation. Plus it’s a public show that you have no confidence in the GM to get the job done. There have been rumors about Maurice, but the fact is the coach can only work with what he is given, and what Maurice has is a blue line corps filled two with overpaid offensive minded under achievers and a tall pylon.

It is unusual to hear statements like this, but the sad thing is Peddie is right. Hiring JFJ was a mistake as he has loaded the Leafs up with large deals to guys who can’t live up to them, and given them no trade/movement clauses in the process.

-Jordan

Bryzgalov to Phoenix

2007-11-18T15:18:00.001-05:00

In a surprising move the Anaheim Ducks places goalie Ilya Bryzgalov on waivers, who was then picked up by the Phoenix Coyotes. It is kind of hard to believe that Ducks GM Brian Burke was unable to get even a mid to late round pick for a goalie of Bryzgalov’s level, and he has said he offered him for that to teams in need like the LA Kings (and I cant fathom why they didn’t take it).

Bryzgalov goes to Phoenix being handed the starting job. Some suggest he will need to compete with Tellqvist to Auld for it, but if the ‘Yotes management didn’t think he would be instantly better than either of them they wouldn’t have taken them. Though Tellqvist had played pretty good this year, I think everyone knew he wasn’t going to keep it up. SO now Bryzgalov should create some stability in net for what has been a carousal for the past half a dozen years in Phoenix. While he has played on a much better Ducks team, his time in net during the absence of JS Giguere he displayed he was capable of being the starter if necessary.

He may be one of the missing pieces for the Coyotes, and look for him to payoff immediately, but Phoenix still has too many holes to really be a playoff caliber team.

Also of note, per the CBA rules Phoenix is not able to trade Bryzgalov for this year. He may be put on waivers and claimed again, but not traded.

-Jordan

Dallas Fires Armstrong

2007-11-15T12:02:00.001-05:00

The Dallas Stars fired long time GM Doug Armstrong and promoted Brett Hull and Les Jackson as interim co-managers. Jeff Cogan also replaces Jim Lites as president of the Stars.

The timing of the move was a bit surprising as it is about a quarter of the way through the year, as most time GM’s are let go at the end of a season. Despite being a .500 team, the future wasn’t looking very bright as the Stars maintained an aging core with little youth to fill the ranks.

Most of Dallas’ cap space is tied up in Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Brendan Morrow, Mattias Norstrom, Boucher and Sergei Zhubov, only who of Morrow is under age 34 and all but Norstrom tied up through next year and beyond. Marty Turco is making nearly six million, but is in the prime of his career, as is Morrow. This leaves little space to bring in free agents, in particular young ones who have many years left as Dallas currently sits only a few million from the cap ceiling.

Armstrong also spent $8mm over four years to bring in Jeff Halpern, who is little more than a third liner who can add some scoring, and is spending $2.8mm on Mike Ribiero, a one dimensional and streaky player. While I won’t say Armstrong’s money is ill spent, I think Morrow, Zubov, Lehtinen and Boucher are worth their pay, he has made some questionable moves.

All in all though the move wasn’t that surprising, just really the timing. Many are speculating that this is Bret Hull’s ticket into the GM position, and some are saying he can’t be any good. Well, Snow is doing a pretty good job and he didn’t have any front office experience, so I wouldn’t count out Hull should he eventually get the job.

-Jordan

Mid Week Power Rankings

2007-11-10T13:25:00.000-05:00

1. Ottawa Senators (13-1-0) – Still dominating without Jason Spazza (Groin) for the past 5 games. Some would argue he has never played with a groin anyway.

2. Detroit Red Wings (12-2-1) – Have won 8 in a row!

3. Colorado Avalanche (10-5-0) – New names, same results.

4. Carolina Hurricanes (9-3-3) – A dominant powerplay carrying this team to victories. Their crappy division bares no significance to their hot start either.

5. Philadelphia Flyers (9-5-0) – Now have Simon Gagne back.

6. Minnesota Wild (9-4-2) – After torrid start, Minnesota is realizing they are indeed the Wild.

7. Montreal Canadiens (8-3-3) – Powerplay is on still on fire.

8. Columbus Blue Jackets (8-4-2) – Pascal Leclaire has posted five shutouts in nine games. Does someone need to tell the folks in Columbus that's really good?

9. New York Islanders (8-4-0) – Have won for 4 out of 5 on the road and are healthy. Nolan = coach of the year so far.

10. Chicago Blackhawks (8-7-0) – The Penguins of the West with Toews and Kane having solid rookie years. Havlat also may return soon too from injury.

11. St. Louis Blues (7-6-0) – Playing above expectations despite a lack of secondary scoring.

12. San Jose Sharks (7-7-1) – Cheeeeeeechoooo and Marleau have only 11 points and only one goal from the blueline indicates that team might have some trouble scoring outside of Joey Toolbox.

13. Boston Bruins (7-5-2) – Bergeron can be out anywhere from a month to a year and he needs a wheelchair to get from his home to a treatment facility.

14. Dallas Stars (7-6-2) – Congrats to Mike Modano for becoming the ALL-TIME leading scorer for a US Born player.

15. New York Rangers (7-7-1) – King Henrik is playing like a King indeed.

16. Los Angeles Kings (7-8-0) – Like all things in LA, we are left wondering if this team is real or not. 17. Nashville Predators (7-7-1) – DAN ELLIS IS GAWD or a reasonable facsimile of one.

18. Pittsburgh Penguins (7-7-1) – Have to get used to being the hunted.

19. Florida Panthers (7-9-0) – Can you name 4 players on this team? (Editor's note: this has to be a rhetorical question 'cause no one can even name 4 players in the entire league) Regardless, they are playing fairly well of late.

20. Calgary Flames (6-6-3) – Kiprusoff is struggling despite facing fewer shots this season.

21. Buffalo Sabres (6-7-1) – Depth was murdered this off-season while the team took steps to address its defense by signing Nolan Pratt. Seriously? Norman Pratt?

22. Toronto Maple Leafs (6-7-3) – Nik Antropov is having his coming out party, or a Russian equivalent of one.

23. Vancouver Canucks (6-8-0) – Accepting applications for defenders.

24. Anaheim Ducks (6-8-3) – Scott Neidermayer needs another month to decide if he’s coming back even though he will soon start skating with the Ducks. Goldberg was unavailable for comment.

25. Tampa Bay Lightning (6-8-1) – Losers of 6 in a row.

26. Phoenix Coyotes (6-7-0) – Mikael Tellqvist has a 2.21 goals against average and a .927 save percentage only in five starts.

27. Atlanta Thrashers (6-9-0) – Kovalchuk is playing out of his mind. No one else is remotely close.

28. New Jersey Devils (5-7-2) – Need to find more scoring outside of checkers John “Brett Favre” Madden and Jay Pandoucho who are 2nd and 3rd in team scoring

29. Washington Capitals (5-9-1) – Growing Pains without Kurt Cameron, Alan Thicke and the annoying bastard kid.

30. Edmonton Oilers (5-10-1) – If anyone has interest in becoming an NHL defensemen, I hear Oiler GM Kevin Lowe is taking applications.

GM Rankings

2007-10-15T12:14:00.000-04:00

Please note: the ratings are a bit skewed due to there being three new general managers being hired this summer, so their incomplete grades make for 27 spots instead of 30. Also, I meant to get these out a little eariler than I did, sorry for that.

1) Bryan Burke, Ana. (even)
The signings of Schneider and Bertuzzi were in anticipation of the retirings of Selanne and Niedermayer (though both still remain undecided). After letting Penner go to Edmonton he has locked up Kunitz and will be working on Perry and Getzlaf so they do not fall prey to offer sheets. Aside from not signing Penner in time, Burke has been smart in replacing his losses and not remaining content with his roster, a fatal mistake of many cup champions.

2) Darryl Sutter, Cgy. (even)
As I said before Sutter goes out and gets what he wants. He was no different this summer by dealing Zyuzin for Aucoin and signing the hard hitting Sarich plus signed captain Ignila and defensive stalwart Regehr to reasonable extensions. But dealing for Aucoin who has been injured and eats up $4 million is questionable especially with Kiprusoff and Phaneuf looking for new deals at the end of the year. Bringing in Keenan is also very dangerous.

3) David Poile, Nsh. (even)
Some give Poile flak for this summer, but what else could he do? He had no definitive payroll to work with so went with what he had. He was smart to deal Hartnell and Timmonen for a pick as he was going to lose them to free agency regardless. And do not forget that young players such as Weber and Hamhuis will be up for new deals relatively shortly.

4) Lou Lamoriello, NJ (even)
Lou did a terrible job in free agency this year acquiring only depth players (yes, that is all I consider Zubrus to be). However, look for young guys to step I once again and help pick up the slack.

5) Doug Wilson, SJ (even)
Wilson has caught a lot of flak for not signing anyone in the off season, but he was smart. He signed Thornton to a new deal, one that after seeing what Drury and Gomez got is a steal. But more importantly, he has many young players like Matt Carle, Milan Mihalik and Ryan Clowe among them, who will be finishing their rookie deals in a few years and will want substantial pay raises. I do find it very questionable that he would spend $3.5 million on 34 year old Craig Rivet and not $4.5 million on the better 28 year old Scott Hannan.

6) Dave Nonis, Van. (+2)
Vancouver still lacks scoring, but they also have an under rated defense. Both Naslund and Morrison are up for contract after this year, so we’ll see how well he handles an extra $9mm to work with.

7) Doug Armstrong, Dal. (+2)
Armstrong got a lot of flak for not signing more offense, but many forget he is near the cap limit. His real test will be in the next few years as much of his core of players in Modano, Lehtinen, Norstrom, Zubov and Boucher are all 34 or older, and it was smart not to spend big bucks on players over 30 at this point. If he cant replace them with younger players, expect ranking to drop sharply.

8) Ken Holland, Det. (+3)
Granted he offset the loss of Schneider by signing Rafalski, he always seems to ignore the need to keep young players coming, evident as he parted picks for more deadline help. While I think everyone has given up on the “Detroit is too old” spiel, an injection of young talent is still needed.

9) Paul Holmgren, Phi. (+5)
You can see a bit of Bobby Clarke in Holmgren. He is very aggressive and couldn’t care less about what others think of him, which is good. While all the deals he gave out over the summer are risky ones, they have the potential to pay off greatly. Time will tell how smart they were, but he definitely gets credit for his moves.

10) Ray Shero, Pit. (+5)
Shero got what he needed most in a scoring winger and defenseman with Sykora and Sydor respectively, but most importantly he did it without breaking the bank and are vast upgrades over what the Pens already had. He also signed Crosby and Whitney to reasonable long term deals and brought back valuable experience in Recchi and Roberts. All this and he dumped their two worst players in Josef Melichar and Michel Ouellet, further giving a boost to the lineup. Shero is also very down to earth and patient, as he stated at the deadline how if he didn’t trade for help he would be telling his players he didn’t believe in them.

11) Francois Giguere, Col. (+1)
Personally I think Giguere has one of the strongest off seasons of any team. Yeah, he might have overpaid some for Smyth and Hannan, but both are incredible assets that will help the Avs. Look for immediate returns on the investment and the team to return to the playoffs, and just wait ‘til he dumps Theodore’s $5.5 million off his books. Look for this ranking to go up.

12) Bob Gainey, Mtl. (+1)
Gainey rid himself of his mistake in Samsonov and only had to buy out Cullimore in the process. However, he overpaid greatly for Hamrlik, as there is no way he should be paid $5.5 a year. He is smart and continues to fill up his prospect system and getting young players onto the big team.

13) Dean Lombardi, LA (+5)
Lombardi immediately restocked the Kings after a rebuilding year, which I’m sure had quite a bit to do with fan pressure to win. He may have overpaid for the likes of Calder and Handzus, but the Kings still have a young core to build around, and none of the new guys are that old or bad in the locker room. His top selection at the June entry draft (4th overall) was a bit odd though as the kid was not that highly ranked.

14) Kevin Lowe, Edm (+3)
Lowe is desperate. Once again unable to lure the free agents he wanted, only getting Sheldon Souray by overpaying, Lowe has thrown two offer sheets in the off season to Vanek and Penner, both more than either deserve. He was so confident about his roster after they went to the finals he signed much of it to long term deals, and when they missed the playoffs last year completely overhauled it. Talk about knee jerk reaction. He’d be lower, but I really think the others are worse.

15) Darcy Regier, Buf. (-8)
He lost both Briere and Drury, then was forced to retain Vanek at the ridiculous offer sheet submitted by the Oilers. The writing was on the wall for the offer sheet, but he still stood by and let it happen. Granted the Sabres policy of not negotiating contracts during the season is absolutely awful, but Regier did nothing to try and curb the damage it would do. I never felt he deserved the credit he got for the Sabres being so good after the lockout, and this just reinforces my belief.

16) Glen Sather, NYR (+3)
Sather went right back to his big spending ways, spending almost $15 million a year on Drury and Gomez, backing himself into a corner with the cap. He was forced to deal Cullen back to the Hurricanes and demote Kasparitis to the minors to free up space, and the Rangers are still left with a mid grade defense. Jagr will count $5 million against their cap this year and next, but after that don’t expect him to settle for playing less than those two. In other words: enjoy Jagr while he lasts.

17) George McPhee, Wsh. (-10)
Okay, I gave him too much credit in my last rankings. Way too much credit. McPhee has proven once again that if given money to spend he is not good at spending it, overpaying for Nylander, and especially Tom Poti. He may be able to draft well, or do good at the deadline, but his free agent signings, just like last time when the Caps were big spenders, is terrible.

18) Garth Snow, NYI (-2)
Gone are Yashin, Smyth, Blake and Kozlov. Here are Guerin, Comrie, Sim and Fedotenko. Yikes. But you have to wonder: how much is Snow and how much is it the stigma that Charles Wang has created for the Islanders, making them look like a joke on multiple occasions? That Zhitnik deal doesn’t look too good now does it?

19) Jim Rutherford, Car. (+1)
Rutherford did little to try and propel his club into the playoffs when they struggled acquiring only Anson Carter, and his only off season acquisition was getting Matt Cullen back. He may be relying too heavily on players like Kaberle returning from injury to make the team better this year, and seems to still be clinging to the cup winning team of two seasons ago.

20) Larry Pleau, Stl. (+1)
He made off like a bandit at the deadline dealing Guerin and Tkachuk, but then once again pulled an idiotic move in giving Atlanta their first back to negotiate with Tkachuk. He overpaid for Kariya and did little else to shore up his team.

21) Doug Risebrough, Min. (+2)
His big spending seems to have been an aberration as this summer all he did was sign Sean Hill (who is still suspended) an Eric Belanger (who for some reason he thought could play well on the 2nd line). Still, their core remains mostly young so we’ll see if he continues to add veteran help or keeps going with young guys.

22) John Ferguson, Tor (+2)
While I think handing Jason Blake as much as he did after one good year is a bit risky, I give him credit that if any free agent would fit in with the Leafs and what they need it would be Blake. Still, he has a lot tied up in defensemen that are not worth their money, but he is being smart and not dealing away young talent. If the Leafs don’t make the playoffs, he’s out of a job.

23) Jacques Martin, Fla. (+2)
He did good to get Vokoun and give the Panthers a starting goaltender again, but his other signings were rather weak. Still, it is only his second year on the job and no one is envious of the mess he inherited, so his ranking is definitely subject to change.

24) Peter Chiarelli, Bos. (+2)
Chiarelli continues to be erratic and impatient. He dealt for Manny Fernandez to stabilize the goaltending situation, but dealt Toivonen after one year of bad play. I guess with the emergence of guys like Fleury and Dipietro who have loads of talent, goalies are now expected to be starters by the time they can take their first legal drink in the US. That or Chiarelli is an impatient idiot. Seeing as how he dealt Brad Boyes after a sub par year, I’ll go with the latter. Boston should be pissed that Shero turned them down for the Pittsburgh job; they would have been much better off.

25) Dale Tallon, Chi. (+2)
It is kind of hard to gauge Tallon because of where he is. The late Bill Wirtz made Chicago an undesirable location so Tallon needs to overpay people to get there, which he did again this summer with the likes of Robert Lang at $4 million. He was able to offload Aucoin and is gambling on Samsonov.

26) Don Waddell, Atl. (-4)
Way not to address your need at defense for the tenth year in a row. Going from DeVries to Klee is a lateral shift, and instead of spending what little money he had to (assuming he had allocated money for Kozlov the whole time) he spent over paying Todd White. He has too much money tied up in defensive forwards with almost $10 million between Holik, Rucchin and White, and three of his key defenders are 34 or older.

27) Jay Feaster, TB (+2)
I was seriously debating ranking him under the rookie GM’s who have the incomplete grade due to their short time on the job. He at least helped offset the loss of Sarich by bringing back Lukowich, but when Michel “I’m nothing without Malkin” Ouellet is your biggest UFA signing, you’re in trouble.

Incomplete: Brian Murray, Otw. Don Maloney, Phx. Scott Howson, Cbj.All three are new, and there isn’t enough to judge them on, so they’re at the bottom.

ATLANTIC DIVISION PREVIEW

2007-10-10T18:32:00.000-04:00

ATLANTIC DIVISION PREVIEW

On paper, this is the most competitive division in hockey with no real stinker of a team especially in light of Philadelphia’s free agency moves and extremely talented youth. An argument can be made for every team to be competitive and contend for a playoff spot. Likely though only the Rangers, Devils and Penguins will make it happen. Anyway, here’s a brief look at every team with corresponding grades!

New York Rangers

Forwards: As much as it pains me to say this, this is the team that naturally scares me the most. Whenever you add 2 front line centers, any team would consider that a quality hull. Combine that with Jaromir Jagr, the Rags should once again be there in the playoffs this season. Add outstanding secondary parts in Brendan Shanahan, uber pest Sean Avery and the underrated Marty Straka allows Jagr/Drury and Gomez to have the help they needs. Rook Ryan Callahan proved he can join this supporting cast in his action last season as well. Look for Petr Prucha, who struggled throughout his sophomore season to play more like he did in the second half of last season. Toe-to-toe, the Rangers can match up against any team offensively. Rangers also have enough grinders and tough guys to limit the offensive stars of other teams. A

Defense: The Rangers have some overall depth unrivaled by most in the league. Ex-Pen, Michal Rozsival put away his injury concerns and had an extremely solid season while providing solid defensive positioning and 40 points. Paul Mara came over during the trading deadline and saw his production improve. He has enough skills to be a pp contributor as well as decent defensive ability. Fedor Tyutin is only 24 and will look to showcase the potential that many believed could carry the team for years. Combine young stud, Marc Staal and the extremely solid Thomas Pock and the 23 yr old Dan Girardi and the Rangers can have a strong defense for years. Marek Malik and Jason Strudwick provide back end help to help in the defensive zone and penalty killing. The Rangers were top 10 in goals-against last season, so there isn't a whole lot wrong with coach Renney's game plan but rather question marks about a bunch of so called no names. B

Goaltending:
Henrik Lundqvist is elite. Stephen Valiquette – not so much. Barring injury, they'll be fine. B-

Prediction: First

New Jersey Devils

Forwards: This team lost a ton in the off-season with the loss of Gomez and Rafalski. Dainus Zubrus won't come close to matching Gomez's production so look for a bit of a downgrade there overall. This team still has enough talent with Patrik Elias, Zach Parise and Brian Gionta to score their 3 goals a game in front of their 14 fans. In true Devil fashion, some rookie will blossom onto the scene and chip in 20 goals like Travis Zajac did last year. (Ok so he scored 17 goals but you get the point.) The team still has the best group of checkers in Madden and Pandolfo and can shutdown most offenses. The beauty of this team is that they don't need to score a lot to win. The other two phases of the team are just that damn good. B-

Defense: Paul Martin was given a new long term deal and will need to become the de-facto Devil powerplay quarterback as well as replace Rafalski. Martin stepped it up last season but will need to take that next step. Lukowich and Rafalski were replaced by hard hitting Vitaly Vishnevski and ex Rag Karel Rachunek. Rachunek will try to help Martin in replacing some of Rafalski's offense but he needs to actually be healthy to do that. Andy Greene and Johnny Oduya are there to help out the back pairings and Colin White is still one of the most feared players in the league to play against. B

Goaltending: Brodeur is a stud and will continue to attempt to break Patrick Roy's records. Expecting another 48 wins is expecting a bit much but expect around 40 wins with the gaa under 2.6. Kevin Weekes comes to the swamp during the offseason and will take some games from Brodeur so he can have some rest for the post season. Weekes is one of the best backups in the league and should provide with an adequate enough break so Marty is ready for the post season. A

Prediction: 2nd

Pittsburgh Penguins

Forwards: When thinking of the Penguins offensively the term top heavy comes to mind. Sidney Crosby became the best player in the league last season and will continue to do so barring injury. Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal give this team 3 young studs at center for at least 10 years (unless of course Kevin Lowe decides to spend another 5 first round draft picks on either of them) Add Mark Recchi, Gary Roberts, shootout specialist Eric Christensen, and ex Devil Petr Sykora and this is a potentially dominating offense on the powerplay. The team needs more scoring 5 on 5 and for some additional scorers to pop up from the 3rd and 4th liners specifically Ryan Malone and Colby Armstrong. Grinders and checkers are there unlike in previous years. B+

Defense: The Penguins dumped Joe "The Terrible" Melichar and replaced him with Darryl Sydor. Sydor isn't the player he was before but he is a lot better than Joe "F'ning" Melichar. Rob "Not as terrible as Melichar but terrible & also a BC grad and thus making me a douchebag" Scuderi is still an 8th defensemen in the league getting top 6 minutes. Scoring wise, the Pens are fine with Gonchar and Ryan Whitney. Underrated Mark Eaton played swimmingly last season and Brook Orpik gives this team a physical presence. In their own zone though, this unit is a mess and will continue to be a mess. Crease clearing and physical defenders are needed. C+

