Posts Tagged ‘Players
NHL Trade Deadline Change – Now One Day Later!
Is anyone counting down for the Trade Deadline yet? Well it seems that we will have one extra day to mentally prepare ourselves for either a windfall move or a devastating blow to our team. It is to early to start imagining who will be going where, and how much the moves are going to cost … but honestly, is there anything else more exciting, more emotional, more insane than the NHL Trade Deadline? Buckle up, and hold on, because we now have one extra day of trade rumours and speculation. In case you have not heard, the NHL trade deadline has officially been moved to Wednesday March 4th. Reason is, the original day, March 3rd, has 12 games scheduled and Wednesday March 4th only has 2 games – Makes sense huh?
The NHL’s trade deadline is a date set by the NHL league office after which no trades will be allowed for the remainder of the season. Where do they get the date in the first place you might ask? Well, in the current CBA, the trade deadline is on the 40th day counting from the end of the regular season. This year, due to the number of games scheduled the trade deadline is 39 days before the end of the season AND, in case you were wondering, the NHL season ends April 12th! (No need to check … I already counted … Your Welcome!)
The NHL trade deadline, and the weeks before, usually bring a flurry of activities for many teams. Teams who are either making a final push to secure the last playoff spot, or hoping to go deep into the playoffs, will trade to acquire a key veteran or a proven scorer in order to solidify their rosters. Conversely, teams who are re-building with younger players will want to trade away their more expensive players in order to “dump” salary and get draft picks in return. Also, players who are about to become unrestricted free agents (UFA) and have indicated that they do not want to return to their respective teams may be traded away so that those teams will get something in return. If you remember, last year there were 25 deals on deadline day that saw 45 players change clubs.
The NHL trade deadline also generates a huge buzz for hockey fans and analysts, with much speculation and discussion about which players will get traded and where they will go. In Canada, the NHL trade deadline is treated with such significance that sports stations such as TSN, Rogers Sportsnet, and The Score will devote the entire trade deadline day to analyze the trades that have occurred throughout the day, and the trades that have already happened prior to that day. We here at The Daily Deke will also be involved, I will be taking March 4th off and will diligentlybe sending out Twitter updates with instant trade news!
I know its early, I know we have 5 months to prepare for the “Soon To Be” National Holiday of NHL Trade Deadline Day! However, you no longer have the excuse of “well nobody told ME!!!”
If you want to follow me on Twitter … just look up IceJunkies … Thats ME!
NHL Unrestricted Free Agents – Eenie Meenie Miney Moe!
Today we are going to peek under the hood of the Unrestricted free agents (UFAs) bus … UFA’s are players without a team. They have either been released from their club or their contract could have expired without a renewal. These players, are free to entertain offers from all other teams and then they get to decide which new contract to sign.
Since the Lock Out – The age for qualification to become an unrestricted free agent has been lowered each year. The minimum age at which a player can shop himself on the open market has dropped over the past four years of the agreement, this decision has brought more kids forward into the UFA pool over the past 4 years. Here is how the age has dropped, this is the minimum age of a player that has reached the end of his contract with the team he is currently with: Under the old system, players did not qualify for the open market until the age of 31.
- In 2005, 31 years old.
- In 2006, 29 years old or eight years of NHL service.
- In 2007, 28 years old or seven years of NHL service.
- In 2008, 27 years old or seven years in the NHL. The 2008 benchmark remains in place for the life of the agreement.
One interesting addition to the recent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the fact that they no longer award compensatory draft picks. In the old CBA teams were awarded with the position of a pick based on the size of the players new contract. After the lock-out 2004-05 contracts are not honored, however, the lost season still counts as a year of NHL service when calculating a player’s free agent status.
You can look around the Internet and find list after list of who thinks who are the “Top 10” in the UFA pool. I have my favorites and you should too. For a complete list of the UFA’s check out this list (updated frequently) NHL FREE AGENTS BY POSITION – 2008 . My first reaction looking at this was “Look at how many players are going to switch teams?” It’s a struggle to fall in love with a player, when its possible that player might end up becoming part of a team you hate (Detroit Red Wings anyone)?
**Clarifying comment** – I use the word “love” in a guy sense of “loving a car, boat, motorcycle or boobs” and not as a word of emotional drama to which a stern look from said player would bring tears to our eyes and an 8 page hand written letter asking “Where are we going with this relationship”
(UPDATE – My wife says that my previous comment is uncalled for and unnecessary, I say its funny … Let me know what you think in the comments!)
