Post details: NHL Trade Deadline (Western Conference)
NHL Trade Deadline (Western Conference)
How the heck did the Western Conference end up with pretty much ALL the good defensemen in the league? We have Lidstrom, Rafalski, Zubov, Niedermayer, Pronger, Schnieder, Campbell, Foote, Blake, Chelios, Phaneuf, Boucher, Jovonovski, Visnovsky, Erik and Jack Johnson... and the East has Dan Boyle and Zdeno Chara. That's about it. Anyhoo, I have no clue who will win the Cup this year, but I'd put my money on a Western Conference team. Here's how they did with the trade thingy...
Anaheim: The Ducks stunned me. They just signed "retired" Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer, so how in hell is it possible that they have any cap room? And yet they managed to pick up Jean-Sebastian Aubin as a backup goalie to give them the best "Jean-Sebastian" goalie pair in hockey history, along with Marc-Andre Bergeron on defense. All they gave up was Brandon Bochenski. I don't know how they do it, but they have to be the Cup favorite right now.
A-
Calgary: Calgary has been allegedly a Cup contender the past few years... but I am not so convinced anymore. They have not been THAT great this year, despite the heroic efforts of Iginla and Kipprusoff. So what did they do to boost their chances at the trade deadline? Nothing. Hmm...
D
Chicago: Ok. This year turned out not to be their year. But I thought they would be bigger sellers than they were. Frankly, I am surprised the injury-prone Martin Havlat is still wearing the Chief on his chest. They did unload Martin Lapointe for a late draft pick and traded the enigmatic Tuomo for Andrew Ladd, a trade that I think they'll be glad about. But the fact is they are waiting this season out. Next year will be better! We hope.
C
Colorado: Picked up Ruslan Salei and Adam Foote to help on defense. They needed that, especially in the West, but what these two bring in grit and defense they give up in speed. Whether or not this is a good deal depends on how the refs call the playoffs. They also signed free agent Peter Forsberg. Now if they can only get Ray Bourque to come out of retirement...
B-
Columbus: Columbus is a team on the rise, and they know it. They also know that this year is not the year. They got rid of the overpriced Fedorov for a prospect and old and slow Adam Foote for a 1st round pick, a steal I think. Kudos to them for looking forward when they need to.
B+
Dallas: Frick. Dallas got Brad Richards from Tampa, as well as a decent backup to replace Mike Smith. This was one of those trades that was great for both sides. This addresses a specific need for Dallas, scoring depth, and Richards will be a great fit for them. He's also playoff proven... albeit overpaid. He's one of those "better than the boxscore" players, but one that can still make the boxscore sometimes, too. Being a Wings fan, I don't like this trade.
A-
Detroit: Detroit's Achilles' heal is the same as what Dallas and Vancouver's is: lack of scoring depth. Dallas addressed the problem. Vancouver (see below) did not. Neither did Detroit. They picked up Brad Stuart as insurance for the injuries woes they have on defense, but their problem remains the same: who is going to score if Zetterberg and Datsyuk are shut down? Hell, who will score if they are not? I am glad we did not sell the future like we used to, but I am not convinced this is a Cup team with no real second scoring line.
D+
Edmonton: Didn't buy. Didn't sell. Truth is that no one wants to play there and no one wants the junk they are peddling. GMs may still be pissed off about the Dustin Penner thing, too, though they have no right to be. Regardless, it is beginning to look like the Oilers should just go ahead and move to Houston now and stop wasting our time.
F
Los Angeles: They get my award for most disappointing team. I thought they were going to break out. I really did. Instead, they parted with Brad Stuart and Aubin for draft picks. Not much else they could do. Stupid Rob Blake refused to go anywhere unless it was Colorado. Who does he think he is, Mats Sundin?
C-
Minnesota: Wow! They got Chris Simon! Now they have TWO of the gooniest players in the league! Let's see, what else did they get... Nothing! May as well give them the Cup now, eh?
D-
Nashville: Getting Jan Hlavac and Brandon Bochenski for draft picks is a small attempt to pretend like they could go somewhere in the playoffs. I don't think it was worth the draft picks for either of them, even if they were low picks. Yawn. At least they are not pretending like they are big contenders and selling the farm.
C+
Phoenix: And this is this year's surprise team in a positive way. Doesn't quite look like they'll make the playoffs, but they are a team to watch. So they sent off some prospects to New York for Marcel Hossa and former Wolverine Al Montoya as a potential future goalie. It's an iffy move, but not one that will hurt all that much. Mostly they are just waiting to see how their young guns develop for next year.
C
San Jose: Gave up talented Bernier and a first round pick for Brian Campbell. Campbell will be a great fit for San Jose, but I am not sure he was worth what they gave up. Being a defenseman, though, maybe he was. They needed that more than scoring depth at forward anyway. That said, they were rumored to be getting Hossa. Maybe they were smart not to!
B
St. Louis: Gave up young Christian Backman for a 4th round pick and Bryce Salvador for Cam Janssen. Eh. Probably won't hurt OR help them. At least they were smart enough not to pretend to be Cup favorites and sell all their youth away.
B-
Vancouver: Gave up scrappy Matt Cooke for a younger Matt Pettinger who will score a little more. Vancouver needs MUCH better scoring depth than this if they want to be more than the Vancouver Luongos. Like Detroit they are a one-line team... but one without the great defense.
C-