Goaltending:

Marc-Andre Fleury won 40 games last season and played admirably against the Senators despite a shit defense. Fleury will always be questioned on whether he can become elite but the potential is still there and Fleury is still only 22. Backup Goaltending is a concern with Dany "Who?" Sabourin. Fleury better be healthy or this could be a long season. C-

Prediction: 3rd

New York Islanders

Offense: Gone are Jason Blake (our prayers are with you, Jason), Ryan Smyth, Alexei Yashin and Viktor Kozlov. To replace them, GM Garth Snow brought in Bill Guerin, Mike Comrie, Ruslan Fedotenko, Josef Vasicek and Jon Sim. While outside of Guerin, these guys aren't really names they can and should replace the lost talent adequately. Trent Hunter is still there as is Miro Satan. Richard Park and Andy Hilbert are under-the-radar contributors. Youngsters Sean Bergeinheim and Jeff Tambellini can also make some noise. The group is a rag tag bunch of no names and has beens but the overall depth is way better than given credit for. They still need one of these guys: Comrie, Guerin, Satan to become the go to guy. Chris "convict" Simon will also be seen at some point in December after serving his suspension. C+

Defense: The strength of the team on paper the Isles have a solid defense. Brendan Witt and Andy Sutton are prone to brain farts but are solid in their own zone and are physical. Marc Andre Bergeron is the powerplay quarterback who played extremely well for the Isles last season. Chris Campoli and Bruno Gervais are young dmen with some upside. This group that doesn't scream top 10 in the league but they are a lot better than given credit for. B

Goaltending - Rick Dipietro despite being an uber douchebag turned in his finest year as an NHL goalie last season and actually looked like a goalie that was lavished with a 15 year deal. If DP has similar numbers to last year than the Isles will once again be around the playoff door. Wade Dubielewicz is the backup and has shown that he can win some important games when called upon. B-

Prediction: 4th

Philadelphia Flyers

Forwards: the Flyers signed the free agent to get in signing ex Sabre Daniel Briere. Briere is the exact opposite of the old Flyers model and will look to provide another 90-100 points this season. Simon Gagne is still as dangerous as ever and Mike Knuble is solid in the slot and in front of the net. The Flyers took some chances in acquiring young Joffrey Lupul, who arrived in Edmonton amid much fanfare a year ago and promptly laid a giant egg with just 16 goals and a minus-29 showing. Lupul did score 28 goals two seasons ago and will look to turn his career around. Two of Jeff Carter, Mike Richards and RJ Umberger need to step up to provide some secondary scoring depth. Ex Pred, Scott Hartnell comes over and will provide the Flyers with another hardnosed banger with 25 goal potential. C

Defense: The Flyers are mixing an incredibly talented group of young defenders with a strong veteran corp. Kimmo Timmonen was the big acquisition for this group this off-season and is smart with the puck and solid in all phases of the game. Jason Smith comes over from Edmonton and will be a nuisance for the division to play against. Cement Booted Derian Hatcher is still around and if he is within stick length, he's still solid. Problem is he is among the slowest players in the new NHL. Young players Brandon Coburn, Lasse Kukkonen and Randy Jones will continue to progress. Coburn has size and can skate but still hasn't put it all together. Kukkonen can handle the puck and should help the PP. B

Goaltending: Marty Biron was brought over last year from Buffalo and will look to cement himself as a starting goaltender. He's no Brodeur or Henrik but he's an improvement over Robert Esche. Antero Niitymaki is there to provide him with some relief. Niity is playing anywhere near the same level he played at during the olympics 2 years ago but is still better than Dany "Who" Sabourin. C+

Prediction: 5th

-op

More ESPN Incompetence

2007-10-02T12:22:00.001-04:00

Upon looking over the team preview’s on ESPN.com, I find myself amazed once again at the utter incompetence and bias that this network continues to show.

For each team you can vote on five categories: final divisional standing; will make the playoffs, leading scoring, most valuable d-man, rely on most this season (offense, defense, goaltending) and the coach.

I haven’t finished all of the previews, but have noticed a few times some blatant mistakes that shouldn’t be made. The biggest case of this is when asked who will lead the Islanders in points one of the options is Alexei Yashin. Yes, the Alexei Yashin that was bought out over the summer and was made a big deal of in the media. Yet here ESPN, the “premier” sports network, doesn’t even know he is no longer not even on the team, but not in the NHL currently. This isn’t the only case, but is definitely the most prominent.

The bias I am referring to is that towards Wayne Gretzky. For all the coaches you get four options to vote on: one of the best, better than average, average, won’t last the year. But for the Coyotes there are only two options: One of the best and better than average.

So let me get this straight, the one coach that many analysts and fans think is doing a terrible job and should be fired people cant even vote on for a negative option. What complete bullshit. Also note that for the Coyotes Owen Nolan (Calgary) is listed as an option for leading scoring, and they ask where the team will finish in the Atlantic division. They couldn’t even get the conference right for god’s sake.

So yeah, ESPN continues its display of idiocy and lack of knowledge on the NHL, yet this is a network that people want the game to go back to.

-Jordan

New Uniform Grades

2007-09-26T12:27:00.001-04:00

A handful of teams have released new uniforms this year in with the release of the Reebok Edge system. The jerseys has become much maligned from the fan base and players of course are saying they are liking them. Whether or not they actually increase on ice performance (of course, if they just called clutching and grabbing they wouldn’t need tighter fitting jerseys…) will have to wait until at least this year is over.

The jersey’s themselves are living up to the fans hatred. By introducing this new design Reebok has been able to get fans to hate the new uniforms quicker than Mike Keenan can get a player to hate him, which is somewhere around instantaneous. I know people will say “Reebok isn’t the one who designed the teams jersey” You’re right. But Reebok is the one that came up with the new jersey system and is having all the teams wear it. If they didn’t, teams wouldn’t be changing their designs, so yes, it is Reebok’s fault.

While most of the new jersey designs are horrid, some have managed to look nice. We’ll be taking a look at the new jerseys and grading them based on patterns, color application and logo. Also considered will be any other aesthetic design elements such as pants, socks and lettering/numbering.

Not included in this review will be teams who only did minor or no updates, which include: NY Rangers, New Jersey Devils, Buffalo Sabres, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks, Montreal Canadiens, Minnesota Wild (though their 3rd uniform is now their home design) and Detroit Red Wings. But honestly, I think you can give them an A on the sheer fact they didn’t change their designs, Buffalo excluded as they made the uniform to fit the new Edge when they released it last year.

Here is a link to a site where you can see all of the new uniform designs.
http://picasaweb.google.com/nhllogos

Boston Bruins
Grade: A+
The Bruins are the winners for best new jersey. They went to a completely retro look and were not hampered by the edge system. The colors flow much better than the previous design and all look in place. The logo was given a slight redesign with the “B” getting some hooks on it. A very subtle change that looks a little better than the old one. All in all, the best new design due to it’s excellent pattern, color mixing and classic look.

Calgary Flames:
Grade: F
If you would recall last year I did a post on the best jerseys in the league. One of them was Calgary’s red jersey, so when I saw the new jersey unveiled I found myself asking “why god, why?!” What a butchering. In place of a simple and balanced design is now a very busy and awkward scheme. The horizontal and vertical stripes compliment each other about as well as the KKK and Black Panthers. The blotch of red on the wrist completely throws off the coloring of the white design, though doesn’t hurt the red one too much. The Alberta flag and Canadian flag on the shoulders are complete mismatches with the uniforms (but are special for just this year), and I can’t for the life of me understand why there are color patches in the armpits. And those twirly things? I honestly can’t think of a word other than “gay” They even managed to ruin the shorts and socks (is that a German flag on there?). Horrid.

Carolina Hurricanes
Grade: D
You added a stripe along the shoulders, unfortunately it doesn’t rectify the fact that the rest of the design still sucks.

Columbus Blue jackets
Grade: C
This is really a mixed grade as the white jersey gets a B and the dark a D. The white is a lively design and the stripes from the shoulder to the arms look nice, but the blue on the blue of the home just makes it plain dull. They smartly abandoned the original gaudy symbol and went to the third uniform symbol. The socks are three thin striped and really look like an afterthought, but aren’t that bad.

Dallas Stars
Grade: F
Dallas had one of the best designs going for them, and Reebok managed to take it away, forcing them into a craptastically boring design. In fact, you can almost fall asleep just looking at it. The whites are ok, but other than some silver stripes on the arms and the symbol on the chest, there is nothing to them, literally. The black uniforms get even worse as they display loudly the number of the player right below “Dallas” written across the chest. It doesn’t even matter what the rest of the jersey looks like, the front number just kills it. This is hockey, not football. Nothing on the pants makes this the most boring design in the league.

Florida Panthers:
Grade: C
The Panthers new jerseys seem to have a better mix this time around. The long stripes from the shoulders to wrists mesh well with a much smaller yellow outline as the old yellow outline proved too distracting. The thin lines on the torso don’t add much but don’t really take away either, which is actually good cause most uniforms they’re on they ruin. The problem is they kept the horizontal pattern on the elbow sections which clash with the long shoulder stripe. Frankly, it just kills the design.

LA Kings:
Grade: D+
The King’s uniform wasn’t changed a whole lot, leaving the horizontal arm striping and the shoulder coloring. However, the biggest problem is that they got rid of the stripe at the bottom of the jersey. This throws off the color balance and takes quite a bit of liveliness out of the design. They still maintain the boring crown logo, another mistake. And why is it that the stripes get wider as they move towards the elbow? Really nothing to write home about.

Nashville Predators
Grade: B-
You kind of have to look closely at the difference for Nashville’s new design (in particular the dark), and that’s good. The silver stripe on white blends a little too much with each other, but not enough to really ruin it. It looks much better on the blue uniform, which could do without those stupid stripes from the collar to waist (what is the point of those things?)

New York Islanders
Grade: D+
The Islanders decided to go for a livelier design this time, incorporating more orange and a busier motif. The sleeves are predominantly orange now with a large blue and thin white horizontal strip in the middle for both jerseys. It would have been better to leave the bottom part of the sleeve the predominant jersey color cause the orange is overpowering. They also feature a new drawstring collar that has orange in the space between. On the shoulders now are those thin stripes, something most fans hate because they are pretty useless. On the right shoulder are the horizontal blue and orange/ white and orange stripes, but only on that shoulder, which looks pretty dumb. All in all the design has met with disdain. At least they aren’t as boring as their last uniform though.

Ottawa Senators:
Grade: D-
Blah. That’s the best way to describe theirs. Nothing is really happening here, just some blotches of black and white on the red for the home and blotches of red and black on white for the away. The primary colors are way too overbearing on both jerseys. They also went with the retarded socks that at the back come down in a sharp line (what the hell is the point of these things?) The New symbol is less cartoonish than the last, but still nothing great. They should have gone back to the 2D design.

Philadelphia Flyers
Grade: C-
The Flyers have a slightly different design than others (how sad is it that with the new edge jerseys you get a kudos for being a little different?) having the change of colors on the shoulders rather than the wrists. It works well with the white jersey as the orange on the shoulders is reminiscent of past designs. The black however has white which sticks out too much paired with the predominant black on the wrists. The all black from the chest to pants looks like a void and the orange on the elbows (but not all the way around) are odd. The whites are much better.

Phoenix Coyotes
Grade: D+
Their college uniform design was lame as was, and they took the bottom stripe away to make it even more boring. Why do teams think this looks good? It looks bad on every team that has done it.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Grade: D+
The Pens did a large downgrade, abandoning their very much liked uniforms in favor of re-colored versions of Tampa Bay and Ottawa’s, that alone gives them a bad grade. The gold patches on the arms mix very poorly up against the white, at some angles not even visibly different. They were smart in that they retained the normal socks, and put a gold with white outline stripe on their pants to keep the uniform from being completely lame. Still they went from one of the best uni’s in the league to a cookie cutter design. And what is up with the massive numbers and crest?

San Jose Sharks
Grade: F
The Sharks uniforms bomb as badly as Jaws 4 with their lameness. The orange, black, white and blue are arranged in such a way that they do not work together at all on either design. They tried going with a classic design of the jersey, but with four colors it just fails. There is a reason teams only have three colors, lose the orange and it will look better. The new logo I like being more modern, but it’s not enough to counter the rest.

St. Louis Blues
Grade: D-
What the hell is going on here? The blue on dark blue home uniform doesn’t work well in my opinion, though the white one the shoulders are decent. But what is with the yellow stripes on the torso’s? Those bright yellow lines just don’t go with the rest at all. Even worse are those weird bull horn things from the collar. They completely throw off the uniform with the shape and color. I have no idea why they would use those. Here’s some advice: drop the yellow lines and horns and your uniform will look a lot better.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Grade: D+
The colors actually balance out pretty well, but the design is just so damn boring, especially the dark uniform. They also sport a new logo, making the lightning bolt sharper and changing the font. Not a drastic change, but definitely nicer. The blue collar also fits nicely on both the white and dark jerseys. The pants feature a blue stripe with a lightning bolt which I think looks nice with the rest, but it is a bit corny. All in all nothing great, but the biggest problem is that it’s nearly the same as the Pens and Sens designs.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Grade: D
I don’t think anyone expected a busy design from the Leafs, but they could have done better. The blue uniforms have so little going on that the multiple sock stripes are easily the busiest part. The whites are better as with the blue shorts there is enough happening that it looks decent. But overall, the all blue design really drags the grade down.

Vancouver Canucks
Grade: D+
The Canucks were another team that took on the retro look going back to the 70’s blue uniforms with green horizontal stripes. The colors themselves are nice, with small white striping on the blue home and blue striping on the white away. You don’t see many teams with blue and green so it is a novelty of sorts. What drags this uniform down though is the chest. The lame orca symbol remains albeit with a white coloring; I can understand it’s part of the past and culture, but really, the symbol isn’t any good. To make matters worse “Vancouver” is written arched over the symbol, as if people can ever forget what team is on the ice with their uniform history. It makes the uniform too busy and almost childish. Pick the city name or the symbol, both makes it look awful.

Washington Capitals
Grade: A-
The Caps really had nowhere to go but up, especially with the black and orange jerseys. The design itself is rather simple with different colors on the sides and inside of the arms with a stripe in between. A lone blue stripe is on the bottom with red below it on both the red home jersey and white away jersey. Despite a rather simplistic design it works well and the colors balance good. They did the smartest thing possible in going back to the red, white and blue color scheme that they were always known for. The blue pants are rather dark and throw off the whole uniform a bit, but too bright a blue wouldn’t have worked at all. The new symbol also harkens back to the old days, an updated version of the classic red white and blue. Classic yet modern. All in all a good job by the Caps.

To conclude my review, I will say that it is embarrassing what a lot of the teams will be fielding because of Reebok (see my previous article as to why it is Reebok’s fault). It is sad to see the best uniforms in sports and something unique to hockey was completely destroyed nearly league wide this year. These designs are just pathetic, a slaughter of such sort hasn’t been seen since Little Big Horn.

-Jordan

Lindros a Bust?

2007-09-24T12:31:00.000-04:00

Terry Frei recently wrote an article (found here: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=frei_terry&id=3028776) on how Eric Lindros can be considered one of the biggest busts of all time. I just don’t see anything in his article to support his theory.

When we think of Lindros now we think of things like concussions, head case, pain in the ass father/agent, feuding with bobby Clarke, but we don’t remember back in the 90’s when Lindros was a dominant player. He was big, physical and talented, nearly immovable and with a mean streak. You would be lucky if you could stop him. In his eight years with the Flyers, Lindros had 75, 97, 70, 115, 79, 71, 93 and 59 points, never playing in more than 73 games during that span, averaging less than 61 games a season. He had 659 points 486 games during his stay with the Flyers, good for a 1.36 ppg average, I’m sorry, but no one who can consistently put up more than a point per game over that period of time can be considered a bust.

Granted after multiple concussions Lindros’ game went into a steep decline. He could not longer play physical as he was more susceptible to getting a concussion, so his days of banging and standing in front of the net were over. Unable to play the style that made him so good, he quickly became an average player.

Comparing him to guys like Sakic and Lidstrom who have longevity makes no sense. By that logic, Lemieux also never lived up to his hype because of his injury history. Same with any other good/great player who was injury prone. Sorry Terry, but that’s a real stretch.

Looking at how Lindros played for most of his career, and the stats he had, there is no way you can lump him in with names like Alexander Daigle and Pat Falloon, the true biggest busts of all time. His career was derailed because of injuries, and some due to ego, but never because he couldn’t live up to his hype.

-Jordan

More Reebok Excrement

2007-09-12T23:20:00.000-04:00

I sat at my workstation in complete and utter amazement. For whatever reason, Reebok has decided to continue their downgrading of every possible jersey in existence. Today it was no worse. Reebok decided to diarrhea on two of the best hockey jerseys around in a move that COMPLETELY BAFFLES the masses.

I’ve heard enough from the "you just don’t like change crowd." Please there is change that is progress and than there is change that makes me throw up. Frankly, I like the new Capital jerseys and the Bruins. The Wilds are okay. Nashville is fine but the other 15 or so ugh.

These two are just two of the most recent examples:

For those who haven’t seen them here are you’re new Colorado Avs jerseys:

Again, I’m shocked. The trademark EDGE gay fucking lines are of course added. Not to mention the blue bleeding armpits. Reebok has also decided to enlarge the As and the Cs to a just pathetic size as well. I get the fact that we need to have these new and life-altering lines but now it screws up all the Captaincy patches.

Blue shoulders and red underarms make arms look two faced. I’m all for adding another color but for the love of God be subtle about. You don’t need to divide the arms into a Blue sandwich with a side of Maroon?

What enrages me to no end is the fact that Reebok throw all of these elements into one specific area of the jersey yet leave others empty and desolate. The Avs jersey is no exception.

The common theme of two much going on again reigns supreme. The words busy, practice jersey, step backwards are used almost in unison.

Now look at the new Maple Leaf jersey.

It’s almost on the other end of the spectrum. Maybe Reebok heard all of the complaints and decided to take it a simpler route. In this case, they did and now we are left with indeed an old school Target jersey rip-off. I think I got one of these for Christmas almost 10 years ago. You have got to be kidding me. It’s like looking at a Leaf float around in the Saint Lawrence River. With these jerseys, how many times will Jason Blake be called a smurf and ACTUALLY look like it.

I really wish they kept the bottom horizontal stripe just to give us something else to look at. I’m going to spend almost 120 dollars for that? Uh no.

Again, I will gladly eat crow when I see these jerseys live. I'm just completely shocked. I PRAY that these jerseys will look better with the rest of the uniform. Heck I need them too. These jerseys were supposed to come out and re-energized the sport. Sadly, the world is based on presentation and this makes the NHL look second-rate.

ugh. :[

-op

Here is a full body (though blurred) picture of the uniform. It is sad when the socks have the most going on for the outfit...

http://bp3.blogger.com/_r8tWGVHrjGI/RuhWLBeV74I/AAAAAAAAB_k/ZpRRf8GvhtE/s1600-h/torsocksfull.png

-Jordan

P.S. Jason Blake really does look like a smurf.

It Is Reebok's Fault

2007-09-04T12:09:00.000-04:00

The unveiling of the Calgary’s Flames and Montreal Canadians jersey’s today (and the complete butchering of the Flames design, but that is a post for another time) has forced me to write a venting entry.

These new jersey designs are terrible. Awful. Horrid. Complete and utter shit. There is just no way around saying how bad these designs have been. Only a few teams thus far have escaped violation at the hands of Reebok’s new Edge design. And this is all Reebok’s fault.

Yes, it is, since you are disagreeing.

I know people are saying “well the team designed the jersey, not Reebok.” You’re correct. Each team came up with it’s own design, but they were limited by the design template that was handed to them, the template created by Reebok.

Understand this: if Reebok did not create the edge jersey, there would be no redesigns. Most, if not all teams would be wearing what they wore last year. If you need an analogy, here is one. It’s like the Terminator series where the machines send a Terminator back in time so John Connor can’t be born. If he’s not born there is no human resistance and the machines win. Same thing here: if the edge is never created there are no new designs and the old and very much liked designs are still around.

So yes, it IS Reebok’s fault the new designs suck, because if not for them there wouldn’t be new ones. Reebok is to hockey jerseys what Skynet is to human’s. It’s judgment day and the uniforms are getting massacred.

-Jordan

With the releases of more and more of the jerseys the general consensus for hockey fans should be one of complete and utter disgust. New jerseys are a sacred occurence in the league and especially for the diehard puckhead. Hockey jerseys are some of the best in all of sports armed with class, vintage logos and apparel adequate in wearing outside the rink. Reebok has took it upon themselves to personally shit and piss on all of these with their "Edge" template.

You would figure a company like Reebok would know what works with NHL jerseys. It's not the fucking random splotches of color that make people buy the jersey. This is indeed not the case. With the Edge jerseys, Reebok has decided that randomly lines and pit stains are in. Moreover, have you seen that lastest Vancouver jersey? It's more busier than fucking Time Square for pete's sake. Looking at the back of Calgary's jersey, it looks like a dead Ram in a pool of his own blood with some remants of what looks like an oil spill. And the fuck is going on here with the stripes. Here's an idea Reebok pick one color. Not mix 3 colors for one small section of the jersey. The reds look awful. The tri-color stripe works a little better on the whites but still. I can't get over the random lines on all these jerseys. From a purely artisitic sense it looks like the jersey was made by attaching various peices to the puzzle. It's like Reebok has one team design something for each part of the jersey and than they collectively just put each others ideas in one. It doesn't work together at all. It's a shame because the Flames did have solid jerseys.

I concur with J about the template sucking a huge amount of goat shit. It's a damn shame. Granted though, we can't fully comment on this until we see them in action so I will gladly eat some crow than but until than template me unimpressed.

