Posts Tagged ‘trades
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!
Trades Steal the Spotlight at the Draft
The draft featured few surprises in the way of actual picks but it happened to be one of the more exciting first rounds in recent memory. This was due to the number of major trades that went down, some of which drastically changed the outlook for a few teams. Below is a summary of the major deals:
Florida traded centerman Olli Jokinen to the Phoenix Coyotes for defensemen Keith Ballard and Nick Boynton and a second round pick (49th overall) in the 2008 draft.
It’s another disaster for the Panthers and their few fans. Apparently they didn’t learn from their first mess when they sent Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a sixth-round pick to the Vancouver Canucks for Alex Auld, Todd Bertuzzi and Bryan Allen. Of those players, only Allen remains on the roster. Apparently the Panthers ownership and management have a thing for sending their best players to other teams for nothing. Keith Ballard has decent upside and at 25 he still has a few years of growing to do. He scored 6 goals and added 15 assists last year, his lowest total since coming to the NHL in 05-06. In fact, his production has decreased every season with 39 points his rookie year and 27 in his sophmore season. 29 year-old Nick Boynton, on the other hand, has pretty much peaked and he can’t be expected to produce more than 12 points a season. Once upon a time he put up 30 points in Boston, but that was 5 years ago and he’s a different, injury-ridden player now.
Meanwhile, Phoenix has to be quietly chuckling to themselves as they pulled off possibly the biggest and most lopsided trade of the day, securing a top line center, veteran leader and consistent scorer in the process. Jokinen scored 34 goals and added 37 assists last season. It was actually his lowest total since the lockout which has a lot to do with the fact that he has no one to play with in Florida. That won’t be the case in Phoenix and he should easily get back up to the 90 point mark that he hit in 06-07 and narrowly missed (89 points) in 05-06. It would be shocking if Jokinen didn’t lead that young team into the playoffs and possibly beyond the first round.
The Flames acquired a second first round pick by sending left wing Alex Tanguay to the Montreal canadiens for the 25th pick overall.
Tanguay refused to waive his no-trade clause for a move to Montreal earlier in the year stating that the pressure a French Canadian player feels playing there was too great. Apparently he had a change of heart and now gives the Canadiens yet another offensive threat. He could produce big numbers, and improvements over his nearly career low 58 points from last season, should he be paired with Mats Sundin, which I’m guessing will be announced this week, and Alexei Kovalev. The Canadiens are already a dangerous team with speed and offensive punch on almost every line and they only got better with this move. My guess is that Tanguay will get back up to his normal 80 point mark.
Flames acquired winger Mike Cammalleri from the Los Angeles Kings in a three way trade including Anaheim. The Kings got the 17 pick overall from the Flames and LA immediately moved that pick and the 28th pick overall to the Ducks for the 12th overall pick.
The Flames could afford to deal their first round pick after acquiring a second one from Montreal. It’s not secret that they are in search of offense and I’m guessing Tanguay wasn’t too happy playing for the very demanding Mike Keenan. Cammalleri is an interesting choice. He can play either wing, has loads of speed and has shown more than just flashes of offensive brilliance. He suffered through injuries this season that limited him to only 63 games but he produced 19 goals and narrowly missed the 50 point mark. He was a point per game player last year with 34 goals and 46 assists and exploded in 04-05 in the AHL where he scored 46 goals and tallied a whopping 63 assists. He should be a nice compliment to Jarome Iginla.
The Flyers sent centerman R.J. Umberger and the 119 overall pick to Columbus for their first round pick (19th overall) and the 67th pick.
This trade pretty much guarantees that the Flyers are going to re-sign RFA Jeff Carter and it also tells us that the Flyers want to keep as much money open as possible to bolster their blueline and possibly acquire a puck moving defenseman in free agency. They wanted to keep Umberger, but they simply couldn’t afford to do it. The 26 year old had a breakout season with 13 goals and 50 points. He also added 10 goals and 5 assists in 17 playoff games. The Blue Jackets are desperately in search of a top line center to play with Rick Nash and it will be interesting to see if Umberger fits the bill. They were interested in Jokinen and Patrick Marleau and appear to be poised for an aggressive free agent period. However, it’s important to note that Umberger is a restricted free agent and the Blue Jackets will need to get him signed shortly.
The Capitals dealt defenseman Steve Eminger and the 84th pick to the Flyers for their 27th overall pick.
Steve Eminger was drafted 12th overall in 2002 by the Washington Capitals who were hoping that he would grow into a franchise rearguard. It simply didn’t happen and the Caps were ready to move on from the 24 year old. Eminger only played 20 games last year and has yetto play a full season in the NHL, averaging a little over 60 games per season in the three years prior. His best season was 05-06 where he scored 5 goals and had 18 assists. Eminger is still very young, has decent size at 6-2 211 lbs and can move the puck pretty well. He’ll be eager to prove that he can play in the NHL and the Flyers are desperate for puck moving defenseman. It should be an interesting experiment.