Now – since you have clicked through to look at that exhaustive list of players (yes there are still some players who cannot move) here are a few to point out. Now remember … I may not talk about your favorite here, in that case, we have a comment section! Enjoy …
I am sure Wade Redden will be easily reachable by his agent come Tuesday morning. It would not surprise me if he had 2 or 3 phones ready to ring. Don Meehan (Redden’s agent) will be fielding offers and having conversations with many teams … Wade will hear about them as they start coming in. Wade has said he is going to be at his fathers house while this is going on, being one of the “big names” on the list he is going to be a busy man next week. When asked last week about July 1st he said “It’s quickly approaching, it’s going to be interesting, just to go through it all for the first time. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I’m eager to find out what’s going to come and what we’re going to do.” I am sure when the time comes … He will know what to do. At 31 years old this is his first run through the UFA gauntlet and even with his play a little off last season (well, off by Wade’s standards) when he still posted 38 points (6 goals and 32 assists) in 80 games with the Ottawa Senators. His solid track record should be enough to keep him attractive to the other teams looking for a top defenseman … *COUGH* San Jose! *COUGH*
Other D-Men who will be patiently waiting by the phone come Tuesday are – Brian Campbell, Michal Rozsival, John-Michael Liles, Brad Stuart, Adam Foote, Mark Streit, Rob Blake, Brooks Orpik, Jason Smith, Dmitri Kalinin and Ron Hainsey.
Campbell, an absolute beast on the ice … oh yea, and he can skate too, will hopefully sign with the Sharks before Monday. According to his agent and Doug Wilson they are still “talking.” Hopefully that talking will turn into “signing” and we can move on … Sharks have already inked Roenick to a new deal. I was not to excited to hear what Ron Wilson did last year regarding Roenick, but that move paid off – I am glad to have him in on board! Back to Brian – IF he does not sign before Tuesday, I don’t see San Jose being able to keep him. Word on the street is that he is #1 on the “player to get paid an ass load of money to play hockey” list of UFA’s. More than likely he will be heading back east to be closer to family. There are a number of teams he would kick ass with … I am sure Buffalo would welcome him back with a huge hug, Chicago could use his grit and power, and we cannot ignore Pittsburgh! Could you imagine a Power Play line of Crosby, Staal, Malkin, Gonchar and Campbell??? INSANE!!!
Now Ron Hainsey is definitely going to throw his hat into the ring … run it up the flag pole … throw it against the wall … and see what he can fetch. “He’s only 27 years old and still growing into his game,” said his agent Matt Keator. “We’ve told Columbus we’re going to go to July 1 although we’re still going to talk to them.”
There are other D-Men out adding minutes to their “Pay-as-you-go” cell phone accounts … Liles, Stuart, Foote, Streit, Orpik … tons of talent out there!
What about the forwards you ask … Well, I would have to say that whoever can set their hook into Marian Hossa will be in for a treat. All they will have to do then is land the whale. Hossa told Pittsburgh that he still wants to explore the UFA market, this after Pittsburgh offered him a multi-year deal with a $7 Million a season tune tied to it. Word on the street is Marian is waiting for the $8 Million payday … Deal Or No Deal … Howie, open up case #18!
The forwards in the UFA queue are an interesting bunch to look at, they include Ryan Malone, Joe Sakic, Mats Sundin, Jaromir Jagr, Teemu Selanne, Peter Forsberg, Brian Rolston, Pavol Demitra, Markus Naslund, Sean Avery, Radim Vrbata, Brendan Morrison, Kristian Huselius, Cory Stillman, Michael Peca and a long long lone list of others. (Go back to the list if you must – NHL FREE AGENTS BY POSITION – 2008. I personally would love to see a few of these guys wearing the Shark sweater next year – Avery, Vrbata, Selanne. We’ll see what San Jose can pull out of the UFA bucket, but if they don’t unload Marleau before Tuesday it will be extremely difficult.
Some fans would argue that the only free agent that matters is Mats Sundin. Well, that would be true in the Toronto and Montreal neighborhoods … The 37-year-old star center is being courted Big Time from Canadiens GM Bob Gainey. Gainey was given exclusive negotiating rights to Sundin from the Maple Leafs last Thursday. Rumors have the Rangers franchise digging through their rolodex’s wondering where on earth they put that “Sundin Guy’s” phone number have been tossed about lately … and of course Toronto’s GM Cliff Fletcher is saying “Nooooo their not!” Well the actual quote is “Montreal is the only team that has the rights to talk to him,” Fletcher said Tuesday. “The Rangers did not ask for permission to talk to Sundin and we have given the exclusive rights to Montreal.” Kinda makes you wish he would follow that up with a “Beeeeeeeeotch!” Oh Well.
Sundin’s agent J.P. Barry told the Canadian Press on Tuesday “Mats understands how great an opportunity there is in Montreal, perhaps there’s not a better fit from a hockey perspective in the league, but at the same time he still hasn’t decided whether he’s playing again. The other issue is that he’s never been a free agent and he may want to judge the Montreal situation as compared to other possible options.”
Looking at the “solid” goalies this year there seems to be slim pickins … Jose Theodore in Colorado and Cristobal Huet from Washington. Both proved to be assets to the organization and hopefully both Colorado and Washington will be able to keep these netminders. Looking at the rest of the goalie list you see some talent listed … at the same time, its talent that needs help focusing. Among Theo and Huet on the list we have some other names you might know … Kolzig, Emery, Jolmqvist, Lalime, Aebischer, Leighton, and the one I am going to call “The Sleeper” Ty Conklin. If Pittsburgh cannot get Ty signed before July 1st I think there are a few teams silently pining for Mr Conklin … We shall see!