-op

Free Agency Grades

2007-08-10T12:26:00.000-04:00

Please note: if the team resigned a player that became a UFA (i.e. Slava Kozlov, Teppo Numminen) they will not be listed under additions or subtractions. This list does include trades made. A player with (deadline) next to his name denotes someone who was acquired at the trade deadline.

Grading scale is determined on how well a team filled their needs and balanced out their losses, overpayment of players wont have a major impact on the ratings though mentioned at times. Losses of players who were acquired at the deadline do count, but not significantly. If a team has up and coming players is also taken into account.

Anaheim Ducks
Additions: Todd Bertuzzi, Mathieu Schneider
Subtractions: Dustin Penner, Ric Jackman, Teemu Selanne (?), Scott Niedermayer (?)
Grade: B-
The signings of Bertuzzi and Schneider seem to indicate that both Selanne and Niedermayer are heading for retirement despite still be top tier players. The move has also put them up against the cap with no contract for Selanne. I don’t think either of these two are sufficient replacements and there is a big question mark on Bertuzzi. Letting Edmonton have a chance to throw Penner an offer sheet was a mistake also.

Atlanta Thrashers
Additions: Ken Klee, Todd White
Subtractions: Greg DeVries, Andy Sutton, Keith Tkachuk (deadline)
Grade: D
What did the Thrashers need more than anything? Defense. What did they get? A defensive forward and a lateral move on defense from DeVries to Klee. Sutton being gone will help via addition through subtraction, but with Klee, Zhitnik and Havelid all 34+ years old, you cant expect these guys to still be playing at the top of their grades. Of course, if Wadell spent money wiser (like not paying Holik $4.25 million and trading for Rucchin) he would have more money to spend on improving his weakest position.

Boston Bruins
Additions: Manny Fernandez, Peter Schaeffer
Subtractions: Hannu Toivonen, Shean Donovan
Grade: D+
Chiarelli gets a bit of a reprieve since he really blew his wad last year on Savard and Chara. He at least corrected the goaltending problem for as long as Fernandez can hold up, though I disagree with trading Toivonen, even if Tuuko Rask is in waiting. Giving up on a talented goalie at 21 years old is just stupid, and I wont be surprised if Chiarelli deals Rask if he has a bad first year either. Schaeffer for Donovan is a steal because Ottawa needed to dump salary. They still have a lot of holes to fill though.

Buffalo Sabres
Additions: Jocelyn Thibault
Subtractions: Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Dainus Zubrus (deadline)
Grade: F-
Regier dropped the ball horribly, especially with giving the Oilers a chance to give Vanek an offer sheet. Regier blamed the market place, but the reality is he blew his chance before the year started and didn’t react quick enough on July 1st. This is why I don’t think he is the great GM many portray him to be since his team was built for the lockout. Note to the Sabers front office: your policy of no contract talks during the season has now cost you McKee, Drury and Briere, and to fork over a lot of cash to Vanek. Drop the policy before it fully kills your team if it hasn’t already.

Calgary Flames
Additions: Adrian Aucoin, Owen Nolan, Cory Sarich
Subtractions: Roman Hamrlik, Andrei Zyuzin, Tony Amonte, Jeff Friesen
Grade: B
Sarich is the kind of big and physical blue liner Sutter likes, and Aucoin, if he regains his form, can replace the loss of Hamrlik, but that is a question mark. At $4 million Sutter has straddled himself with Aucoin until the contract ends most likely, and Phaneuf is up for a new deal after this year, along with Kiprussof. Too risky in my opinion. Zyuzin was rather ineffective so he wont be missed. Nolan had a decent year with Phoenix, and can add some grit, leadership and secondary scoring for the Flames.

Carolina Hurricanes
Additions: Matt Cullen
Subtractions: Anson Carter (deadline), David Tanabe
Grade: D
Cullen’s acquisition was in large part due to his role in the cup run, and while he will help the Canes need to do more; having an abundance of average defensemen wont make you a winner again. They needed to do more to shore up their team, but Rutherford is probably banking on less injuries to key players this year.

Chicago Blackhawks
Additions: Sergei Samsonov, Robert Lang, Yanic Perrault
Subtractions: Jassen Cullimore, Adrian Aucoin
Grade: C-
Talon was able to rid himself of the mistakes that were Cullimore and Aucoin, and is taking a chance that Samsonov just needs a change of scenery. The move could either reap rewards or blow up right in his face. Lang and Perrault can add depth, though paying $4mm for Lang is too much for a fading center. The moves should help the Blackhawks, but look for the team’s improvement to still lye with the young guys

Colorado Avalanche
Additions: Ryan Smyth, Scott Hannan
Subtractions: Pierre Turgeon, Patrice Brisbois, Ossi Vaananen, Brett McLean
Grade: A-
Giguere used his cap room to land two of the most prized players on the market. Both will add lots of grit and leadership, and I think those two alone will be enough to propel the Avs back into the playoffs. Turgeon and Briesbois were both non-factors, so their losses shouldn’t be felt at all. Add in a mix of burgeoning young stars like Statsny and Wolski, the Avs are pretty well off.

Columbus Blue Jackets
Additions: Jiri Novotny, Jan Hejda
Subtractions: Brian Berard
Grade: F
I know with a new GM and a low payroll there wasn’t much to be done, but just Novotny and Hejda? You can do better than that.

Dallas Stars
Additions: None
Subtractions: Ladislav Nagy (deadline)
Grade: F
Well what did you expect for a team that did absolutely nothing?

Detroit Red Wings
Additions: Brian Rafalski, Dallas Drake,
Subtractions: Danny Markov, Mathieu Schneider, Todd Bertuzzi (deadline), Kyle Calder (deadline)
Grade: C
With Schneider leaving for the Ducks Ken Holland did good in finding a replacement in Brian Rafalski. Drake will help add some lower line depth and leadership. Hasek was resigned but Holland’s option were limited as Henrik Zetterberg is up for a new deal and he needed to set money aside for him. Losing Markov, Bertuzzi and Calder hurts depth regardless.

Edmonton Oilers
Additions: Joni Pitkanen, Geoff Sanderson, Sheldon Souray, Dustin Penner
Subtractions: Jason Smith, Joffrey Lupul
Grade: C
If you’re about to land Souray, and you sign Dick Tarnstrom why deal for Pitkanen, another offensive minded defenseman, especially when it costs you a young winger and your best stay at home defender. Though Pitkanen does have potential still, their defense is too heavy on the offensive side of things. Lowe again failed to lure what he really needed to Edmonton, overpaying to get Souray, and I don’t think Sanderson is much of a difference maker anymore. We’ll see if Penner can live up to the contract Lowe has given him to pry him from the Ducks, but he should help regardless.

Florida Panthers
Additions: Richard Zednik, Radek Dvorak, Brett McLean, Tomas Vokoun
Subtractions: Chris Gratton, Alex Auld, Ed Belfour
Grade: B-
I call them futility signings because they have little impact on the team, and Florida makes them every year so I am considering renaming them Panther Signings. Zednik and Dvorak’s best years are behind them, and McLean is lower line depth. Not that none of them will help, but donte xpect huge impacts. Martin did make a good move in trading for Vokoun, giving them an established starter again, something that killed them last year (way to go Keenan). Vokoun will do his part, but other than that look for the younger players to step up to make this team improve.

LA Kings
Additions: Michael Handzus, Kyle Calder, Brad Stuart, Tom Preissing, Ladislav Nagy
Subtractions: Tom Kostopolous
Grade: B+
Adding four primary players like Dean Lombardi did is always risky because they just may not mesh. He also took a bit of a risk signing Nagy and Calder after both had terrible years, but at least Nagy is on a one year deal. Stuart and Preissing will definitely help the blue line, and Handzus is a good two way forward that can get you 20 goals. Add in that the young core of the team is getting better and you can look for some definite improvement but again, you still have Dan Cloutier as your starter.

Minnesota
Additions: Eric Belanger, Sean Hill
Subtractions: Todd White
Grade: D
Belanger is a good third liner and Hill is still decent, but will continue his suspension for the first quarter of the season. They didn’t really need much with some young guys stepping in, but it seems what holes they had they didn’t fill. Look for their young guys to continue to develop.

Montreal
Additions: Roman Hamrlik, Bryan Smolinski, Tom Kostopolous
Subtractions: Sheldon Souray, Radek Bonk, Sergei Samsonov
Grade: C
Souray was gone, we knew that, but no way should Hamrlik be paid $5.5. Bonk didn’t make enough of a difference to be missed, and all it took to get rid of Samsonov was to take Cullimore off Chicago’s hands and buy him out, so Gainey gets kudos for that. Smolinski will help in the secondary scoring role, but don’t expect a big impact.

Nashville
Additions: Radek Bonk, Greg Devries, Martin Gelinas
Subtractions: Paul Kariya, Thomas Vokoun, Peter Forsberg (deadline), Scott Hartnell, Kimo Timmonen
Grade: F
While I think it was smart to get a 1st from Philly for Hartnell and Timonen, who they were going to lose regardless, the ownership issue is really killing Poile’s ability to sign anything more than lower level guys. If the owner situation was resolved things may have been a lot different. Plus young guys like Weber are up for new deals at the end of the year. Poile really had nothing going for him this odd season.

New Jersey
Additions: Vitaly Vishnevski, Karel Rachunek, Dainus Zubrus, Kevin Weekes, Aaron Asham
Subtractions: Scott Gomez, Brian Rafalski
Grade: D
Vishnevski has struggled quite a bit since the lock out, and Zubrus is over rated in both ends. Neither can hope to compare to Rafalski or Gomez. Not to say they won’t help, but major steps down. Asham should provide some good lower line depth and rachunek defensive depth. Weekes was the only real significant signing as he will allow the aging Brodeur to rest more than a handful of games if need be and be fresher for the playoffs.

New York Islanders
Additions: Bill Guerin, Jon Sim, Ruslan Fedotenko, Mike Comrie
Subtractions: Ryan Smyth (deadline), Tom Poti, Jason Blake, Viktor Kozlov
Grade: D-
The four players added don’t amount to much more than Ryan Smyth, who they paid a ransom for. Sim and the hugely overpaid Fedotenko are depth moves, Guerin has lost a step and Comrie is now on his sixth team before the age of 27. Theyw ere abel to add some useful warm bodies (though they overpaid for all), but it is a major step back.

New York Rangers
Additions: Scott Gomez, Chris Drury
Subtractions: Karel Rachunek, Michal Nylander, Matt Cullen
Grade: B
You’re probably wondering how I could give the team that landed two of the biggest names on the market a “B” grade. Two words: cap hell. That is exactly where Sather has put himself by giving both Drury and Gomez over $7 million a year. While both are good, I wouldn’t say either are the top flight money they are being paid. And don’t think for one second that when Jagr needs a new deal he will tolerate being paid less than either of them, and Sather won’t have the caps eating half of Jagr’s salary either. Look for the Rangers depth to start falling in the coming years, and Jagr’s days most likely numbered when his deal expires.

Ottawa Senators
Additions: Shean Donovan
Subtractions: Tom Preissing, Peter Schaefer
Grade: C
I give Murray some slack cause he had to resign Ray Emery this year and has Spezza and Heatley next year, both of whom will want quite a bit more than they make now. His hands were tied and he made an obvious salary dump by dealing Schafer for Donovan who probably won’t last past this year.

Philadelphia Flyers
Additions: Scott Hartnell, Kimo Timonen, Daniel Briere, Jason Smith, Joffrey Lupul
Subtractions: Joni Pitkanen, Geoff Sanderson
Grade: A-
Holmgrem overpaid for the first free, but the potential rewards are great. If Hartnell and Lupul can live up to potential, and Briere continues his scoring pace the Flyers will have a lot more firepower up front. The back end will always get a boost from smooth skating Timonen and the gritty Smith.

Phoenix Coyotes
Additions: David Aebischer, Mike York
Subtractions: Owen Nolan, Jeremy Roenick (if you really want to count him), Curtis Joseph
Grade: D+
I get you don’t want to sign guys over 30, but signing a goalie who cant meet his potential doesn’t help much, and after the year York had he probably wont have a big impact either. But at least they didn’t make the same mistake of adding a dozen more players to the mix.

Pittsburgh Penguins
Additions: Petr Sykora, Daryl Sydor, Ty Conklin
Subtractions: Michel Ouellet, Jocelyn Thibault, Josef Melichar
Grade: B-
Addition by subtraction is a great thing, especially since the Pens rid themselves of their two worst players in Ouellet and Melichar. In their place are much more effective Petr Sykora and Daryl Sydor. While not top tier guys they are far better than who they are replacing, and both cost just over $10 million for their contract durations. The problem with the Sydor signing is that he is on the decline and not the stay at home physical defenseman the Pens needed (though Shero did try for Hannan). Replacing Thibault with unproven Sabourin is a mistake though, but at least Conklin was signed for insurance.

San Jose Sharks
Additions: None
Subtractions: Scott Hannan, Bill Guerin (deadline), Mark Bell, Vesa Toskala
Grade: D+
Wilson got a lot of flak for not signing anyone other than Thornton to an extension, but he was smart. With a lot of young guys due for new deals in the next year or two, it was wise not to spend on big name free agents. However, it is very questionable spending $3.5 million on Craig Rivet and letting Hannan go for $4.5 million. Wilson also off loaded Mark Bell who was a major disappointment, and back up goalie Toskala and got a bevy of picks from Toronto in return.

St. Louis Blues
Additions: Paul Kariya, Keith Tkachuk
Subtractions: Curtis Sanford
Grade: C
Dealing back for Tkachuk and giving Atlanta their first round pick back was an idiotic move, and the major reason for this grade. A poor playoff performance hurt his market value, and chances are the Blues could have had him for the same, if not less if he hit the market. Kariya is no longer a $6 million player, and the Blues don’t have the talent the Preds did last year, so while he’ll help, don’t look for as productive a season from him.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Additions: Michel Ouellet, Chris Gratton, Brad Lukowich
Subtractions: Cory Sarich, Ruslan Fedotenko
Grade: D+
Feaster at least addressed the defense some, and if he signs Cullimore like rumored, the grade can go up a bit. Ouellet is nothing without good line mates and expect him to drag down Vinny or Richards in the process. Gratton, well there’s a reason they dealt him twice before and I doubt his third stint will be any better. Feaster thinks he did good, but he didn’t.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Additions: Jason Blake, Mark Bell, Vesa Toskala
Subtractions: Michael Peca
Grade: B+
Blake needs to prove he can keep up a 40 goal pace, but he will add much needed scoring outside of Sundin as he is at least a 20 goal guy. His feisty (read as “cheap”) style will fit right in to the Leafs style of play. Toskala should shore up the goaltending position over the inconsistent Raycroft, an dif Bell can regain his touch from his Chicago days can be a good asset, but if he plays like he did in San Jose will continue to be little more than a cap burden.

Vancouver Canucks
Additions: Curtis Sanford, Aaron Miller
Subtractions: Danny Sabourin
Grade: C
The C is more due to inactivity than anything else, and the inactivity was due to lack of cap room. Miller will help solidify their defense corps even though he is aging, and Sanford can be trusted for more games than Sabourin was, so Luongo wont have to be like Brodeur and play almost every night.

Washington Capitals
Additions: Michal Nylander, Tom Poti, Viktor Kozlov
Subtractions:
Grade: C+
Yeah, they got the center they needed, but they also overpaid for him, same with that puck moving blue liner in Poti. The three additions will help, but how much is a question as they are paying an awful lot for Nylander, and there is no way Poti can live up to his deal. I think Kozlov is the best bang for the buck of the signings, but Nylander will definitely have the biggest impact.

-Jordan (with some help from Omkar)

Penner and Burke

2007-08-03T12:32:00.000-04:00

As anticipated Anaheim Ducks Gm Brian Burke declined to match the offer sheet to Dustin Penner by the Oilers and receives a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick in next years draft (which, if Edmonton has a bad year can be quite the bounty).

I believe Burke has made the right move, I do not think Penner will live up to that deal. Not that I have anything against Penner, who wouldn’t love a power forward who scored 29 goals at age 24? But the Ducks had a much stronger cast than the Oilers, so how well Penner will do is up in the air. Burke also loves to wheel and deal; never forget that. Don’t think for a second he wouldn’t hesitate to throw those picks to another team for a younger established player or deadline help.

Now, with this whole situation there has been much talk of Burke’s responses which are rather venomous albeit truthful. A lot of people want him to shut up and stop complaining already, and I fully understand where they are coming from. But I have to say, personality wise, he is the best GM to read about.

Let’s be realistic, hockey players and staff are very modest, few say what they are actually thinking unless they are incredibly pissed off. Many loved the likes of Brett Hull and Jeremy Roenick because they would say what they think, and that the NHL needs more of these guys. Yet here is a GM who is doing that, not giving you the normal cloak and dagger responses they always do, and he’s being told to shut up.

See, I don’t really get that. Yes, Burke may be excessive on his rants, but he is the ONLY GM who will do this. Bobby Clarke was the only other GM who would really speak his mind, but his comments were almost always of a defensive nature after being criticized first.

Plus, there is normally some truth to what Burke says in his rants. His latest comment, “I'd be as dumb as the team that extended the offer if I matched it now” is an outright attack and not really informative. But his one comment on the deadline of “they were short, profanity laced conversations” is rather accurate of how GM’s tend to feel when they get a call asking for one of their good young players in exchange for a 35 year old soon to be UFA.

So as people tell Burke enough and to shut up, I say let him go. He can be excessive, and sometimes beat a dead horse, but he’s also one of the few real personalities in the NHL. Let’s face it, when a GM has a press conference, any fan or writer can write the script of what the GM is going to say, or what a player will say in an interview. As much as I love Crosby, I pretty much know his response word for word in an interview, and that is a case for a lot of players and staff. Burke? Well we find ourselves saying “what is going to come out of his mouth next?” And that is what the NHL needs more of.

-Jordan

The Lowe Down

2007-07-30T12:13:00.001-04:00

The talk over the past week has been all about the offer sheet Oilers GM Kevin Lowe sent to the Anaheim Duck’s RFA Dustin Penner. This is followed the talk of how the move is unethical, a low blow etc. which others counter with it is within the rules.

Here is my take. Yes, it is fully within the rights of the team to do it, but it is a bit of an underhanded move. Yes, they do have to give up compensation to the team, but it also is in a way stealing the way it is done. Regardless, Lowe operated within his rights so I am fine with what he has done. I don’t like that a GM can do this, but it is in the rules.

Burke of course responded with his normal outrage, calling the move “classless” due to it’s timing of Burke being away and an act of desperation. I don’t agree with Burke it was classless as again, Lowe operated well within the rules. But I agree with him it is an act of desperation on Lowe’s part. He was again unable to land the free agents he hoped in the summer market, and took his first shot at the sabers Thomas Vanek, which he lost out on. Next he took a shot at Penner, who we don’t know if the Ducks will match, but if they do will get a 1st, 2nd and 3rd pick as compensation. (Personally, I think the Ducks should take the picks).

When you look at it, Lowe calculated the move well. Anaheim sits at $48 of a $51 million cap, with Teemu Selanne still undecided. Scott Niedermayer may retire which would free up $6.5 million and make the Penner signing much easier. However, if Burke matches, he will be at $53 million which he must get under by end of training camp. If he does match, which I don’t think he will if Niedermayer comes back because Penner being worth $4.25 a year is questionable, I would look for hi to deal Todd Marchant away to free up $2.5 million.

The thing I really agree with Burke on is that the offer sheets are bad for the league. Twice now in a month Lowe has thrown money at young players who are not deserving of it, driving up market value. They may be worth it eventually, but not currently. (And we have to wonder why Lowe couldn’t give $5.5 to Ryan Smyth but can throw $7 at Vanek).

This also brings up another point. With these offer sheets you will being more of two things. First is the signing of RFA’s before July 1. Team’s will be more cautious now that with GM’s like Lowe throwing big offers to young players. Young players are becoming ever more valuable in the cap era, so expect more of what Pittsburgh has done with Crosby in signing deals before they can even get an offer. Second is arbitration. If you file for arbitration then an offer sheet cannot be submitted to an RFA. However, actually going to arbitration there is always the risk of the hearing going badly, but granted most teams settle before it goes there. But chances are the arbitration award, though almost always player friendly, will not be as much as what Lowe has been throwing out this summer.

To sum up, what Lowe did was fine, but because of the nature of the move it will always seem to be under handed. The greater implications though are with the driving up of salaries that the sheets cause.

-Jordan

2007-07-10T12:18:00.000-04:00

Well it’s been a few days since the free agent frenzy has subsided, so let’s take a look at the big signings that have occurred. (This does not include signings of RFA's or contract extensions)

Anaheim
Mathieu Schneider, 2 years $11.5 million
This move is signifying to most that Scott Niedermayer is on his way to retirement. Schneider plays a similar game though is not quite as good defensively. At 37 he still has a good step.

Todd Bertuzzi, 2 years $8 million
Bertuzzi has reunited with Brian Burke in Anaheim where the two seemed to share a rather close relationship for a GM and player. $4 million guaranteed is a bit much after missing almost an entire season with a bad back, but if e can regain his form from Vancouver he will be well worth it.

Atlanta
Todd White, 4 years $9.5 million
White had a very good year for Minnesota and got himself a Selke nod. I think the contract is a bit much and long for a guy who’s been mediocre most his career, but 1) Atlanta needs defensive help even from the forward lines and 2) it’s Don Waddell

Ken Klee, 2 years unknown amount
This is what I don’t get about Wadell: every year the Thrashers need defense and every year he does nothing to address it. Not that Klee is nothing, but when you leg Greg DeVries walk it’s like lateral shift. Klee will help, but is no improvement over the guy he is replacing.

Slava Kozlov, 3 years $11 million
Well not a true UFA signing because Kozlov was expect back, it is noteworthy because after Drury, Briere and Gomez Kozlov was one of the more high profile centers available. He is over 35 so his contract will count against the cap unless dealt, but if he continues his recent scoring pace that wont be much of a problem.

Boston
none

Buffalo
Teppo Numminen, 1 year $2.6 million
Buffalo once again re-upped Numminen who has been a valuable member of their blue line. While the money may have been better spent being towards a younger defenseman, Numminen has been a key defender since joining the Sabres.

Jocelyn Thibault, 1 year unknown amount
Thibault bounced back from a terrible 2005-2006 season with the Penguins and finished strongly as Fleury’s back up. Regier is hoping he can continue to do that with Miller and provide goaltending depth in the playoffs (well, if they make it this year).

Calgary
Cory Sarich, 5 years $18.5 million
Sarich is exactly the kind of guy Sutter wants: big and powerful. He will fit perfectly into the Flames scheme. However, I think this is a bit much for him, but looking at what others have gotten it’s not that bad. Sarich should pay dividends for the Flames.

Owen Nolan, 1 year unknown amount
Nolan had a decent year with the Yotes, and he is Sutter’s kind of player. While I am a bit surprised at this move, a one year deal for Nolan’s secondary scoring, leadership and grit could prove rather valuable to the Flames.

Carolina
none

Chicago
Yanic Perrault, 1 year $1.5 million
Looking for help where they can, and cheap help with short contracts, Perrault has had two good years where he not only continues to be one of the best face off men, but has also provided secondary scoring. I don’t think this deal could hurt Chicago in any way.

Robert Lang, 2 years unknown amount
Lang is aging but still effective. He is decent in his own zone and can provide secondary scoring for the Hawks. But he is not a first line center though he will most likely be put there.

Colorado
Scott Hannan, 4 years $18.5 million
Starling to look like the steal of the defenseman. Hannan is a hard nosed defensive stalwart that any team should want. He will be a very valuable member of the Av’s back end and make them tough to play against. Very good signing.

Ryan Smyth, 5 years $31.25 million
Adding Smyth will give the Avalanche further grit, leadership and scoring, This will help to alleviate some of the pressure off of aging, but still highly effective captain Joe Sakic. Paired with the acquisition of Hannan, the Avs are going to be a lot tougher to play against in more ways that one.

Columbus
Jiri Novotny, 2 years unknown amount
While a good depth player, the Blue Jackets are going to need to do more to bolster their lineup that this.

Dallas
none

Detroit
Brian Rafalski, 5 years $30 million
With the loss of Schenider, Ken Holland immediately found his replacement in Brian Rafalski, who plays a similar style. I like Rafalski, but not $6 million like and neither should anyone else. Regardless, he will replace Schneider and be a valuable member on the blue line.

Dominic Hasek, 1 year $2 million plus incentives
To nobody’s surprised Hasek re-upped with the Wings at double his previous salary. After a strong year (which I of course predicted the opposite) the Red Wings will once again rest their goaltending hopes on him.

Edmonton
none

Florida
Richard Zednik 2 years $3.25 million
Brett McLean 3 years, $5.1 million contract
Radek Dvorak, 2 years unknown amount, presumed to be too much regardless
I lump all these three together because it shows that Florida once again has continued on with, as I like to call them futility signings. These are multiple signings of players who are mediocre or past their prime to larger deals than they’re worth and expected to have a big impact on their team. I sincerely doubt any of these three will have much to do with the Panthers success.

Los Angeles
Tom Preissing, 4 years $11 million
Preissing had a career year so it’s no surprise his salary skyrocketed. He will provide some valuable two way play on the Kings rather young blue line corps and at an affordable price. If his play with Ottawa turns out to be a fluke though, it is a contract they will not be able to get rid of easily.

Michal Handzus, 4 years $16 million
Handzus is a good second line center who can give strong two way play and put a few goals in. How much he got was a bit surprising, but it is not unrealistic he can live up to it, especially if placed with good wingers. A bit much, but a solid signing for the Kings.

Ladislav Nagy, 1 year $3.75 million
Nagy’s stock plummeted after a terrible year, and his oft injured ways don’t help him any. It is not surprising he signed for only a year, as a one year deal is low risk. Nagy is banking on doing better with a fresh start.

Kyle Calder, 2 years $5.4 million
Calder had a horrid year and Philly was glad to be rid of him. After such a poor year it is surprising he not only got a two year deal, but for as much as he did. It’s a risky signing, but if he returns to his Chicago playing form he will be worth it.

Brad Stuart, 1 year $3.5 million
This is a surprise. Not because the Kings signed him, but because it was a single year at $3.5 million, well below what he should have gone for on the market. Regardless, the Kings get a good two way defender that is often under rated in both ends who will help significantly on their defense.

Minnesota
Eric Belanger, 3 years, $5.25 million
Belangers has always been a good lower line guy: strong in his own zone and capable of scoring some goals. It’s been his health that has kept him from being a true asset over the years. Regardless the deal is pretty reasonable and he should help Minnesota.

Sean hill, 1 year unknown amount
Hill had a strong year for the Islanders until his suspension, which will last 17 more games. With his age (36) and such a long layoff it is anyone’s guess how much he will help the Wild.

Montreal
Roman Hamrlik, 4 years $22 million
$5.5 a year for Hamrlik? I know I complain a lot about overpayment but come on. You don’t pay $5.5 for a second pairing guy. Hamrlik plays a good game, but geez.

Brian Smolinski, 1 year $2 million
Smolinski will help bolster the forward unit of the Candiens who were lacking in secondary scoring last year. At $2 million on an inflated market, this is a pretty good signing, especially for a single year so if need be he can be unloaded.

Nashville
Radek Bonk, 2 years unknown amount
Poile added some lower line depth with the addition of Bonk, despite his inconsistent ways. It is unlikely he will play on the top two lines, but that is good as he never flourished in that role in Ottawa. A depth signing.

Greg DeVries, 2 years unknown amount
DeVries will help off set of the loss of Timonen and help the younger guys like Weber and Hamhuis. He is not of the same caliber as the man he is replacing, but he is steady and reliable.

New Jersey
Dainus Zubrus, 6 years $20.4 million
I’ve never been a fan of Zubrus, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he started scoring when teamed with Ovechkin. This was a desperation move by Lou as Zubrus is worth neither the six years nor the $3.4 million a year it comes out to. He’ll help some, but he cant score without good line mates and I think his defensive and physical games are over rated.

Kevin Weekes, 1 year $1.375 million
A very smart signing by Lou. Weekes will allow the aging (but still very good) Brodeur to take more than ten games off a year. He looked tired in the playoffs, and Weekes, who now has become a quality back up will aid the Devils more than I think most are giving him credit for.

New York Islanders
Ruslan Fedotenko, 1 year $2.9 million
Look, I know the Isles are desperate to get people, but come on. Ruslan is basically a third liner and worth at most half this pay. They could have done much better than this for the money.

Jon Sim, 3 years $3 million
Sim is a good depth signing who has added some scoring under the new rules. He is speedy and gritty so he can be a nuisance to the opposing team. He is cheap so a pretty good signing by the Isles.

Bill Guerin, 2 years $9 million
Rumor is him and Comrie were a package deal because they share the same agent. Despite that the Isles needed scoring and Guerin gave that to the Blues last season. However, a lackluster playoff on a good San Jose team has to make you wonder: can he produce only when he is the main guy counted on to? If so, the Isles could be in luck.

Mike Comrie, 1 year $3.35 million
Comrie joins yet another team in his short career. Once having much promise his attitude and constant trading to another team has made his skills stagnant in their growth. He will be a pretty good second line center for the now gutted Isles, but a first line center he isn’t.

New York Rangers
Chris Drury, 5 years, $35.25
Drury’s clutch status, and adding scoring this year really drove up his value. Once again a playoff monster, he helped lead Buffalo to the conference finals once again. His playoff experience and clutchness is invaluable, and that is why he got over $7 million a year. A bit much, yes, but come playoff time there are few others you want over him.

Scott Gomez, 7 years $51.5 million
The Rangers scooped up two of the best three centers on the market, and Gomez is the youngest. His passing abilities, along with his strong two way play paired with Drury’s will give the Rangers significant defensive contributions from the forward lines. However, Gomez is being paid as a top line center and he is not that. He will never win a scoring title or come close, so add in the length I think the rangers overpaid.

Ottawa
none

Philadelphia
Daniel Briere, 8 years $52 million
Philly continued it’s off season overhaul by landing one of the top forwards in Briere who will add much needed speed and scoring. The contract amount isn’t bad, it’s the length that is surprising as Briere will be 36 by the time it expires, and should they need to offload him for any reason, well, good luck regardless if the contract if front loaded.

Phoenix
none

Pittsburgh
Daryl Sydor, 2 years $5 million
Sydor is on the decline, but he is still effective as his offensive skills are taking the biggest hit, but that’s fine with the Pens because keeping the puck out of the net is proving to be much more difficult. He will add more stability to the Pens blue line, and will help mentor the likes of Ryan Whitney and Kris Letang. A bit surprising of a choice as the Pens needed a stay at home and physical defenseman along the lines of Hannan and Vaananen rather than Sydor.

Petr Sykora, 2 years $5.3 million
The Pens got a much needed winger to play with Crosby or Malkin. While a bit streaky, Sykora has never scored below 20 goals while playing a full season, and paired with a highly skilled center is capable of much more. He’s not the best defensively, but at $2.65 million a year, compared to what other wingers are going for, this is a steal for the Pens.

San Jose
none

St. Louis
Paul Kariya, 3 years $18 million
This was a bit surprising as no one really expected the Blues to be signing such a high profile free agent, and nor did they expect someone to throw so much at Kariya. Regardless, Kariya will add some much needed scoring to the offense deprived Blues. Look for another good year from him.

Tampa Bay
Michel Ouellet, 2 years $2.5 million
Tampa will regret this signing. Ouellet’s points were the result of playing with Malkin and Staal, and on the powerplay unit where he stood on the side (not the front) of the net. His slow speed and lack of agility will drag down Vinny or Richards, whichever he is paired with. It wont take Tampa fans long to get annoyed by him.

Brad Lukowich, 3 years unknown amount
Lukowich returns to the place he won the Stanley Cup in 1994 and the Bolts will be happy to get him back. With a lackluster defense he will definitely be an upgrade and help ease the loss of Cory Sarich.

Toronto
Jason Blake, 5 years $20 million
Blake scored 40 goals and the Leafs paid him like it, though whether he can maintain that, or go back to his 20+ goal ways will be seen. Regardless, the Leafs get some much needed secondary scoring from the wings to alleviate the load from Sundin. The contract is a bit long for a guy who will start the season at 34 though.

Vancouver
Aaron Miller, 1 year unknown amount
Vancouver shored up one fo their weaker areas with the signing of the aging but still useful Miller. The one year deal is no risk and he should provid the canucks with much needed defensive depth.

Washington
Tom Poti, 4 years $14 million
Poti has been overpaid since he was on the Rangers. While he did have a good year he is still not worth this kind of money. He’ll help the Caps move the puck up ice and on the power play, but nowhere else.

Michael Nylander, 4 years $19.5 million
George McPhee continues to show when given money he does not know how to spend it. While Nylander is good, Jagr has also helped to inflate his stats some. I think it is a bit much to pay for him, but if he meshes with Ovechkin it could be well worth it. But giving a 4 year deal to a 34 year old player is a bit dangerous.

Viktor Kozlov, 2 years $5 million
Kozlov had a very good year with 25 goals and will provide the Caps with some needed grit. Whether or not Kozlov can once again score 25 goals remains to be seen though. He is better suited as a 3rd line center, but the Caps will most likely use him as the second, so we will see how he reacts to being put in a higher profile situation.

Recent Deals and Signings

2007-06-25T12:21:00.000-04:00

The Mighty Ducks Sign JS Giguere to 4 years, $24 million
The Ducks, much to my own surprise, signed Giguere to a multi-year deal, and in the process taking the biggest, and only real name goalie off the UFA market. The deal is reasonable, and definitely a home town discount as Giguere surely would have gotten more and for longer on the open market. Now that their cup winning goalie is locked up, the Bryzgalov rumors will be flying.

Toronto acquires Vesa Toskala and Mark Bell for a 1st, 2nd and a 4th round picks
Despite the rumors of Toronto seeking a goalie, I didn’t think they would actually deal for one. But over the weekend they pried Toskala from the Sharks for a bevy of draft picks. Toskala is affordable and has one year remaining so he easily fit into the Leafs cap. If one of he or Raycroft, whose deal also expires after next year, don’t work out then the other will most likely be retained (I have a feeling that would be Toskala).

Bell was a salary dump for the Sharks, not working out with a career low twenty one points. The year before he scored more goals alone than that. If he can return to form like he was with the Blackhawks, and Toskala provides solid goaltending, this can be a very good deal for Toronto.

Florida acquires Tomas Vokoun for a 1st, and two 2nd round picks
With Giguere off the market, Florida, like Toronto, decided to go the trade route and obtain a higher caliber goalie than the mediocre ones that will be available come July 1st. The recent play, not to mention cost cutting measures, of the Predators made Vokoun expendable. The Preds site that wanting to retain free agents like Paul Kariya as the main source of the deal, though many believe it is the attempt to sell the team as the true reason.

Florida gets a good goalie to replace the aging Belfour and shaky Auld. With a young and rising team, and possibly some decent free agent signings, you can expect Florida to be in the run for the playoffs again.

Florida signs Nathan Horton to a 6 year, $24 million contract
What appears to be an emerging trend in the cap era, Florida signed on of their best young players to a long term deal. The deal seems to be based around the same deal Scott Hartnell got from the Flyers, and is also based on how good the team believes the player will become.

Horton though I think is more deserving of this deal than Hartnell. He has steadily improved in his three seasons of play, scoring 31 goals and added the same in assists, both higher than Hartnell’s totals. While the short term the salary is a bit much, but if he improves the way he has, in a few years this deal could be a steal for the Panthers.

Flames trade Andrei Zyuzin and Steve Marr for Adrian Aucoin and a 7th round pick
Much to everyone’s surprise the Blackhawks unloaded Aucoin’s salary unto the Flames, where Aucoin has a past history of playing with new coach Mike Keenan.

The trade more than anything signifies that the Flames will be unable to reach a deal with Brad Stuart, and severely lessens the chance of resigning Roman Hamrlik. Zyuzin though did not play well for the Flames so his loss will not be that great.

If Aucoin can return to form (read as “stay healthy”) than he can be a valuable asset to the Flames. But if he continues to be plagued by injuries, expect the Flames to be caught with a large contract just like Chicago was.

Penguins resign Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts to one year deals
The Penguins kept their two key veterans in Recchi and Roberts for at least one more year. Recchi’s deal is worth up to $2 million if he reaches incentives, and Roberts is worth $2.5 million. Both will continue to add much needed leadership and secondary scoring to the young penguins team.

Sharks sign Craig Rivet to 4 years $14 million dollars
The Sharks signed deadline acquisition Rivet to a long term deal over the weekend. Rivet played well for the Sharks, but I question how much they gave this at best mid-pairing defenseman, even with an inflated market for defensemen. Rivet can definitely be solid, but for $3.5 you would think that the Sharks would try and put that money to the soon to be UFA and more effective Scott Hannan. If rivet can continue his good play for the Sharks, he may b worth it. But if he plays like he did in Montreal they will be overpaying for him.

Kings buy out Alyn McCauley
A surprising move that took pretty much everyone off guard. McCauley only spend a single year with the Kings, and most of it was spend on the long term IR. It seems more that the Kings feel he will not be able to return from a bad knee injury more than anything else. Look for teams that need depth at center to give him a look.

-Jordan

Wild Weekend and a Manic Monday

2007-06-18T20:07:00.000-04:00

When I wrote my Thursday Throwdown article, I figured “there probably won’t be enough that happens from now until the next weekend to warrant a post about recent happenings.” Well, how wrong I was.

Sergei Samsanov dealt to Chicago for Jassen Cullimore and Tony Salmelainen
Gainey pulled off a fast one and removed the biggest albatross from his roster in the horribly underachieving Samsanov. IN return they took a small albatross of Chicago’s hands in Cullimore and immediately bought him out with a $600k cap hit over the next two years. Also thrown in was twenty five year old Tony Salmelainen who may still make the NHL, but unlikely at this point.

Chicago is banking on Samsanov regaining some of his scoring touch, and most likely replacing the departure of Handzus who they most assuredly will lose to free agency. If he continues to play poorly, he will be a UFA and off of Chicago’s hands. Of course if he plays well he will be an added boost and quite possibly a valuable trade deadline commodity.

Flames hire Mike Keenan as coach
Good god, how does this man keep getting a job? I thought it would be years until his name even came up again after nearly single handedly destroying the Panthers. But apparently Daryl Sutter thinks that his old teacher is the flame needed (no pun intended) to spark his team after coach Jim Playfair apparently would not hold his players accountable.

Some are saying this is just what the Panthers need and that if things go wrong Sutter will easily dispatch of Keenan. I have no doubt of the latter, but the former is quite the “if.” Keenan always wants things his way, and he always aggressive in getting it. And outside of the few players like Messier and Jokinen all come to hate his guts. This is especially risky with the Flames top two player in Iginla and Kiprussof going into contract years. You can bet that if one of those two (but probably both) go to Sutter and say “I go or he goes” Keenan will be out of a job once more.

I give it this year.

Bruins fire head coach Dave Lewis
This took everyone by surprise even more than Keenan’s hiring. Lewis was assured at the end of the season his job was safe, only to have it ripped out from under him. It came at an odd time too. But then again I guess this is what you can expect from Jeremy Jacobs, and I do mean Jacobs because though I don’t think Chiarelli has proven anything as GM, I don’t think he is that dumb.

Here’s a hint for the Bruins: it’s not the coaches fault the owner keeps ruining the team, though the sheer amount of bench bosses there has suggested so. Lewis may not have been great, but he was far from the biggest problem of that team.

Senators fire John Muckler and promote Bryan Murray to GM
Not much was said as to why Murray got the boot, though speculation has he was not enough of a risk taker at the deadline, or even his failure to land Gary Roberts “at any costs.” The former is definitely true though, as he was always cautious in his player movement.

Murray, the former GM of the Ducks, who had quite the hand in building the team that beat him in the cup finals, may be what the Sens need in someone who takes risks and immediately addresses team needs (how many years in a row did we hear the Sens needed to be tougher?).

This off season will be interesting for Ottawa.

Flyers trade for, and sign, Scott Hartnell and Kimo Timonen
Flyers GM Paul Holmgren yet again made a splash, but before free agency even started. He handed back the Predators the first they gave them in the Forsberg deal and got the exclusive rights to negotiate with Hartnell and Timonen.

However, the for what the Flyers gave these players (Hartnell 6 years $25.2 million, Timonen 5 years $37.8 million) they might as well have gotten into a bidding war, because these are what the salaries would have looked like if one had happened. Six years is a long time to have a cap hit, especially for $4.2 and $6.3 a year respectively. Timonen will be 38 when his contract is up, and I sincerely doubt by then he will be playing like a $6.3 million dollar guy (if he ever had). Good luck getting rid of that contract. And $4.2 million for a guy that had one 20 goal season is a lot, though they are obviously paying for potential.

Many are saying this is the sign of cost cutting for the Predators. I say it was a smart move. It became obvious they were going to lose both of these guys even before the announced sale. Liepold had been going on about how he’s been losing money for years, and they already had $33 million locked up in thirteen players for the coming year. Their leaving was inevitable with Hartnell’s young age and grit, and Timonen’s All Star year. They did good to get something rather than nothing.

Bruins hire Claude Julien as Coach
Of course AFTER i post this there is more happening with the Bruins hiring Julien as coach. Such a quick hire could mean that this was planned for weeks, and Lewis got the ax after the Bruins negotiated a deal with Julien.

Man, what a weird year for coaching...

Rumored: Sens sign McAmmond to 2 years, $1.75 million deal
I stress unconfirmed. Seeing reports that Muckler had come to this agreement and Murray plans to honor it, but as always, dont believe a rumor until it's official.

Bret Hull leaves NBC
I know a lot of people hate him, but a lot of these people think Roenick would be a good replacement. But that's like replacing an Oldsmobile with a Ford Pinto. If you think Hull is a dumb jackass, Roenick far surpasses him because Hull at least gave insight into the game. but that's a subject for another time.

-Jordan

Thursday Throwdown

2007-06-14T12:25:00.001-04:00

Well a few things have happened in the past couple of days, so let’s review what went on.

Florida Panthers trade center Chris Gratton to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2nd round pick in either 2007 or 2008.
I think the Panthers get the better of this deal. While Gratton is a decent third line center, a 2nd round pick is too much for him. There are two things that make this deal peculiar. First is that we are a mere three weeks from free agency. Tampa could have gotten a third line center for free (as in not giving up more than the money for the contract) in the market a few short weeks away. Second is that Tampa has one of the worst prospects pools in the NHL, and gave up a 2nd rounder for a career underachiever. I cannot agree with this move, but then again that’s why I think Feaster is the worst (employed) GM in the NHL.

Also of interest is Gratton’s history with Tampa.
1993: drafted 3rd over all 1998: traded Mikael Renberg and Daymond Langkow to the Flyers for Chris Gratton and Mike Sillinger 2007: traded a second round pick to Florida

That’s a lot of resources going into one player.

Hasek will Return.
Dominic Hasek announced that he will be returning another with the Red Wings. The deal needs to be negotiated but it is expected he will get a substantial raise over the 750k base he earned last year (though he got almost $1mm in bonuses). Wings fans should breathe a sigh of relief with this as the goalie market is very weak this year after Giguere, who will be going for top dollar and most likely not fit into Detroit’s cap.