So … buckle up … check back often and get ready for Tuesday! The NHL will be hosting its annual “Free For All” and I will have front row, center seats to watch the activities. Plus – having this blog as an outlet makes this year much more rewarding than the past years. Can you tell I am excited?
2008 Stanley Cup Playoff Leaders – Top 5 Anyone?
I ran across some interesting numbers the other day and thought I would drop some knowledge on you all … Right Style! The one thing I would like to lay out before we move on is I want to focus on the Penguins and Red Wings on this post. There are other players and teams mentioned in this article – but what I am going to focus on are the two teams that made it to the Cup Finals. Hope you don’t mind – good!
Quick “Shout Out” to the Columbus Dispatch Newspaper website … out of all the websites out there, they have a great database of hockey numbers, and they are easy to read. You can see what I am talking about here The Columbus Dispatch NHL Stats
I was reading about the Top 5′s of this years Stanley Cup Playoffs … Offense, Defense, Goalie, Teams. Some of the information was the normal ”Yeah, I knew that!” … but there were a couple juicy bits of 411 that made me go “Oh Really???” First off … I was going to start with player stats, isn’t that what they all do, kick off with the rock stars on the front line with Goals, Assists and Points? Well not me baby – tonight, we’re starting with the real stars of the show. Goalies!!!
As you can see, both Fleury and Osgood had the same amount of wins in this years post season. Even though Pittsburgh played one more game than Detroit, these 2 goalies have shown themselves to be pretty strong in front of the net. I am pretty sure Pittsburgh is going to do everything they can to secure young Fleury for the next few seasons.
When I look at the Goals Against Average between the 2 finalists I notice quite a difference in the end result, but if you dig deeper you see a more clearer picture depicting a fierce and valiant warrior known as Marc-Andre Fleury (yea, it was fun typing that too). I looked into the raw numbers and found that Fleury faced 610 shots on goal and allowed 41 to go by (6.7%) … Osgood on the other hand faced 430 and allowed 30 (6.9%). That alone is interesting information however, before facing Detroit, Fleury was sitting at a 1.70 GAA (keep in mind that Osgood was at a 1.59 before facing Pittsburgh) and look where they bothended. I think both Fleury and Osgood were amazing clutch players and if Pittsburgh had played the games they played in the first three rounds we would have seen a more humble Detroit.
Going back to what I just said … you can see here how Fleury lead the charge in save percentage in the playoffs. I must say … for the support he had in front of him - these numbers could have been so much worse. I think that the effort MAF (Marc-Andre Fleury … I am getting tired of typing that) showed, if he had the strong support in front of him, Pittsburgh would have been hoisting the cup. Not taking anything away from Chris Osgood, he just had an incredible team in front of him during this years playoffs, and it shows.
OK … so now lets get into the “front line” soldiers.
Starting withtotal goals in the post season, I am not surprised to see a certain someone not listed here. Bottom line, Crosby was not the cape wearing super hero of the Pittsburgh Penguins because, well, he is a kid who has never played in a Stanley Cup final before. With that said - and as you continue reading, keep in mind, he has never played in a Stanley Cup final before! One name on this list is a surprise to me … Mr Malkin sitting in the number 5 spot. I was unsure if he was able to make it to the Stanley Cup playoffs. Nice to see Hossa up there … to bad the Penguins might not be able to keep him around for next year. I do need to say that it is not a shock to me to see the two names in the 1 and 2 position … they showed us that they have the skills, the patience and the grit to make the plays and get the puck past the goalie. Hats off to both Johan and Henrik!
This list here shows me that a great leader is in the midst of us, and his name is Sidney Crosby. Love him, or hate him … this kid is showing us that its not just the goals that make you a leader. Its the goals you help with, look at Wayne Gretzky … he holds the record in most assists in a season (and also including playoffs). Not only that … but Wayne holds the Top 5 spots in ”Most Assists In One Season” and “Most Assists In One Season, Including Playoffs.” This is why he is called The Great One … and Sidney is on his journey to becoming great. He dominated the playoffs in Assists – In my eyes, a future Great Leader.
To wrap these super stars into one category, we talk Points! Goals + Assists = Points!!! For a kid to be listed in the top slot, tied witha player who is actually classified as a “great” player, I think this goes to show the caliber of talent he is holding. With a little fine tuning and discipline Sidney has the potential to hold onto that C on his jersey and one day, he too will raise the Cup. Anyone notice Mr Malkin hangin out in number 5 spot again. Not sure what happened to him in the Finals … but here is a guy who must have just psyched himself out so much, he became worthless!
My take on the wrap-up of this past season is every year we watch great players disappear in the playoffs and we see incredible displays of talent from players we would have never considered. This is why I love this sport as much as I do … this is a team sport from the Coach on the bench to the 4th line defenseman. Everyone contributes and the team who can play as one, will win as one. I am reminded of the great Herb Brooks (Coach of the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team) … he assembled a team of great individual players. Players he coached and coached against. His first mission in shaping that Olympic team was to hammer home the notion that you might have played for Boston College or Boston University … but right now, today, YOU play for Team USA.
If you have not seen the movie Miracle … Go Rent It!!!