Ruff, Regier and Carlyle all given extensions
No real surprise here. Buffalo kept the GM and coach that has brought them success these past two years. Carlyle won the cup, and pretty much any coach that does that gets an extension, though of interest it was only a single year extension.

Theodore expected to stay with the Avalanche
Theodore and his agent, Don Meehan, said they expect to be with the Avalanche for next season and not be bought out. This isn’t surprising as Colorado will be better off taking the one year cap hit and free up around $5mm for next year for additional help.

-Jordan

Shitty Suggestions

2007-06-11T17:43:00.000-04:00

I love reading upon people’s opinions on “HOW TO FIX THE NHL” specifically the special Olympic brigade over at ESPN. The same network that loves to jump all over hockey and call it crappy, terrible, boring, etc yet somehow finds racing 500 laps around a circular track to be quite the thrilling experience. The same network that showed a good minute of the Stanley Cup Final Game 5 only to return to the Mike Vick/TO/ Brady and Belichek are awesome/Red Sox are awesome/ racing is groovy pukefests. I like many others have tried to curb my ESPN watching unless there is an NFL draft or NFL game on it.

One of the guys that has actually supported hockey and is actually fairly knowledgeable on the subject, at least in ESPN terms, recently published an article stating some of the changes that he would like to see. While I like Cowlishaw in general and I did enjoy him giving the NHL some props on Around the Horn, his suggestions for the most part are foolhardy:

1: Put microphones on all coaches and captains for all games. One of the things that the millions of fans that flock to NASCAR races each year really enjoy is the ability to hear every word exchanged between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his crew chief, Tony Eury Jr.
The scanner technology is there to let every fan in the seats eavesdrop on what's being said. We don't want lame interviews conducted by bench reporters. We want to hear the real thing, and if we're paying $100 a ticket, we deserve it.

I have no problem with this. The NHL is a bunch of “nice guys” who say all the right things and act the same way. Interviews in the NHL are crap and will always be that way. The problem is hockey needs to give these players an outlet to showcase their personality. Is it sad that people continue to refer to the Patrick Roy and Roenick feud from a decade ago still? As much of a dbag as Roenick is he did provide for some banter and as a result was one of the more popular and recognizable players from the 90s. This isn’t because he was a great player but rather more so his personality and the fact is he wasn’t the typical cookie cutter interviewee who wishes the other team well and is really happy for the how the team is coming together. The world revolves around personalities which hockey desperately needs and does have. You don't think Sean Avery on the mic would be entertaining at all. Hockey has personalities we just don't know it yet.

2: Start the season a month later. The Stanley Cup Finals should be starting when the NBA Finals are ending. For two weeks, you get the closest thing you're ever going to get to undivided attention. The technology is good enough to make ice playable in late June. Starting the season a month before the NBA in the heart of college and pro football season does nothing for the NHL.

Retarded. First off the ice in general after March takes a nose dive as is. This is eliminating a “cold” month in favor of another summer month. More so, the quality of the ice will be even worse especially when combined with the southern NHL teams. What this means more of shoddy play with a puck bouncing around, no skating and defensive snooze fests. If Tim’s idea was to turn hockey into basketball than I guess he’s on to something.

3: Convince the selfish Eastern Conference general managers to act in the best interests of the game and change the schedule. This was voted on and rejected a few months ago. But Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby, moving into the prime of what's going to be a fantastic career, needs to play a game in Dallas and Los Angeles and Chicago every year. Not once every three years.

This I actually agree with. The 8 game divisional games are a bit excessive with watered down play and games without meaning. I agree that we should all see each team at least twice. While that plays into a mess with scheduling and the various options available, the NHL should look into finding a way to appease this demand. Crosby must go to LA, Chicago and most importantly places like Phoenix, Columbus, and Nashville etc. Furthermore, with fewer conference games, it will make the games played have far more consequence leading to more urgency and overall better hockey. Some may point out to those epic Phoenix vs Panther shootouts but this is the case in every sport. How many times have we seen a Raider vs. Texan game. Shit happens.

4: Kiss up to ESPN. Make amends. There's still enough room for programming at the world-wide leader to get your games back there. Versus gives the NHL no presence at all. The studio show has Bill Clement, a great analyst, in the misguided role of host.
Get back to ESPN – even if it's ESPN2 – and get your highlights back on SportsCenter.

Absolutely not. ESPN will come crawling once hockey gets the ratings and the money. More so with all the pot shots coming from ESPN columnists and sportcenter anchors, would it really do the league justice to get back in bed with them? Back in the mid 90s, ESPN did do wonders for hockey with multiple programming and including ESPN national hockey night. They even supplanted the coverage with the now defunct NHL tonight at an hour a night. It was glorious. Since than, the ratings have dwindled and ESPN responded in turn. Moreover, is there really enough room for it in their programming as is? I mean I’m sure there is but let me rephrase it. Is it really possible to devote enough time on the air to the sport? The answer is a resounding no. Moreover, would they really want to work with NHL when Bettman already sold his soul to NBC? Negative kemosobe. Espn/ABC would only be involved if the deal with NBC is through. Look Versus, isn't special and does a lot of things wrong but jeez they do a lot of things right too. As they get more accustomed to having the NHL and getting more programming around it, it will take off. There are a lot of people who don't like ESPN and crave some competition to it. Give Versus time and it may not reach that level but it could be a damn fine alternative to the BOOYAH MTV 2.0 ESPN.

5: Let the skaters in shootouts go without their helmets. In the Sixties and Seventies, we could easily identify Bobby Hull, Jean Beliveau, the flowing locks of Guy LaFleur.
Then safety reared its ugly head, and now we have no idea what these players look like. Most of the regular-season highlights we see of the NHL are from shootouts. Let's see the players. Women will like this one.

I mean I guess they could do this but come on. This isn’t peewee hockey were the players wear a full cage. This is the NHL were for the most part the fans of the team knows what the individual players look like. I would believe women already seem to enjoy the sport of hockey. This could and should be a moot point if the NHL would market its players rather than the just upcoming games.

As Canada does already:

Iginla and Naslund
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn-cH53dDKY

Sundin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4ghL3yWD-I

Naslund and Kolvachuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNtESQFAO3o

Ads like this are awesome and should be done to get the NHL players out there and known. Also i'm sure wearing a helmet goes a long way in not identifying NFL players. Please outside of the general sport newbie, most fans know what the players look like especially the superstars. Do you think the general public cares and wants to know what Ville Niemenen looks like?

6: Eliminate the ability to ice the puck during penalty killing. You can't do it 5-on-5 but you can do it when you're being penalized? Montreal GM Bob Gainey never really thought that made sense and he's right. If they ice it, bring back the puck back for the face-off and the penalty killers have to stay on the ice. What that would do is increase scoring from the game's best players, make power plays more powerful and cut down on penalties which would increase the flow of the game. All of those are good things.

I can understand the logic of this but honestly is this really a big deal? Why change the rules of the game that has lasted this long without alteration. Why must we change these rules for the game for no conceivable reason outside of just making a change? I can see it for consistency sake but if you were to survey fans of hockey this thing would not be anywhere near the things most vital to change. I like the way things are now as is and Powerplays and PKs are as nerve racking as ever. Taking the icing aspect of the shorthanded situations away seems to be too much and would likely shift the balance even more. Is it the worst thing that could happen no? I could actually live with it but it does put way more pressure on defenders and with some of the atrocious calls taking place currently is it really fair to punish teams this much?

7: Adopt the 2-3-2 travel format for all series. Commissioner David Stern did it for the NBA Finals after the 1984 season to ease the travel for newspapers. Those Boston-to-Los Angeles-to-Boston-to Los Angeles-to Boston trips were hard on the budget, not to mention hangovers.
Do it for all series. Increase (even by a fraction) news media coverage of the playoffs. It can't hurt.
I can see how it will help the media but this is an entirely different time and place. In almost 20 years, the landscape has changed. Now a lot of us are able to work from home, check email, send documents and be as if not more productive. With the wall to wall coverage available now this should be nothing but a way for Gm’s to save a couple thousand dollars. I also seem to believe that the 2-3-2 format means less of an advantage for the team with the better record. Think about it. The only games they would have the advantage are would be the first 2. If they happen to blow one of the first games than they are already screwd with 3 straight road games. Chances are that they would be already done. I feel that by going with the 2-2-1-1-1 format, the higher ranked team does get the money games (1,2,5,7) and thus is rewarded with home ice as it should be. While road teams in general are able to win a lot of the times, we shouldn’t disregard a team’s work in the regular season and that team should have the opportunity to benefit from the chances it made for itself.

8: Adopt the shootout after 40 minutes of playoff overtime hockey. Once you get past that point, the hockey gets ugly. Fans need to know that if they stick around until a little after midnight, they are going to see a winner. Networks need to know that, too. They aren't making any money with that long ad-less overtimes.
I would keep unlimited overtime for any game that could decide the Cup Finals.

Suggestions like this make me swear profusely. I’m sorry this is retarded. Let’s change the only good thing about the sport for hick so he can go to bed early. Usually though the effect is just the opposite. I remember staying up to watch Dallas and Vancouver because god dammit I wanted to see a winner. The games are also moving much more rapid because as you point out there are no ads. NHL could easily rectify this by having a company buy ads for the period and just have their logo show up by the scoreboard on TV for a period. Fans know that with playoff overtimes that they will see a winner. Rules of the hockey game should not be changed because 5% of the viewing public has beef with the games. Not to mention, a lot of people also happen to stumble upon the games and watch it when normally they wouldn’t even think about hockey. Playoff hockey is the best thing about sports in general and should not be changed under any circumstances.

9: Move the U.S. league office to Atlanta. Being in New York, the NHL can at least pretend it's a big deal. Bettman and other league officials need to walk the streets of Atlanta or, I don't care, Raleigh or Nashville and learn that nobody knows who they are. It will help them figure out what they have done to the game.

I actually agree with this. What they should even consider is having just their marketing offices down there anyway. These people are the ones that should be receiving much of the persuasion of watching hockey in the first place. Majority speaking, this is the group of people that made NASCAR into something and also voted a moron into office. By being with people in the South or learning about the culture and what attracts them to things, the NHL could finally take advantage and actually reach these people and show them why hockey is such a great sport to begin with. This area also offers the greatest opportunity to strike if they can sway a couple of people’s opinions. Hockey could be huge down there with the speed, hitting and way the new NHL is.

10: Contract to 26 teams. Arrive at a formula based on revenue, attendance, won-lost record and local ratings. The two worst performing teams are dropped and their players are dispersed after next season. Two more go a year later.
Now you have fewer and better teams and you get to see the stars more often and you increase your chances of making the playoffs. Those are good things.
Someone should let Bettman know how his grand plan of "expanding the league's footprint" has really gone.

It is easy for someone in the media or with a blog to simply say to contract a team and than all these problems will be solved. The fact is contraction should only be used as a last resort. No matter how bad the Montreal Expos were with their shoddy attendance, low payroll and general operating in the red, they were never contracted. People seem to think that this league is watered down but there seems to be a lot of talented guys sprouting up all around the place. The game despite what the ratings are saying is growing and revenues increasing. Young players are coming up from Canada, Europe and even the US and becoming key contributors to winning teams displacing the so called watered down talent that arose to the expansion/trap era. Contraction does not solve the ratings issue which is far and way the only major problem people seem to be consistently having with the NHL product.

So Tim thanks for the trying to help but honestly stick to sticking up for hockey on Espn and Around the Horn. You are more good to us that way.

-op

Ducks Win the Cup

2007-06-08T08:05:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to the Anaheim Ducks for winning the Stanley Cup.

Yashin + Free Agent Signings

2007-06-06T12:25:00.001-04:00

It was announced today that the New York Islanders would buy out the remaining four years on Alexei Yashin’s deal and letting him become a free agent. The move will cost the Islanders $17.6 million total, with a cap hit of $2.2 million over the next eight years (remember, cap hits for contract buyouts are spread over double the remaining life of the existing contract).

This move was necessitated not because of on ice performance, locker room problems, or even finances. No, this move was necessitated by the Islanders fans, the ones Mike Milbury and Charles Wang have managed not to already alienate, being practically ready to storm the gates and have an fashioned lynching and castle burning.

Yashin has been the ire of Islanders fans nearly since he was obtained for Bill Mackult, Zdeno Chara and the 2nd over all pick which was Jason Spezza. In the end, Yashin was worth not even Chara or Spezza straight up.

While his on ice production wasn’t bad, it was worth making the cap max; not even close. Pair that with his constant off ice problems (read as “ego”) and lack of motivation and effort he was constantly faced with a maelstrom of criticism that was well deserved.

However, another part of the ire for Yashin was not totally his fault. Part of it was the legacy of Mike Milbury, who despite ruining the Islanders year after year maintained his job. Yashin was Milbury’s biggest gaff; greater than the Jokinen and Luongo for Kvasha and Parrish deal. In addition to giving up so much for him, Milbury gave Yashin a ridiculous ten year deal for $90 million dollars which he could never live up to.

Wang has done the right thing in listening to the fans for once. After a summer of turmoil where he hired and promptly fired Neil Smith, promoted back up goalie Garth Snow to GM and chased away Islanders great Pat Lafointaine from the front office in a matter of weeks, Wang has finally done something right to give the Islanders good publicity.

With the stepping down of Milbury from his executive position last week, Islanders fans are now rid of their two biggest albatrosses. There will be partying on the Island tonight.

Other Free Agent News

There have been some minor free agent signings this past week that I will add on to this post.

Vancouver resigns Taylor Pyatt 2 years, $3 million
This is about what everyone expected a deal to be for Pyatt. Given a greater role he finally had a break out season scoring 26 goals playing on the second line. The deal is fair for both sides involved, and the Canucks will look for Pyatt to give them additional secondary scoring next year also.

Toronto resigns Nik Antropov 2 years, $4 million
Antropov had a good year for Toronto scoring 18 goals and 15 assists, his highest point totals yet. But $2 million for Antropov is too much. He made only $1 million this past season and no way should Ferguson have doubled his pay day. To me this proves that last years spending was not a fluke and Ferguson just doesn’t know how to spend money. Look for him to be replaced after this year if the Leafs fail to make the playoffs again.

-Jordan

Alfredsson's Actions not Surprising

2007-06-05T22:40:00.000-04:00

There is quite a bit of buzz about Daniel Alfredsson’s attempted injuring of Scott Niedermayer via a slap shot at the end of the second period of last nights game. Many showed surprised that a Captain, especially one as cool and collected as Alfredsson would so such a thing.

Me? I am not surprised one bit. This kind of action fits right into Alfredsson’s character. It’s a sleaze move from a sleaze player.

You need to watch Alfredsson during games. Watch him closely. There are a few things you will notice.

1) He cheap shots. When players backs are turned he will strike with a slash, elbow, sucker punch or whatever else comes to mind. When faced with confrontation he turns tail like the true coward he is. Watch especially close during scrums where a player on the other team is already occupied with someone else and he will get a shot in at them, knowing they can’t retaliate.

2) He dives. Alfredsson isn’t weak, yet he always falls to the ice. When he wants he can hold another player off the puck, but when it suits his purpose more he falls to the ground like a rag doll. I’m surprised Sweden hasn’t contacted him for their Olympic diving team.

3) He complains. And complains, and complains. When he doesn’t get his way he pulls a Chelios and continues to whine on like a five year old. This goes beyond his captaincy duty of talking to the refs.

4) He’s a hypocrite. Well, you won’t really see this watching him on the ice but instead listening to his comments after the game. He often whines about other players, says they dove, cheap shotted etc. etc. when he is one of the kings at it.

Here’s what I am getting at. Alfredsson is not the great clean respectful leader he is made out to be. Yes, he is a good player and long time captain of the Senators. But when you listen to his words, and watch his actions on the ice, you will see he is a rather despicable person. I know Ottawa fans will be quick to defend his actions, and believe his outright lie about the puck getting caught in his skates, but the truth is: Ottawa can do much better for a captain. In fact, of all the captains in the NHL, I think he would be the last I choose.

Alfredsson’s actions surprised many, but when you truly pay attention to him, you will see this is nothing out of the ordinary and it is, and always has been, the kind of player he is.

-Jordan

Obligatory Bettman/NBC Suck Post

2007-05-31T18:33:00.000-04:00

A couple weekends ago, we were witnessed to one of the first time occurrences in the history of sports. A game which initially started on network TV on NBC was flopped around to Versus to show the remaining 10 minutes of an overtime period. What was so vital that NBC had to have hockey pulled. Why horseracing pregame!

I’m sure that people needed to be informed about what’s going on and which horse took the longest pregame shit but seriously. The conditions of the track are indeed important but

In one of the dumbest things that I have ever seen NBC took away from one of the most exciting moments in sport: playoff hockey sudden death overtime. Why on earth did Bettman agree to such an arrangement after all. What has NBC brought the NHL to warrant receiving half of the money being brought in by advertising?

For a brief couple of minutes, the fans of the NHL were puzzled. Flipping back between horseracing and the strongman contest or whatever was on was not a position we want to be in. The pundits will point to the fact that the Preakness’s ratings are double or even triple what the NHL would have gotten is indeed true. Frankly, though a big no shit should apply to this also. If hockey was on 3 times a year, I’m sure the ratings would be fine too. This is not the case obviously but with the ratings for the sport on the verge of being irrelevant within 30 years. Not to mention that horseracing seems to have relevance only to the gambling fiends and big-wig 60 something owners who care less about the actual horse and jockey and more about profit margins. Not to mention the biggest star horse racing was euthanized last year and is now spawning multiple made for tv movies on NBC and even HBO. Let’s also not forget about those diehard Strongman fans who missed out on who lifted the sedan with his neck and who won this weeks competition. While this debate has been turned into Hockey vs. Horseracing the real idiot in all of this is Bettman.

One of the many things that makes the NHL playoffs so glorious to many is the fact that one game could on until the early am. The tension, the drama and the heroes are long remembered by not only fans of the respective teams but also by casual fans. Heck, the long OT games are the only reason these games even show up on sportscenter. This is just horrendous planning by both Bettman. How can this sport not get a dedicated spot on TV to ensure that we the viewer gets to see the dramatic conclusion?

Sadly, the OT game ended in a mere 10 minutes but the fact remains that Bettman makes these shoddy deals that don’t advertise the sport or the players. How many ads have you seen of NBC promoting the game? Mostly the only ads seem to be advertising the game next week. How in god’s name is that going to attract Joe E. mainstream who has no idea what a Duck or a Senator is or any of the story. Furthermore, why do we only see hockey ads during hockey games and not during any other time. NBC has a boatloads of shows that could all be used to get some backstory of the game. All the ads on NBC simply point to which two teams are playing and on which network.

Watching Bettman continue to find his White whale is indeed a painful spectacle to endure. The NHL seemingly blew its chance to thrust this sport into the limelight during that brief moment in 1994. Moreover, the NHL has been on 3 of the major networks the past 10 years and none of them have stuck.

Sadly this year is a perfect opportunity. The NBA playoffs have been painfully average at best with the notorious defensive teams reigning supreme. We could have used a 7 game Buffalo and Ottawa series but alas it wasn’t meant to be. The playoffs have been solid but alas hockey continues to bumble around in the forest like a toppling tree with no one around. Will it make a sound?

According to the ratings the answer is sadly no.

-op

Messier Announces his Leadership Award is Worthless

2007-05-30T19:40:00.001-04:00

Today Mark Messier confirmed that his Messier Leadership Award is in fact useless and full of crap as he announced that Chris Chelios has won the award for the year.

And no, this is not a fake entry.

I can honestly say without a doubt the Messier Award is a complete crock now.

If there is anyone who doesn’t deserve a leadership award it Chelios. Yes, he may be a great player, yes he may wear the ‘A’ for many years, but when you look at the guy, he is nothing close to a leader. Chelios is a whiner.

Throughout his career Chelios has constantly complained to anyone within ear length when things don’t go his way. Like a spoiled five year old he wants things his way and will gripe and cry until he gets it. Proof? Take Ted Saskin, the recently disposed NHLPA head. Chelios didn’t like his hire, so for two years complained how unfair it was he was hired, it wasn’t legit etc. It didn’t matter the rest of the players unanimously voted him in, or that a court threw out his suite. No, he had to keep pushing until he got what he wanted.

Further proof he is not a leader? Take game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Where was he during the handshake? Well, our good old boy ran off to the locker room in a hissy fit like a spoiled little brat who can’t stand to lose. How is that anything close to leadership? That is about the most juvenile, not to mention unprofessional thing a player can do. No one likes to lose, yet the rest of his team managed to do what he couldn’t: show respect.

Chris Chelios is a 45 your old man, middle aged for god’s sake, and he acts like a five year old on a constant basis.

I’m sorry, but a leader should act his age.

And to you Mark Messier, really, for as much praise as you get you should know better than to choose someone who shows the opposite of what your award is about.

Then again, I guess that’s why your award is meaningless now, isn’t it?

-Jordan

GM Rankings

2007-05-17T12:15:00.001-04:00

1) Bryan Burke, Ana.
Burke didn’t lose a step after being fired from Vancouver, and has gone on a bit of a rampage in his return. He has acquired two perennial Norris candidates in Pronger and Niedermayer, giving him the deadliest top defensive pairing in the league. His refusal (profanity laced as he so called it) to trade away young players is very smart in the new cap environment. While the Ducks had a strong base before his arrival, he has only made it better.

2) Darryl Sutter, Cgy.
Sutter knows what he wants and he goes out and gets it. He has maintained a strong defense since he took over the gm job (with few all stars on it also) and has slowly built the offense up, especially this year acquiring Tanguay and Conroy in separate deals. He always gets fair values for his deals and has managed to keep the core intact.

3) David Poile, Nsh.
For eight years now Poile has stuck to his plan of building through the draft. While some free agent help post-lockout has helped, the Preds are still full of young, integral players that have yet to hit their potential helping the team, so when they do lose guys via free agency, they still have plenty waiting in the wings. His patience is limitless as Barry Trotz still remains behind the bench. That is a good job.

4) Lou Lamoriello, NJ
I know I tend to be harsh when it comes to Lou, but much of that comes from countering people not being able to see past the fact he is who he is and actually bothering to analyze what he does. And I have never denied he is a good GM. Please see my previous article “Over Rated Lou” for why he is 4th.

5) Doug Wilson, SJ
While Dean Lombardi laid a solid foundation with the Sharks, Wilson ahs continued to keep the team going strong. He had no problem in going out to fill his deadline needs acquiring Guerin and Rivet, and in the off season signed Mike Grier and got a 1st round pick form New Jersey to take Malakov off their hands. He continues to draft well as San Jose is currently the youngest team in the NHL. And let’s not forget that Thornton deal either.

6) George McPhee, Wsh.
If you need to get maximum value for trading away soon to be free agents, look up McPhee, George for information (for the opposite, look up Patrick, Craig). McPhee has stockpiled a bevy of picks and prospects since the roster blowup he was ordered to do years ago, and no matter who it is he deals, he continues to get a strong return even though he deals from a position of weakness. You have to give the guy credit for that.

7) Darcy Regier, Buf.
I’m still not totally sold on Regier. His team was built for the new rules, yes, but lest we forget that the Sabres were bottom feeders before then. Some say he was smart to have few salaries committed, but it is going to catch up, as they lost McKee last year, and could potentially lose Briere ad Drury this year (though doubtful both will be gone). Still, I do not think he is bad by any means and seems to be making the most of what he has to work with now. Plus many of his draft picks are stepping up and filling roster spots.

8) Dave Nonis, Van.
It’s a bit hard to judge Nonis. He inherited some good things and some bad, but largely had a roster he was not able to keep together post lockout. But give him credit: he stole one of the best goalies in the league in Luongo.

9) Doug Armstrong, Dal.
Until the deadline Armstrong had treaded cautiously in the new economic landscape, only added depth players instead of big name free agents. He did trade for Mattias Norstrom from the Kings, a move very few expected. Dallas was a big spending team before the lockout so I think Armstrong still needs another year to see how he deals with an aging core of players to see what he can really do. But so far he hasn’t done anything stupid.

10) John Muckler, Ott.
When is the last time Muckler brought in someone at the deadline that actually mattered? How about a good free agent signing? But then again he has had quite a bit of success at the draft and his unwillingness to sign or trade for big name guys has allowed him to keep most of his team together.

11) Ken Holland, Det.
You might be asking how Holland is so far down on this list? Well, take a look at some of the core: Hasek, Schneider and Lidstrom. All are past their mid 30’s and there is a heavy reliance on them. You can say Holland was smart to bring in Hasek, but he only did so because he lost out on the Gerber bidding (which I am sure he and Red Wings fans are thoroughly glad of now). Holland remains largely inactive in free agency and the team does need to get younger, as at some point it will catch up.

12) Francois Giguere, Col.
Let me start off by saying I felt Pierre Lacroix was a very over rated GM. Giving away young talent to land the top dollar guys like Blake and throwing large contracts at others because you can afford it when others can't doesn’t make you good. And now Giguere is paying for Lacroix’s mistakes. It’s hard to tell how good a job Giguere has done as he is still sorting out a mess. However, what deals he has done (like the Tanguay deal, signing Brisbois and Turgeon) don’t seem to pan out.

13) Bob Gainey, Mtl.
Gainey’s two big moves in his tenure have been trading for Alexei Kovalev and signing Sergei Samsanov. Kovalev hasn’t been the same since he left Pittsburgh and the Samsanov signing has been well documented on every front to be bad. Though he does get kudos for getting a 1st rounder and a prospect for Craig Rivet.

14) *Paul Holmgren, Phi.
Holmgren inherited a mess but has done a good job in cleaning it up. He has rid the Flyers of enough dead weight that he now has $24 million to spend in the off season (and while he wont spend it all, look for some key players to be added). He has gotten some good returns with the dealings of Zhitnik and Forsberg to further bolster a strong (but struggling) score of young players. Philadelphia’s turn around could be very quick.

15) *Ray Shero, Pit.
Like other rookie GM’s telling how much Shero has really done is questionable (especially after what he inherited). But he did do something that his predecessor Craig Patrick never did: added lower line depth. His was something that had killed the Pens for years as Patrick only plugged in what mediocre player/prospect was available into the lower lines. Shero immediately went and filled it out with role players who added much needed defense from the forward lines. The defense is still weak but with the outrageous prices in the summer its hard to blame him for not over paying. Plus he did decide to take Jordan Staal.

16) *Garth Snow, NYI
We all laughed when Snow was named GM, but it seems the laugh is on us. Snow has done a good job in his role, landing Smyth and getting younger talant for old (a la Meyer for Zhitnik). He has succeeded all expectations, meaning Could owner Charles Wang actually be right about something?

17) Kevin Lowe, Edm
Lowe gets credit for making the deals that got them to the finals last year, though his inability to get any defensemen in the off season to replace the losses of Pronger and Spacek nearly counter that. He was forced to deal away Smyth at the deadline but got a potential bounty in return. How he fares this off season could signify how good he truly is.

18) *Dean Lombardi, LA
Lombardi wasted no time in rebuilding the Kings. After years of mediocrity he blew up the roster to start over again. He dealt captain Norstrum to Dallas for a hefty return, and landed prized prospect Jack Johnson from Carolina. As he had good success with drafting in San Jose, look for him to make good use of the picks he has acquired.

19) Glen Sather, NYR
I actually thought Sather did good in the off season by signing the likes of Cullen and Ward to boost his roster. Neither panned out (Cullen has struggled, Ward traded due to his feud with Jagr). His only deadline pick up was Avery who has been very helpful so far. However, it still doesn’t seem like Sather has regained his form from his Edmonton days, and I doubt he will at this point.

20) Jim Rutherford, Car.
Rutherford got lucky his team succeeded with the new rules, as he stood by and watched as affordable players such as Matt Cullen and Aaron Ward departed. He did little to shore up for those losses, and traded away one of the best defensive prospects in Jack Johnson to the Kings. His activity at the deadline consisted of getting Anson Carter who proved to be of no use at all. He just got an extension from the Hurricanes so obviously they hold him in higher regard than myself.

21) Larry Pleau, StL.
I have never been a fan of Pleau, always feeling he overpaid for such talent as Weight and Tkachuck. And while they are good players, I never really considered either elite, while he always gave up a good chunk of the future to get them (for just Tkachuk Handzus and Nagy). He has redeemed himself somewhat this year and last by stockpiling first round picks for veteran talent like Weight (who he then resigned), Guerin (who many gave up on) and Tkachuk. Though he could have done better in the Pronger deal.

22) Don Waddell, Atl.
For years Atlanta has needed defense and Waddell has done little about it. Yes he got Zhitnik, but he also dealt Vishnevsky away and their best defensive prospect in Coburn. Atlanta is also very top heavy with Kovulchuk and Hossa, and the $4.5 million dollar deal he handed to Holik could have been spent better elsewhere. I also think he gave up too much for Tkachuk like many others do.

23) Doug Risebrough, Min.
I know part of Risebrough’s inactivity is due to having an expansion team, but honestly I’m not big on the deals he handed out this summer. Getting Demitra was good, but he overpaid both Parrish and Jonsson to sign and they were both lengthy contracts. A lot of this teams success cans till be attributed to coach Lemaire and not Risebrough.

24) John Ferguson, Tor
Fergeson doesn’t seem to realize that in a cap world you don’t throw money at players just to get them. He overpaid for Kubina and Gill who have done little to bolster the Leafs this year. Antropov is finally starting to earn some of his pay, but $1 million is still a bit steep. He also massively overpaid for Perrault at the deadline. Don’t expect his habits to get any better after this year.

25) *Jacques Martin, Fla.
It is truly hard to judge Martin. He inherited a mess from Mike Keenan (who left the bloodiest trail yet of his career) and has coaching duties to boot. Not much can be said of what he has done or is capable of doing, so he is at this ranking because he has yet to prove he is better than the aforementioned or worse than those after him.

26) *Peter Chiarelli, Bos.
I wrote an article a few months back about Chiarelli called “Put up or shut up.” To sum it up: if you’re going to trade someone, do it and don’t run your mouth to the media. And trading someone because they will be a UFA doesn’t count. In the end I was pretty much right as he dealt away Stuart and Primeau but managed to keep Sturm. He also dealt away Boyes for a young defenseman that will probably not have the same kind of impact Boyes can.

27) Dale Tallon, Chi.
Tallon has the unfortunate GM job of working under Bill Wirtz, NHL (and possibly pro sports) worst owner. In order to get any name free agents he was forced to overpay for them. His mistakes have showed as rumors consistently fly about Aucoin and Khabibuin, and after a year he bought out Barnaby and Brown. While he isn’t given much to work with, he really hasn’t made much of what he has.

28) Doug McLean, CBJ
McLean does try, I’ll give him that much. He’s always trying to add some smaller pieces to make the team better, but it hasn’t worked out so well. They have a strong core with Nash, Zherdev and Leclaire in goal, but luck hasn’t been on their side. Leclaire and Berard were injured and Carter never panned out. The only things he had to deal at the deadline was stuff no one wanted. McLean has been let go by Columbus and I don’t really see him getting another GM job after this. His firing had no impact on these ratings.

29) Jay Feaster, TB
If you want a model of how not to spend money in the cap era, Jay Feaster is your man. He gave in to the big three’s demands, all landing about a million more dollars than they should have (but granted Vinny is earning his pay this year). Add in Boyle and Denis (who his trade for I still defend) and over half his payroll is gone. Rumor is Tampa is looking to spend less for the upcoming season, which will further hurt Feaster’s ability to build up the defense he needs. Giving up a first rounder for an average young defenseman wasn’t a very good move either.

30) Mike Barnett, Phx.
I have made it no secret that I feel Barnett is mostly responsible for the Coyotes failures. He has yet to learn you can’t keep changing roster in real life like you do in NHL 2K7. Every year he is active in the off season and the deadline, and every year they continue to be mediocre. Here is a hint Mike: stop making so many changes! But it’s too late as he was part of the Phoenix house cleaning in the front office. I can assure, and my previous posts on him will back up, I ranked him here long before he was canned.

NHL Awards Nominees

2007-05-03T11:44:00.000-04:00

The NHL listed their awards finalists for the 2006-2007 season. Here they are:

CALDER MEMORIAL TROPHY:
Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins- the kid has a ton of talent and showed why he as the 2nd over all pick. 85 points and 17th scoring in the league isn’t bad either.
Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins- he came from nowhere and proved better defensively than most veterans. More short handed goals than anyone in the NHL
Paul Stastny, Colorado Avalanche- set a rookie record for consecutive games with a point by a rookie, and did it on a non-playoff team

Predicted winner: Evgeni Malkin
Who should win: Evgeni Malkin

FRANK J. SELKE TROPHY:
Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes- starting to seem ageless, and he scores to boot
Samuel Pahlsson, Anaheim Ducks- enough respect for you Mr. Burke?
Jay Pandolfo, New Jersey Devils- I’m sorry, but without the Devils systems and being paired with Madden he wouldn’t even be considered. I do not think he belongs on this list.

Predicted winner: Samuel Pahlsson
Who should win: Samuel Pahlsson

HART MEMORIAL TROPHY:
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils- can still be dominate
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins- Art Ross in your sophomore year at 19? Ridiculous
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks- no Luongo, no playoffs. Simple as that

Predicted winner: Roberto Luongo
Who should win: Sidney Crosby

JACK ADAMS AWARD:
Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres- even with injuries they keep going strong
Michel Therrien, Pittsburgh Penguins- 47 point jump 4th greatest in NHL history, and did it with a bunch of kids
Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canucks- utilized what he had more than any other coach

Predicted Winner: Lindy Ruff
Who should win: Alain Vignault

JAMES NORRIS MEMORIAL TROPHY:
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Red Wings- would you guess this guy is 37?
Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks- not many people get better at his age
Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks- it doesn’t matter what team he is on, he still dominates

Predicted winner: Nicklas Lidstrom
Who should win: Nicklas Lidstrom

LADY BYNG MEMORIAL TROPHY:
Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings- I think the term “nice guy” comes from him
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche- always the consummate professional
Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning- has he ever done anything bad on the ice?

Predicted winner: Joe Sakic
Who should win: Joe Sakic

LESTER B. PEARSON AWARD:
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins- even if he had no talent, he’s still be the hardest worker in the league
Vincent Lecavalier, Tampa Bay Lightning- finally elevating his game to the dominant level and was a danger 5 on 5, on the power play and a man down
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks- how many of the Canucks wins were solely because of him?

Predicted winner: Vincent Lecavalier
Who should win: Sidney Crosby

VEZINA AWARD:
Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils- 48 wins and 12 shutouts. Damn.
Henrik Lunqvist- had another solid year though only a sophomore (I think it is a bit of a stretch to nominate him though)
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks- 47 wins on a team with no offense is pretty damn good
Mikka Kiprussoff, Calgary Flames- carried the Flames on his back again

Predicted Winner- Martin Brodeur
Who should win: Roberto Luongo

Calgary Off Season Outlook

2007-04-28T13:26:00.000-04:00

The Flames departed the post season in the first round and now are left with questions as to what free agents, both restricted and unrestricted, they should keep. After many players failed to show up against the Red Wings these questions are being looked at even closer.

Per Spector’s Trade Rumors, these are the Calgary free agents going into the summer:

Unrestricted
Tony Amonte, Craig Conroy, Brad Ference, Jeff Friesen, Roman Hamrlik, Darren McCarty, Jamie McLennan, Marcus Nilson, Wayne Primeau, Byron Ritchie, Brad Stuart

Restricted (of interest)
Eric Godard, David Hale, Matt Lombardi, Richie Regher

Per HockeyAnalysis.com this is what the Flames cap situation looks like (link: http://www.hockeyanalysis.com/?page_id=331 )

(salaries are for this year and the following the years)

Jarome Iginla
7,000,000
7,000,000

Alex Tanguay
5,250,000
5,250,000
5,250,000

Roman Hamrlik
3,500,000

Miikka Kiprusoff
3,333,000
3,333,000

Daymond Langkow
2,500,000
2,500,000

Craig Conroy
2,394,000
2,394,000

Rhett Warrener
2,350,000
2,350,000
2,350,000

Brad Stuart
2,150,000

Robyn Regehr
1,900,000
1,900,000

Tony Amonte
1,850,000

Jeff Friesen
1,600,000

Stephane Yelle
1,550,000
1,550,000

Kristian Huselius
1,500,000
1,500,000

Andrei Zyuzin
1,400,000
1,400,000

Marcus Nilson
1,368,000

Wayne Primeau
1,125,000

Matthew Lombardi
800,000

Darren McCarty
800,000

Jamie McLennan
575,000

Dion Phaneuf
471,200

Mark Giordano
450,000

Eric Godard
450,000

(Numbers below will be addressed in the millions).

It seems that the Flames have been happy with the play of deadline acquisition of Brad Stuart, who though managed only five assists was a +10 opposed to a –13 with Boston. Sutter likes a strong defense more than anything, so he will want to retain two free agents in Stuart and Roman Hamrlik.

Stuart made $2.15 million and will look to double that if not more. Hamrlik, while still effective is starting his down turn but regardless is still a valuable member of the Flames blue line. He made $3.50 million and will look for that, if not slightly less.

Two players that are most assuredly not returning will by Tony Amonte ($1.85) and Jeff Friesen ($1.50). Neither provided much to the team and both are fading fast. That will leave an additional $3.35 million to work with. Per TSN, Lombardi has already agreed to an extension, but the amount is unknown. It will presumably be a raise over his $.80 this year.

Wayne Primeau did play well in his time at Calgary, but he is easily replaceable and definitely at less than the $1.125 million he makes. Darren McCarty also had a sub-par season, in great deal due to injuries that seem to be catching up to him, so his $.80 will most likely be freed also.

So already there is $4.15 guaranteed space between Amonte, Friesen and McCarty.

However, Nilsson is most likely going to be retained and Phaneuf absolutely will be. He will be seeking a large raise over his rookie deal, and expect no less than $3 million per year (and that’s being generous). This leaves Calgary that $4.15 to retain three key members of their blue line. However, all of that could end up be spent on just Phaneuf alone.

The biggest problem looms next year though. Both Captain Iginla and goaltender Kiprusoff will be due new contracts. Kipper will definitely be seeking a raise over his $3.33 after multiple all star appearances and strong playoff showings. Iginla makes $7.00 and will probably be reluctant to take less and Kiprusoff may seek $6.00+ for his next deal.

But the thing is the two best players aren’t the only two up for contract the following year. The rest include other key members like Regehr, Huselius, Langkow, Yelle and Zyuzin. Regehr will definitely want more than his $1.90 deal and he is too key a member of the defense to give up.

To sum up don’t expect Calgary to be active in free agency, and don’t expect them to retain all their free agents. I would say it’s likely one of Stuart or Hamrlik will not return due to budget constraints. And while there is already talk of Iginla being dealt next year, and if faced with the choice of deadline Iginla or Kiprussof I would take Kiprussof, I wont be surprised if Sutter finds room for both.

-Jordan

Tampa's Big 3 Not Going Anywhere

2007-04-24T12:13:00.001-04:00

The recent news of Tampa wanting to cut their payroll has once again sent the trade rumors into overdrive concerning the Big Three of Lecavalier, Richards and St. Louis. I can assure that none of these three will be dealt.

St. Louis and Richards both have no trade clauses and enjoy being in Tampa where both have won a cup and became top players in the league. So even if Feaster was to work out a deal for them chances are they would decline to be moved.

That leaves Lecavalier. He is the only one of the three who does not have a NTC, but as long as Feaster is GM he might as well. Everytime a rumor pops up Feaster reiterates he refuses to be the guy who goes down in history as having dealt Lecavalier (for those that don’t remember, Vinny was incredibly hyped during his draft year). In addition he has become the Bolts best player, elevating his game to a dominant level and earning his large contract. He became extremely clutch this year and emerged as the Lightnings go to guy in nearly every situation.

So with these three gone, who does that leave for Feaster to trim? Fedotenko has already said he will not return which is of no surprise given his declining play since 2004, which frees up $1.65 million. Dan Boyle’s name comes up, but he is their best defenseman and also has a NTC, so he will not be dealt.

The name becoming more frequent is that of goaltender Marc Denis. Denis was supposed to be the stabilizing factor in the goaltending equation, but his sub-par play only unbalanced it even more. Johan Holmqvist, who was supposed to be the back up, took the starters job. With a salary of over $3 million the next two years, Denis will be unmovable. Head coach John Tortoralla smartly stated that Holmqvist isn’t the de facto starter next season, hoping Denis can rebound.

So who does this leave for the Bolts to trim that would have a significant impact? Maybe Prospal, but that is really it. With a lack of secondary scoring expect him to be retained. This brings us back to people who will continue to suggest one of the big three will get dealt.

Look, two of these guys are untradable just from clauses in their contract. All three have a hefty salary that other teams most likely either cannot afford to bring on or do not have the cap space to do so. Lecavalier is the most important player on the team and won the Rocket Richard trophy.

These three are not going anywhere.
-Jordan

League Happenings

2007-04-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

Phoenix clears house, including GM Mike Barnett
I have long been a proponent for getting rid of Barnett in Phoenix (and as you will see in my GM rankings coming soon, he is at the bottom regardless of being canned) as he just doesnt know how to handle a roster. This is the best off season move the Coyotes could have made. The next best? The one that wont happen: Gretzky removed from behind the bench. He will most liekly follow up this year with another dissapointing season then step away saying something like "i'm not doing as well as i thought" or "my passion isnt in the right place" or some other BS excuse trying to cover for the fact he is not a good coach. He wont be fired because he's Wayne though.

Blue Jackets fire GM Doug McLean
Much like Barnett, the firing of McLean was expected after multiple poor seasons. His failure to elevate the Blue Jackets in any way from their expansion days sealed his fate. The only imrpovements have come in the way of high draft picks, but that will only take you so far. Look for some player changes this coming off season.

Prediction: Waddell next to go
The Thrashers entered the playoffs for the first time, making to desperation moves in getting Keith Tkachuk and Alexei Zhitnik at the deadline. And in spectacular fashion they rolled over and died with little more than a whimper. The big guns of Atlanta failed to produce in any way, and Waddell, who was under scrutiny this year, will most likely be the one to get the ax, especially after the prices he paid to get the deadline players. I think with a new GM you will see an overhaul of the team, with the likes of Tkachuk and Holik, both high salaries and little production in the playoffs, will be gone and the money spent elsewhere.

Red Wings sign Pavel Datsyuk to 7 years 47 million
I dont think anyone will deny Datsyuk is a major talent, but this is too much for him. Yes, he is good and he is having a decent palyoff right now, the first of his career, but let's be hoenst: Datsyuk is not a dominate player. Talented, yes, flashy at times, yes. But how often is it that he can single handedly take over a game? Very rarely. This much money should be reserved for players who will night in and night out have a major affect on the momentum of a game (like Crosby, Lecavalier) and I just dont see that with Datsyuk.

-Jordan

Canes and Oilers Fates no Surprise

2007-04-11T12:28:00.000-04:00

Both the Stanley Cup champions and runner up failed to make the post season this year. Many are acting shocked, but honestly, was this really that big of a surprise?

We’ll start with the Oilers. Things almost literally went bad from day one when their best player Chris Pronger asked for a trade for family reasons. The man who was probably the biggest reason they got to the finals up and left the team, dealing not only a blow to the teams blue line, but also their morale. This was compacted by the Oilers inability to lure any free agent defensemen, or land one in return for Pronger, during the off season as arguably their second best defenseman in Jaroslav Spacek would not resign with them.

With a weakened blue line and what many perceived as a stab in the back by Pronger things already were looking down, but not bleak. As the year progressed injuries to key players like Ales Hemsky, playoff hero Fernando Pisani and Ethan Moreau things just kept getting worse. So desperate for replacements was Kevin Lowe he claimed Petr Nedved off waivers whom the Flyers had placed one wiavers several times with no takers.

But the thing is, of the playoff heroes in Hemsky, Pisani and goaltender Dwayne Roloson, you have to look at how good these three really are. Hemsky is a skilled speedy forward yes, but not approaching all star caliber. Pisani has never achieved much in the regular season, and it was believed (as shown by his multi-million dollar contract) he could continue his torrid playoff scoring into next season. Not to my surprise he failed to do so, often not being much of a factor on the Oilers offense. Roloson is 37, and at this point you can't expect him to get any better, nor really play at the high level he did during the playoffs.

Too much faith was put into players playoff performance as it was assumed they could all repeat those next year. Never assume. Lowe did and it came back to bite them as many underachieved.

The final blow came at the trade deadline. Unable to reach a deal with Ryan Smyth, he was dealt to the Islanders for picks and prospects. This ripped the heart out of the team and the ship quickly sunk, winning only three games in their last twenty one.

The Hurricanes were a bit different. They came from nowhere to win the cup, almost everyone predicting they would be bottom feeders that year (myself included). Instead the new rules helped them immensely and they became an eastern powerhouse before anyone knew it.

One of the Canes strengths was that their talent was spread out. This was hurt by the departures of Aaron Ward and Matt Cullen. While not severe blows, both were good players that contributed.

The Canes also made the mistake of believing their players would all playa t the same high level during the playoffs. But players such as Eric Staal and Cam Ward, arguably two of their most valuable players in the playoffs, both had sub-par years, while Rod Brind’Amour suffered through injuries during stretches.

But the biggest problem was that the canes no longer surprised anyone. As I said earlier they were expected to be bottom feeders and took everyone by surprise. This year everyone knew what to expect, and add the stigma of being a cup champion played the Canes even tougher. Without their element of surprise the Canes never performed to the same level.

Injuries helped put an end to the Canes season as various players were out during periods, in particular Frantisek Kaberle and Cory Stillman.

But when it boils down to it, were the Canes not massive over achievers last year? All the regular season and playoffs they were seen as underdogs, even when winning. Yet in the end they won. This season they were favored and failed to live up to their play last year.

So while many remained surprised at how these two teams faired, I can honestly say I am not. The Oilers had trouble written all over them since the Pronger ordeal and the Canes were over achievers, but many refused to acknowledge either.

Now both are setting up tee times for the summer.
-Jordan

Julien Fired

2007-04-02T20:38:00.001-04:00

In a move that surprised everyone, the Devils fired Claude Julien as their head coach today and Lou Lamoriello will once again sit behind the bench as he did for last years playoffs.

Lou claims he didn’t like where the team was going, but did not elaborate further. Speculation is that Julien was being too nice to his players or that they lost faith in him (supposedly Gomez said he refused to play for Julien anymore). But take all with a grain of salt.

I have to say I don’t agree with this move. I’ve heard some Devil’s fans complain about how he didn’t shut down other teams enough, but let’s not forget: the Devils are second in the East, and they’ve done that while having injuries to key players at nearly every point this year. Yet despite this they are the second best team in the conference and are getting key players like Gionta back for the playoffs. But apparently this wasn’t enough to keep him from getting fired.

After this firing I have to ask: do the Devils even need a coach anymore?

Despite Lou being the longest tenured NHL GM, his coaches all have the shortest tenure. For you Lou Lovers, if this guy is so good why does he go through coaches like underwear?

But for the pat ten plus years the Devils style of play has not changed. No matter who the coach is the on ice product is never any different. Take one coach out, just pop another in like a spare tire and you never know the difference. I am actually going to go as far as say the Devil’s coaching job is nothing more than being a puppet. If the play is the same with any coach then does that coach really have a chance to make any kind of impact? When they can get let go by a GM who is trigger happy with the fired button, do they really want to coach there? Do they even have any say other than line combinations?

Lou should just stay behind the bench. With all the coaches he’s fired in recent years, it’s apparent he doesn’t trust anyone to run his system other than himself. Might as well save the organization some money in severance pay.

-Jordan

Chelios: Portrait of a Whiner

2007-03-12T21:08:00.001-04:00

You would think being the league oldest player would be one of the most mature, but much like his physical aptitude not being that of a 45 year old man, Chris Chelios has managed to completely blow that theory out of the water.

Chelios continues to whine until he gets his way just like he always has. The latest case: Ted Saskin. Chelios has led the dissident faction of about a dozen players since his hire and refuses to stop. He continues to cry and stamp his feet until people give in to his demands.

When the NHLPA accepted a cap, he whined it was Ted Saskin’s fault, ignoring that Bob Goodenow was a major player in those negotiations (though Goodenow resigned, it was before the agreement was officially signed, not before it was negotiated). But Chelios ignores this and still blames Saskin.

After not getting his way with the CBA, Chelios then cried foul on how Saskin was hired. Saskin allowed another voting and he still remained leader of the NHLPA. But this wasn’t good enough for Chelios. He sent the case to a court to try and get Saskin removed.

And like many suspected, the case was thrown out because his points weren’t valid enough. But will that stop the man who has to have his way? Nope. Now enter the e-mail scandal.

Make no mistake, this is Chelios. When Goodenow was in charge, everything was fine because Chelios liked what he did. Now that Saskin is in charge, and hasn’t even had time to do anything not just because of his short time in the position, but because he is constantly preoccupied with constant temper tantrums from 45 year old men, Chelios is now up in arms like when a ref calls a penalty on him (because god forbid he shouldn’t be allowed to clutch and grab).

There is a simple solution to this all: ignore Chelios. He is like a five year old who carries on until he gets his way, and like parents who don’t want to say no to their kids, they keep agreeing. So now the NHLPA has their hands full chasing allegations that if not for one spoiled brat wouldn’t be on their agenda.

But now the NHLPA must deal with the misfit, self absorbed whiner of a teenager they helped to bred. Now their only chance to stop the incessant prattle is to just ignore him. If he has a request, throw it away. If he whines, turn the other way. But just stop listening to him! Every time they give in they give him more power, so now they need to drop these allegations, regardless of their validity, and tell Chelios to shut the #@!& up and play hockey. He is a grown man and it’s time he started acting like one.

It is utterly ridiculous that I hear more whining from a 45 year old man than I do from my 4 year old nephew. Grow up already Chelios.

-Jordan

Simon's Suspension

2007-03-11T20:43:00.000-04:00

The NHL announced that Chris Simon has received a 25 game suspension that will carry over into the playoffs or next season dependent on how many playoff games the Islanders participate in.

There have been mixed opinions on this: some think it is too long and some think it is too short. I myself feel it was appropriate, and I do believe should Simon do anything like this again he should be expelled from the league.

There was no excuse for what he did. You do not cross check another player in the face because you got hit. Granted Hollweg does like to hit people from behind, but even so a cross check to the face is ridiculous, especially for a veteran like Simon.

Sadly, this is more bad press for the NHL, as many out there seem to have the idea that thuggery is rampant in the league. As the hit was blatantly an attempt to injure there is no way to play it off for anything other than what it was.

I am glad the NHL acted as swiftly as it did and handed out a punishment of this caliber. Should it happen again, I do think the NHL should be even sterner in its response to further try and curb the chance of something like this happening again.

-Jordan

General Deadline Thoughts

2007-03-02T17:31:00.000-05:00

With the trade deadline, came a day of refreshing about 10 sites and messageboards in an attempt to hear something heck ANYTHING. Productivity at work was at a low but heck it’s been worse. I was still able to get some stuff done as well as keep in general up to date. So in fitting with the tradition of any douchebag with a website/blog, I will provide my half assed thoughts on the trading deadline. I’m sure you won’t find anything new here just again another douchebag’s opinion…

With the big trades involved, another arms race of sorts happened out west with Guerin to San Jose, Bertuzzi to Detriot and Dallas gaining Norstrom. Of the three, the man that will likely have a big impact will be Guerin. Guerin, having played with Thornton in Boston, should immediately give the Sharks more scoring depth on the wing and provide a solid outlet to either Thornton or Marleau. Giving up a late first round and Ville Niemenen and a prospect seems like a steal for what Guerin can potentially bring.

The Wings also got a good deal for Todd Bertuzzi. Like all trades, this can backfire especially given Bertuzzi’s penchant for being hurt however the soft, small and European filled Redwings needed some grit and toughness and they got that with Bertuzzi. The Redwings need a guy like Bertuzzi to battle in the playoffs against some very good defensive teams. In the past couple of seasons, Detriot has had their trouble against physical teams and with a move like acquiring Todd Bertuzzi, they can regain their hold on the West. Will it happen though, I doubt it. Another underrated move is acquiring, Kyle Calder from Philly/Chicago. More scoring t

Dallas gets Mattias Nortstrom who will already add to a stalwart defensive unit. The Stars are a team that could have used some more scoring despite the recent acquisition of Ladislav Nagy. Nevertheless, the Stars are a sleeper team provided they can continue get great goaltending, solid defense and timely scoring to come out of the West be a conference champion.

Ryan Smyth to the Isles was a surprise move but it will be one of the moves that can propel the Isles into the playoffs. While the isles were a team flying under the radar and getting better as the season progresses, the move by Garth Snow to add a game changer in Ryan Smyth will be gigantic. Most importantly, in an area where the Isles are overshadowed by the consistent Devils and the big market Rangers, the Isles went out of their way to ensure their fan base that they are indeed interested in winning and making a run at this thing. Losing Nilsson can hurt but gaining Smyth and maybe keeping him after the season ends would be a wonderful shot in the arm to a recently uninspiring franchise.

The Buffalo sabers getting rid of Biron may have cost them in my eyes. The Biron and Miller tandem was by far the best in the league and provided tremendous insurance for the Slugs if Miller gets hurt/playing level drops off. Unfortunately, I don’t get the rationale in trading Biron for a pick. With Buffalo you have a team with some injuries which will greater hamper Buffalo stretch run. Why not use Biron to acquire some form of talent is indeed puzzling. Regardless or not, if that 2nd was the best they could for him is great but you have holes on your team now and by not trying to rectify that I’m surprised. Zubrus for Novotny was a shrewd move though. Zubrus can add some size and some skill level to the Sabres’ run.

I can’t argue with what Atlanta did in acquiring Keith Tkachuk and Zhitnik but the price was a bit much. Maybe they overpayed for Tkachuk, but they had to make the playoffs this year after the promise Wadell made last year. Especially, once again, the Thrashers got off to such a hot start and started to falter around the break but this is pure panic to save face. I wouldn’t be against making that kindof of move of trading mass quantities of picks but maybe you could tried to get Forsberg rather than using a converted winger as a center.

By not trading anyone, Carolina with their glut of dmen really didn’t seem to think that acquiring some more forwards could help. Maybe that’s fine and who knows they have a good shot to do some damage again in the playoffs but with Brindamour being one year older, Staal struggling and Justin Williams playing over his head further help could have been acquired.

I really like the Flyers are doing in their rebuilding mode. By acquiring some solid young defensive prospects in Coburn and Parent, and hording draft picks like they, STL, and other teams are doing, we should be seeing some quick turnarounds relatively for these teams. Also with the salary cap as seen by the Penguins, teams can be “rebuilding” yet magically also be able to turn around their fortunes in a few years. I’m sure drafting Sidney Crosby also helped that. But I fully expect a quick turnaround for the Flyers..for the Blues not so much.

As usual, though things are interesting enough as we enter the final month and a half to the playoffs. After the season ends, we can officially give teams grades but hey atleast we don’t have to hear from the hockeybuzz.com idiot.

Cheers Mates!

-OP

Deadline Roundup

2007-02-27T21:03:00.000-05:00

Ok, due to limited time, I am only going to post on the major deals that occurred. Maybe if I get some extra time I will add the minor deals but it is doubtful.

To Islanders: Ryan Smyth
To Edmonton: Ryan O'Marra, Robert Nilsson, 1st round pick

Unable to reach a deal with their captain Kevin Lowe dealt away the heart of the team. In return he got Robert Nilsson and Ryan O’Marra both first round picks along with a first rounder in this years draft. It’s a good return and leaves the Oilers with a lot of potential.

The Islanders made the surprise move for him, when the only move they were expected to make was deal away Jason Blake. Isles fans should be happy, as Smyth is not only a great leader and player, but it shows the Isles are far from giving up on the playoffs.

I have to give Kudos to Garth Snow. We all laughed when he was named GM, but he has done a very good job.

To Detroit: Todd Bertuzzi
To Florida: Shawn Matthias, and two conditional picks (per TSN: If Bertuzzi signs with Detroit when he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July, the Red Wings will part with one pick this year and another next year).

It wasn’t a total surprise, but I am sure Panther fans let out a collective groan. All that is left of the deal that took away their all star goalie is Bryan Allen, a prospect and a pick or two. Ouch.

Detroit gets the scoring winger they’ve been seeking, well at least if he plays. He will also add some grit to their lineup. I have to give the deal to Detroit, even if Bertuzzi is still a few weeks from playing.

To San Jose: Bill Guerin
To St. Louis: Ville Nieminen, Jay Barriball, 1st round pick

The Blues once again made out dealing away a veteran getting grinder Ville Nieminen and a prospect and what will amount to a late round pick.

San Jose gets the additional scoring they were said to be looking for in Bill Guerin, and a guy who isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty. While not a very physical presence, he has no problems getting into the thick of things and taking some hits. This deal leaves the Sharks with no first round picks this year, but they did get everything they wanted.

To Philadelphia: Martin Biron
To Buffalo: 2nd round pick

When I saw this deal, I figured Buffalo would take the pick and flip it for a roster player to help their depleted corps. I was surprised this was it. It’s a good deal for Philly since it is their intent to keep Biron long term, though whether or not he will fizzle out like many Flyers goalies over the last decades remains to be seen.

While the actual return is decent, Buffalo should have either gotten a player in return or keep Biron as insurance in case Miller falters.

To Dallas: Mattias Norstrom, Konstatin Pushkarov, 3rd and 4th round picks in 2007
To LA: Jaroslav Modry, Johan Fransson, 1st round in 2008, 2nd and 3rd in 2007

A very surprising deal, Dallas made a major upgrade on their defense while giving up only one roster player. Norstrom though comes with a $4mm price tag. Regardless, Dallas just became much more dangerous in the west.

The Kings are obviously still rebuilding if they deal their captain, and best defenseman today. They have gotten a good return as Modry is a reliable defenseman and have three more picks with which to add to their growing stock pile of prospects.

To Toronto: Yanic Perrault, 5th round in 2008
To Phoenix: Brendan Bell, 2nd in 2008

A perfect example of a GM on the hot seat who is over paying for a player in order to save his job. Nothing against Perrault, he is having a hell of a year, but a prospect and second is a bit much for him.

Michael Barnett continued to tradition of deadline roster overhauls by dealing away Perrault, Georges Laraque and Oleg Saprykin (covered later). Though granted he did get good return for Perrault, who I am assuming they weren’t able to resign.

Toronto gets the best face off man in the league who is also providing scoring unlike past years. He should be a valuable addition to the Leafs.

To Buffalo: Dainus Zubrus, Timo Helbling
To Washington: Jiri Novotny, 1st round pick in 2007

I have give credit to George McPhee for continuing to get more for his players than they are worth. Don’t be fooled, Zubrus is not that good as most his stats are inflated by Alex Ovechkin, and if he thinks he will get a 4-5 year deal for $3+ million he is only kidding himself.

Zubrus will be nothing more than a plug for Buffalo, but he should suffice for what they need. They gave up far too much though, as I am not sure Zubrus is worth more than Novotny straight up.

I have to rate this deal as biggest rip off at the deadline, in favor of the Capitals.

To Pittsburgh: Georges Laraque
To Phoenix: Daniel Carcillo, 3rd round pick in 2008

The much rumored Laraque to Pittsburgh deal finally happened. This has been discussed so many times I don’t think we need to review from a Pittsburgh POV.

The Coyotes get a 3rd round pick in 2008, and Daniel Carcillo, a hard nosed grinder currently in the AHL (he play is similar to Jarkko Ruutu).

All in all, a fair deal for both teams.

To St. Louis: Brad Boyes
To Boston: Dennis Wideman

One of the few young player for young player deals, Boston swapped out Brad Boyes for Dennis Wideman a young defenseman with St. Louis.

It’s a pretty even deal, as each team got what it needed more of. Though I do think it was too early to give up on Boyes, and I expect a resurgence from him next year.

To Boston: Aaron Ward
To Rangers: Paul Mara

The Bruins beefed up their own end with the addition of veteran Aaron Ward. While he is having somewhat of a lackluster year in New York, he is still valuable and will help the Bruins.

The Rangers get Paul Mara, an offensive minded blue liner who has struggled in Boston after being dealt by Phoenix. Glenn Sather is hoping he can pick up his game, and tap into more of his potential that he has yet to fully live up to.

To Ottawa; Oleg Saprykin, 7th round pick in 2007
To Phoenix: 2nd round pick in 2008

An under rated deal, John Muckler was able to beef up his roster some at a relatively low cost. Saprykin has struggled some this year, registering only 34 points with 14 goals. Regardless, he will provide some secondary scoring for the Sens.

Phoenix gets a second round pick, a good return though Saprykin was picked 11th overall in 1999. Personally I think they would have been better off keeping him, especially with UFA’s such as Jeremy Roenick and Owen Nolan that will most likely be cut loose after this year. It would have been better for them to hang on to the younger player.

-Jordan

Roberts to Pens

2007-02-27T11:02:00.001-05:00

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a deal to acquire 40 year old winger Gary Roberts from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Noah Welch. Roberts, a 40-year-old left winger with the Florida Panthers, previously had contended that he would accept a trade only to Toronto or Ottawa, but was persuaded to come to Pittsburgh. The Penguins, one of the youngest teams in the league with the average age of 27, desperately need more of a veteran presence in their lineup with the ageless Mark Recchi. Roberts will provide the Penguins with the hardnosed, gritty attitude that should provide the team with a little spark when they are sluggish. Roberts most importantly have even be able to teach young wingers like Eric Christensen, Michel Ouellette and Ryan Malone to crash the net with effectiveness as well as additional guidance.

Welch, a 24 yr old defensemen, out of Harvard university was considered to be a candidate to be a stalwart on the Penguins blueline for years to come. However, in short callups the past two seasons, he seems to be having trouble adjusting to the game. Some would argue that this is tentative and has trouble keeping up with the speed of the game. Not the best skater in the world either, Welch isn’t blessed with tremendous agility making it tougher for him to adept. Welch also seemed overwhelmed on the ice while the older Rob Scuderi and Josef Melichar who are seemingly consistently overwhelmed offer no where near the same amount that Welch can offer with some seasoning yet continue to stink up the joint.

After being sent down to Wilkes Barre, Welch’s inability to excel at the AHL level on a consistent level caused quite a bit of concern. The issue becomes exacerbated because now the front office obviously doesn’t feel secure enough if Welch is ready to step in here next year and play well enough to merit even a spot on the third pairing. And after this year, they can't just send him back to Wilkes-Barre. He has to clear waivers. As a result, he had to be traded… or so the Penguins front office thought.

In my mind, I like what potentially can Roberts can bring to the Penguins lineup but lets not kid ourselves. Giving up a player like Welch, for an at maximum, a year and change+ rental seems way too steep. Further complicating the matter, is the fact this cements Melichar and Scuderi as the Penguins bottom pair of defense provided Shero doesn’t make any moves. This is preposterous and needs to be address. Melichar and Scuderi though fine 7 or 8 defensemen on most teams are not people you want “solidifying” your defensive corps. Furthermore, if and when the injury hits the Penguins blueline, there is little to no depth outside of the solid Alan Nasreddienne who many argue should be playing now anyway. After that comes journeyman AHLer, Micky Dupont. This is definitely still not a team that can be counted on to do some damage in the playoffs and while the 2 stooges man the blue line. I do like what Roberts can bring but he truly can’t bring what the Penguins REALLY need.

-OP

Deals Deals Deals

2007-02-26T11:59:00.000-05:00

Well Saturday night and Sunday proved to have some deals of their own, so let's take a look at the continued overpayment that goes on at the deadline (if more deals come in today I will add them to this entry):

The Chicago Blackhawks have traded a 3rd round pick and Lasse Kukkonen to the Philadelphia Flyers for Kyle Calder and the Blackhawks flipped Clader to the Detroit Red Wings for Jason Williams.
To Chicago: Jason Williams
To Detroit: Kyle Calder
To Philadalphia: Lasse Kukkonen, 3rd round pick

Well well well, our first three way deal of the deadline! Detroit gets the scorer in Calder (a term used rather loosley with him this year) they have been seeking without giving up too much. Though I cant say I fully understand this as Williams is younger, cheaper and outscoring Calder.

Chicago gets Williams will who add some secondary scoring which they now need to replace Smolinski (see below).

Philly gets a defensive prospect and another pick, something they are stockpiling now. Sorry Mr. Snider, but yes, you are inf act rebuilding. This is what a rebuilding team does: trade their vets and get picks and prospects in return. You can phrase it any way you want, but that's what you're doing.

To Vancouver: Brent Sopel
To LA: 2nd + 4th round picks in 2007

To Vancouver: Brian Smolinski
To Chicago: Conditional 2nd round pick

Vancouver made some deals to shore up their squad for a playoff push. They added former Cancuk Brent Sopel to help boost their defense, especially the offensive part. Sopel isnt that bad in his own end either.

They also added some additonal offense with Smolinksi, beefing up thir second line which they have wanted to do all year. Both these moves cost the Canucks picks, the favorite currency at deadline. Again, only time will tell who won, but Dave Nonis did a pretty good job in shoring up his team without giving up too much.

To Atlanta: Alexei Zhitnik
To Philadelphia: Brayden Coburn

Atlanta's need for defense has been obvious for years, and they gave it a boost by adding Alexei Zhitnik. He will greatly help moving the puck up ice, and isnt a total liability in his own zone.

Coburn was Atlanta's top defensive prospect taken 8th over all in 2003. I ahve heard some grumblings about how because he has yet to dominate the lower levels he will not pan out. two things. 1) He's 21 and defenseman take time to develope. To give up on a 21 year old in any position is rediculous. 2) Francois Beauchemin. He didnt dominate at any level, was a throw in for the Federov deal and has become a staple on the Ducks blueline. There are other cases, but his comes to mind first.

I think Philly gets the better of this deal as Zhitnik will probably retre after his current deal (running through next year) is up. This si a quick fix for Atlanta and could cost them much down the road.

To Atlanta: Keith Tkuchuk
To St. Louis: 2007 1st and 3rd, 2008 2nd, Glen Metropolit

Atlanta got the center they have been needing since Savard legt, and get tougher in the process. Tkuchuk, while declining is still a big part of a team (note the double meaning)and can be counted on to score some goals. Playing along side the likes of Hossa and Kovalchuk his scoring may increase.

To St. Louis goes bottom line guy Glen Metropolit, along with a host of picks. St. Louis really made out like bandits in this deal, securing som,e good peices to build for the future.

But this is a massive overpayment for a massive man (sorry its just too fun to resist). tkuchuk just isnt worth such a big aprt of Atlanta's future, especially with
Coburn gone in a seperate deal. I give this one to St. Louis

To San Jose: Craig Rivet, 5th round pick
to Montreal: 1st round pick, Josh Gorges

It's quite amazing when a #5 defenseman can fetch a first. Kudos go to Bob Gainey for making it happen, and getting a decent young guy in return also. Nothing against Rivet, but worth a first he is not.

San Jose has been wanting to add a veteran defenseman for months, and finally got it in Rivet. Even though they had an additional 1st rounder from the Malakov deal, it was still overpayment. I seriously wonder if Wilson thought he was dealing for Souray instead, as I expected Souray to fetch a return more akin to this.

-Jordan

Saturday Skate Around

2007-02-24T15:17:00.001-05:00

Tons of things going on in the world of the NHL:

Marco Sturm signed with the Bs..4 years for 14 million

- I guess the bruins did have to hold on to the fading memories of Joey Thornton but alas 3.5 seems a bit steep. All in all though, it isn't a lot for a solid 65 point scorer with solid defensive play and some upside still except Sturm has only broken the 50 point barrier once but the intangibles he has and his overall skills + pk ability +chemistry with bergeron+thornton trade redux makes it a fair deal.

Brewer and Legace resign with the Blues

Brewer has signed a 4 year extention with the Blues. Contract said to be between $4 and $5 million/year. Legace (2 year extention around $2 million/year) per tsn.

- Good deals for the Blues. Not really breaking the bank on either and still feel Brewer can achieve Norris trophy standing even if he is 27. Legace is getting paid less than some backups also.

- No one will pick up Tverdovksy at 2.5 million on waivers... atleast I hope

- Be sure to add Nolan Baumgartner to the Stars also..purely depth move but no way should this man be on your top 6.

- Joey McDonald from Detriot to backup Thomas it seems...decent move that allows Toivonen to go back to the AHL for some seasoning.

I as well as every hockey fan is looking forward to the big rematch tonight. Sure nothing will happen this time. There won't be a goalie fights but heck a similar type of game with two teams that play hockey the right way will be fun to watch. Games like this are the reason why all hockey fans must own the center ice package.

Oh yea, you can watch Mr Ray Emery here again or if you haven't already... you gotta love a guy smiling when he's about to get into a fight. You sir Ray Emery deserve a shot on me.

Cheers!

-OP

The Overrated March to the Trade Deadline

2007-02-23T21:08:00.000-05:00

It is indeed one of the most gutwrenching times of the year. Not for the sake of having to move ourselves or our families, or to say goodbye to teammates and coaches, but for the sheer lack of overblown, overanalyzed and overreported hockey rumors.

How many times can we gloss over the same rumors? How many times most we hope that some team would long for our teams horrid scrubs for the sole reason that their gm is an idiot?

While many sites and bloggers will talk about this exciting time and how imagination and possibilities run wild, the sheer notion that this time of the year isn’t fun anymore is absurb. Because it is. That false sense of hope that we can finagle a superstar or two out of trash is great.

That is not what I'm complaining. That time a week or so before the deadline where people start getting in the mood. Objectively though after some type how many times can we hear the same rumors? How many times can we hear the same rumor being posted on all of our favorite hockey websites/xm radio. Soon that same horrid rumor gets picked up by the local media and soon you think this deal is bound to happen? Alas no.

Most of the time the rumors come from some internet nerd thinking of ways he can improve his nhl 2k7 franchise with the franchise difficulty set to 3. While i'm sure most Isles fans would love a Vincent Lecavalier for Randy Robitaille, minor leaguer+2nd round pick. The majority of us know its not going to happen. Not to say I wouldn't put it past Feaster but in reality it wont happen.

You gotta also love the quantity vs quality trade proposals you've heard or read about. The 3rd liner+4th liner+healthy scratch+ahl journeyman+4th round pick for Sidney Crosby among other things or heck even my favorite Kovalev+First round pick and futures for Nick Antropov.

Listen, I too love the idea of the trade deadline but sorry to say Eric Brewer is not walking through that door. For most us, we have to sit around and continually refresh our hockeysites HOPING, PRAYING, WISHING for just one deal to be post, announced, speculated on whatever. After a couple of hours, we long for a trade. We long for the Shane Endicott to Future's deals so we can say so and so wins that and no way they got anything of value for Shane Endicott etc.

Much like that bj your going to get from the hottest girl in school, the nhl trade deadline fails up to the hype. Sure you love it when its over and you can go brag about it later but man that process leading up to it is overrated.

-OP

2007-02-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

The GM’s are currently meeting to go over possible rule changes, and two main subjects have surfaced: the points system and the instigator rule.

The GM’s will be suggesting to the owner to revise the instigator rule in that instead of getting suspended after three of these penalties for a player, it be moved to five. The change is small, which is what the GM’s want to keep it at. Hard to argue with it being a good start.

I’ve always seen this as a catch 22. Without the rule people say a goon will take a run at your best player. Frankly, that still happens, its just not a good anymore, so I don’t really see how much that will stop it. But if one of your players wants to defend your star, then he gets a penalty. So basically its ok to go after a guy, but not the guy that hit him. Personally, I think the rule should just be abolished because I don’t think it is as effective as others.

The points system is something I’ve never really settle myself on. There is talk about going to three points for a win, but that just seems like too much. I like the point for an OT loss, and despite it’s entertainment factor I do not like the game being decided by a shootout. I’d rather have a tie.

Bill Clement on XM today made some good points that if you were to take away the single point for an OT loss, the standings wouldn’t be much different. He also pointed out that for many years there were no points for an OT loss and everyone seemed fine.

Personally, I want to see the point stay. I can still remember the players after an OT loss, especially after they battled back for the tie, practically sulking on the way to the locker room. It was really an emotional blow to the team. Plus I do think the one point makes the playoff race a bit more interesting, in that it puts more pressure on the team to win and not give the other a point.

Of course, where there are GM’s there is trade talk. Two good quotes came out of these meetings. First goes to Brian Burke of Anaheim “They’ve been short, profanity laced conversations.” (in reference to that the sellers want his young players for a rental which he refuses to give up). Can you blame him for getting mad? I sure as hell would deal a young established guy for the likes of Tkuchuck.

The second good quote came from Ray Shero from Pittsburgh “There are five sellers, twenty five buyers and no one is selling anything.” It seems the typical “give me a good player for nothing” tactic that is usually the case up to the deadline.
-Jordan

Bergeron and Biron

2007-02-19T20:44:00.001-05:00

First let’s start off with a deal over the weekend:
To the Islanders: Marc-Andre Bergeron and a 3rd round pick
To the Oilers: Denis Grebeshkov

Garth Snow has beefed up his defense with the acquisition of Bergeron, who plays more on the offensive side of the game, showing he is still serious about making the playoffs. But it cost them Grebeshkov, a young blue liner with loads of potential who came over in the Sopel and Parrish deal. Grebeshkov is also more offensive and was drafted in the middle of the first round in 2002.

The true significance of this deal lies in that the Oilers, who have needed a puck moving defenseman for some time, just traded their best rear guard puck mover. Some say this is merely to clear space to bring in someone bigger (Eric Brewer’s name has been mentioned often) but even if they did that means they would only have one puck moving defenseman still.

To be honest, I think this is Kevin Lowe throwing in the towel. The Oilers currently sit eight points out of a playoff spot and continue to falter. By moving one of their better defenseman, I think Lowe isn’t about to go out and get a lot of rentals like he did last year for one big push (rentals included: Dick Tarnstrom, Sergei Samsonov and Jaroslav Spacek among the names). I think you will see the opposite this year, with the possible dealings away of Petr Sykora and Ryan Smyth should Lowe not be able to reach terms with him.

Add in injuries to Fernando Pisani, Jarret Stoll, Daniel Tjarnqvist and Ethan Moreau, things are looking very bleak for Edmonton, and I think Lowe is using better judgment to not trade away a bunch of the future for a playoff push that will more than likely result in failure. (Note: I know that’s what many thought last year, but do you really think it will happen again?)

While we’re on the subject of deadline rentals, it’s looking like the Sabres, ravaged by injuries will be buyers at the deadline out of necessity. Gone for extended periods are Gaustad, Ales Kotalik and Tim Connolly remains sidelined, now with a fractured leg. With injuries ending their cup run last year, Regier will not want to go into the playoffs without sufficient backup. However, the only way to sufficiently replace them without giving up a roster player is to deal picks, prospects, or Martin Biron, who is currently the backup.

GM’s don’t really like trading a good backup, even if he is leaving as a free agent, because it is a great security blanket to have should one goalie falter (see Cam Ward). But he is the only one who can get a good return and not affect the play of the team (Miller will be the starter in the playoffs).

So just a few weeks ago when it seemed all was fine in Buffalo, they are now looking at a somewhat depleted corps, and may have to deal Biron to address one of the positions.

-Jordan

Flyers Cap Situation

2007-02-16T20:43:00.000-05:00

While thinking about how the Flyers might resign Forsberg in the off season (a subject for another time), I started to think about their cap situation.

Their UFA's for next year are: Kyle Calder ($3mm), Mike York ($2.85mm), Robert Esche ($1.5mm), Nikos Dimitrakos ($650k), Todd Fedoruk ($450k). Both Sami Kapanen and Mike Knuble have been resigned to similar deals they already had.

Now, there is a very good chance that Calder, York and Esche will not return to the team, or be dealt at the deadline (Dimitrakos can be sent to the minors where he does not count against the cap). If you add their salaries together, you have over $7mm worth of cap pace to work with. That's either one high end player, or two decent-good players.

Now, take Forsberg. If he resigns, it will be for about the same figure of $5.5mm. If he doesn't, there's that much more the Flyers can put towards a name player, and if they do resign Floppa for that, it's money well spent. Now there is $12.5mm left for players.

There are rumors persisting of teams scouting Hatcher. The Flyers could only be so lucky as to unload his $3.5mm for the next two years. The other big defenseman, Mike Rathje, is having back problems. Should he be unable to play, that's another $3.5mm Paul Holmgren has. This will bring their available cap space to $19.5mm.

So, if we assume at the very least Calder, York and Esche are gone, that is a minimum of $7mm of free cap space (not counting replacement players acquired via trade, recalled from the minors or signed), which will be our low end figure (the most plausible). If we count Forsberg out that gives us a mid figure of $12.5mm. In the off chance Hatcher or Rathje are gone, we get a high end figure of $19.5mm.

All I can say is: wow. That is a lot of cap space to work with, and with the cap expected to go up again, you know Ed Snider will spend to the max. Even with $7mm the Flyers can help to quickly replenish a depleted roster. If Forsberg doesn't return, that's another decent to good player in the mold.

I fully expect the Flyers to go after a skilled defenseman in the off season to improve a slow corps. I will be looking for them to target Brad Stuart, who is only 27 and exactly what their defense needs, as their number one acquisition (please note that is pure speculation). They could easily lock him up for 5 years with the space they have just from the first three gone. And with Hatcher gone in two years, that will $3.5mm in relief for when their younger players want pay raises.

With that much cap room, and the younger guys like Carter and Richards most likely rebounding from terrible years, expect Philly to be a team to keep an eye on next year. I don't think they will dwell at the bottom again.

-Jordan

Doan, Hatcher, and yes, Forsberg

2007-02-15T21:46:00.001-05:00

I just want to take the time to address a few things have gone on around the league.

The Shane Doan Deal
Doan has just signed a 5 year, $22.75 million contract, just over $4.5 million a year. Going by sheer numbers, Doan isn’t worth that. But let’s add in some of the intangibles.
He is the face of the franchise. When you think Coyotes, you think Doan. He has been around since the beginning, and assumed the leadership role after veterans Jeremy Roenick and Keith Tkuchuk departed.
He is the leader on and off the ice for the team.
He might not be the biggest scorer, but he adds grit and is responsible defensively.

Still, even for this the contract is a bit much. But here is another thing: it’s less than what he would have gotten on the open market. Make no mistake, any name player will be overpaid on the open market, that’s the way it works. Doan would have fetched at least $5 million a season.

Oilers want Hatcher
This rumor has popped up in recent days, and it’s ridiculous. Here’s why.
Hatcher is not what the Oilers need. They need a puck moving blue liner, not a blue liner that moves like a puck on asphalt. Hatcher hasn’t scored in 110 games, how does that help the Oilers offensively?
2 years, $7 million. That’s what is left on Hatcher’s contract. The Oilers may have cap room, but that doesn’t mean they want to exceed their self imposed cap. They would need to clear space to bring him on, and no one making that kind of money on Oilers is worth giving up for Hatcher.
At his age, he will only get worse.
If Philly can offload him, they will put that money towards signing a UFA in the summer, so it will be a salary dump for them, and they will more than welcome it.

And last but not least….

Forsberg Traded to Nashville for Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, a 1st and 3rd round pick.

Have to say, I’m pretty surprised Nashville was the winner of the Forsberg sweepstakes. With all the other team names flying around, I didn’t really think they would trade for a center when they already had Arnott and Legwand for the top lines.

Both parent and Upshall were first round picks, so it’s almost as if the Preds gave up three first rounders. It’s a pretty steep price for a UFA, even if it is Forsberg. If Forsberg does go back to Philly in the off season like many suspect, Nashville will have definitely given up way too much.

However, Nashville has just become favorites to win the cup (well assuming he stays healthy). They were already atop the league standings, and Forsberg will only hope to solidify that.

The playoffs shall be interesting this year.

-Jordan

I want to show everyone Nashville's lines after this deal:

Kariya - Forsberg - Dumont
Sullivan - Arnott - Erat
Hartnell - Legwand - Radulov
Hordichuk/Fiddler - Nichol - Tootoo

Timonen - Hamhuis
Suter - Zidlicky
Vishnevski - Weber

Vokoun
Mason

That is a very dangerous team ladies and gentlemen. If Floppa is healthy than they got 3 beast lines that can play defense and score with the best of them. Problem is can He hold up in the West with physical teams like San Jose and Anaheim. Frankly, it seems unlikely. More so for those calling Nashville, the favorites already is a stretch at this point as well. Can Vokoun keep it up also? Tons of questions for Nashville.

Philly though is able to land 3 first rounds and another one if Forsberg resigns with the Pred. Not only do they a young scorer who still has LOADS of potential in Upshall but they also get a potential version of Scott Hannan in Parent. Will he get to that level though is another question in itself but for both teams the trade works.

I will give the slight advantage though to Philly. Who knows...they can even sign Forsberg again this offseason. Time will tell as it always does.

Tune in later this week as we go over more Forsberg fallout and other league happenings.

-OP

New NHL Commercials

2007-02-13T21:32:00.000-05:00

Two new commercials are being released by the NHL entitled “Road Trip” and “Sedin Twins” They can both be found here.

I have to say, the NHL has done a much better job this year with their commercials than previous. The My NHL theme wasn’t very good, and a total switch was a good decision.

The new commercial series that started in the off season have been much more amusing, ranging from Peter Forsberg in bed with a man’s wife, Ovechkin trying to get his chips from a jammed vending machine, and the new Sedin twins one is disturbing, but hilarious.

While the NHL has done a poor job marketing all around, these commercials have been a step in the right direction, and they should continue on with them.

-Jordan

Some Musings

2007-02-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

- The Stars today traded a 1st round selection and Mathias Tjarnqvist to the Coyotes for Ladislav Nagy. This move gives the Stars some much needed scoring, especially with Brendan Morrow out. The Coyotes get a first round selection that they will use to try and replenish their ranks.

It seems more and more late first round picks are becoming less valuable as they seem to be dealt more frequently. Even though drafts tend to be deeper than ever, early firsts are still priceless while late firsts seem to be treated as little more than a second round pick anymore.

-After being dealt to the Bruins, Andrew Ference wasn’t very happy after signing a long term deal with the Flames last summer. His response: “There's no loyalty when it comes to stuff like that.”

Here’s a fact Ference: if you hit the open market, you would have signed with the highest bidder and showed no loyalty to the Flames. Don’t complain about loyalty because everyone knows you would show none if you got some extra green thrown in your face. Loyalty doesn’t exist in sports much, and when a team has to give up a guy they like for a better shot at the cup, they will do it. And you’re not as important to teams as you think you may be.

- Olaf Kolzig has sustained a knee injury and will be out for three weeks. The Caps have been falling quickly since mid season, and Kolzig has been one of the few bright spots during that time. But with him out, I think the Cap’s chances of making the playoffs are pretty slim now.

-Jordan

Recent Dealings

2007-02-11T22:25:00.000-05:00

Well some trades have finally happened, including the biggest name defenseman switching hands, so time to do some deal breakdown.

To Calgary: Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau, conditional pick
To Boston: Andrew Ference, Chuck Kobasew

Stuart was the name defenseman on the market, and his dealing came a little quicker than expected. Along with him went Primeau, one of the other components of the Thonrton deal.

I’m not a big fan of this deal for Boston to be honest. Ference is a decent defenseman, but nothing particularly great. He’s not in the same class as Stuart but has some decent two way skills. He seemed to get a fair amount of notoriety during the Flames cup run in 2004, but little has been heard of him since. Kobasew has loads of potential, but has yet to realize it. He put up 20 goals last year but is on pace for a mere 7 this year, though he ahs already surprised his assists total. At 24, he is too young to be considered a bust, but his play has been more akin to his first two years in the league. He will probably get more of an opportunity in Boston, so he may be an offensive spark for the Bruins.

Stuart is a good, but underrated defenseman, though his UFA status seems to have alleviated that some. He has struggled since arriving in Boston and a resurgence wouldn’t be out of the question. Primeau is nothing more than an overpaid bottom line guy. I’m not sure why the Flames took him as he provides little, if any more than Marcus Nilsson or Stephan Yelle. Both are UFA’s at the end of the year, and if Stuart performs well look for Calgary to try and retain him (Roman Hamrlik is also at the end of his deal, so if he and Primeau were to be let go, the Flames have $4 million to work with).

Who actually won this deal will depend on if the Flames sign Stuart. If so they win, if not it goes to Boston. And I would also like to point out, as I said in a previous post, Chiarelli doesn’t get credit for this roster shakeup. He did this for the sole reason as to not lose Stuart for nothing, and he even said as much. Sorry Pete, but you do a roster shakeup when you deal someone for improve the team, not because you may lose them to free agency.

To Carolina: Josef Vasicek
To Atlanta: Eric Belanger
To Nashville: Vitaly Vishnevski

Though not a true three way deal, we saw the same thing in the off season where the Rangers dealt Dominic Moore to Nashville for Adam Hall, who then flipped Moore to Pittsburgh for a 3rd.

Belanger was part of the Jack Johnson deal in the summer, but the Canes preferred to bring back Vasicek who helped them win a cup. Both play a similar game, though Belanger has more offensive upside while Vasicek has greater size.

Atlanta dealt Vishnevski, a hard hitting defenseman to Nashville who were seeking a veteran defenseman. Most likely Carolina did not want to trade within the division, so they flipped Belanger to Nashville instead.

I think the Preds got the best of the deal, as even though Vishnevski ahs struggles some under the faster game, he is still serviceable and will add some more toughness to the Preds lineup.

To NY Rangers: Pascal Dupuis
To Minnesota: Adam Hall

This was a depth deal for both teams, who traded for something they needed a little more of. In the rangers case, it was better two way play as the acquisition of Sean Avery from the Kings made the gritty Hall a little redundant. The Wild get a little tougher with Hall, something they have lacked since they entered the league.

To NY Rangers: Sean Avery, John Seymour
To Los Angeles: Jason Ward, Marc-Andre Cliché, Jan Marek

The Rangers added some extra grit and feistiness to their lineup with the addition of Avery, one of the better pests in the league. This move was not surprising as trade rumors have dogged him since last year.

The Kings continued their rebuilding process by grabbing two prospects in Cliché and Marek, a 2nd and 8th round choice respectively, and also getting bottom line guy Jason Ward, who has some decent defensive play.

Some think the rangers gave up too much to get Avery, but as neither are blue chip prospects, I will leave this to time to tell if they did.

-Jordan