A Trade I Simply Don't Understand

To Pittsburgh

F- Chris Kunitz

F- Eric Tangradi

To Anaheim

D- Ryan Whitney

Well to start I must state I am a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and, from that point of view, am a fan of this trade. What I don't understand primarily is why Anaheim would pick up Ryan Whitney and trade away a top 6 forward, and a top forward prospect. Since Anaheim's Stanley Cup in 2007, Anaheim has continuously lost or got rid of their top forwards, have spent lots of money on defence, and have had cap trouble. Anaheim has traded away Andy McDonald for Doug Weight last season (and then chose to not re-sign Weight), traded Chris Kunitz this season, and allowed Dustin Penner to go to Edmonton for draft picks when he was signed as a Restricted Free Agent. In that time they have gone from have 6 quality scoring forwards (Kunitz, Selanne, McDonald, Getzlaf, Perry, and Penner) to 4 (Selanne, Perry, Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan, a rookie this season). What made Anaheim such a tough team in the playoffs was that they had three lines contributing, but currently it looks like Anaheim only really has four forwards contributing rather than 7 or 8 during their cup run.

Anaheim has a lot of money spent on their defence, which leads us to assume that either Chris Pronger or Scott Neidermayer won't be playing for Anaheim next season. Now if they traded Pronger (which has been highly rumored) perhaps Anaheim would be able to pick up some young or inexpensive forwards in return. If so, maybe this trade makes sense but I don't understand it for right now. Ducks fan have to hope that their current roster will get a change because their is simply not enough scoring available and too much money invested in their defence.

On Pittsburgh's side of the equation this trade seems to be exactly what they needed. Pittsburgh had a significant need (top 6 winger) and was trading from a significant area of strength strength (offensive defenceman). Often trades like this are hard to make because other GM's know that Pittsburgh needs help at forward and would love to trade one of their defenceman to do it but in the end Pittsburgh was able to get a solid winger to play alongside Crosby and in the process create greater cap flexibility. Realistically, Pittsburgh may be forced to trade Crosby or Malkin at some time in the next few years because of the mammoth side of their contracts. But if Pittsburgh is able to stay young but still be productive, they may be able to keep both of them. This deal did exactly that, it allowed for Alex Goligoski to be recalled from the minors to replace Ryan Whitney (not a significant drop off the way both players were playing earlier this season) and in doing so, Pittsburgh is able to spend more money on their forwards (i.e. Kunitz). The Penguins are working the delicate balance of cap management...spending less money on their defence (while not losing on performance) but also improving their scoring.

So I understand Pittsburgh's desire to get a top quality forward, but what i simply don't understand is why Anaheim needs another defenceman, especially another defenceman who costs 4 million a season. Also I don't understand, why Anaheim simply would be willing to give up a top 6 forward, and also a top forward prospect because of their lack of depth at forward. Why would you deal for a defenceman, an area where you are quite strong, for a top 6 forward and a forward prospect, two areas that your club is decidely weak in.

As a fan of Pittsburgh, I am a big fan of the trade, I simply don't understand why Anaheim was willing to make it.

Comrie Back in Ottawa

Completely unexpected. After a horrible season, everyone, including yours truly, thought the Senators were going to cut their losses, and possibly some cap space, and enter the John Tavares sweepstakes. Perhaps Sens GM Brian Murray is feeling some pressure to make the play-offs this year, or find another job. Trading away a 1st round pick for a proven player means the Senators still think they're in the play-off picture, which means they will be buyers at the trade deadline, not sellers, like many predicted.

Value of an NHL Draft Pick

TSN has an interesting article up about, you guessed it, the value of an NHL draft pick. You can read it here. Discuss.

Ottawa Senators

Well, now that the trials in my life are finally slowing down I have decided to post about one of the hardest things for me to do this year... support my hockey team. I don't keep it secret that I am an Ottawa Senators fan and have been for a few years which is proudly displayed on my car, "Spartacar", with a Go Sens Go! sticker in the rear window and a Sens flag which I let fly more during the playoffs. This of course is what I probably will not be doing this year if you pay any attention to the standings. At the time of writing this the Senators are the third last place team in the league. This is surprising due to the fact that the core of this team was in the final two seasons ago and has been in the playoffs eleven straight years. What indeed has happened to this organization?

The transition from the Muckler era to the Bryan Murray era at first appeared to be a promising change. The Senators changed from a defense-responsible team to a run and gun all pistons firing offensive machine. Years had passed since the era of Yashin and with Spezza, Alfredsson and Heatley now running the show the team boasts one of the best top lines in the league. With this new offense and with Murray eventually taking over Muckler's job the Senators thus began their decline. To lay the sole blame on Murray would seem unfair in one case however for the situation that Ottawa now faces. The new offense made Ottawa's depth appear more tantalizing and every player was looking for a significant pay raise. Ottawa had already dealt its best second line forward in the often injured Havlat and the deals made to make the team go all the way fell short.

The defense which had benifitted from the years of Jacques Martin's defensive approach have now been reduced to only 2 defensemen from that era: Chris Philips and Anton Volchenkov.  The exits of Zdeno Chara (who is still in his prime), Wade Redden (who is not in his prime) and Brian Pothier (who was a solid d-man who could put up points on the odd occasion) along with the short lived times with Tom Preissing (who felt undervalued in Ottawa) and Joe Corvo (whom I personally liked but go picked on too much by other fans) the exit of quality defenseman over the past few years has made a huge impact on their blue line.  (I also might note Andrej Meszaros here as well who in his rookie year was a +34 but I think he benefitted from a Redden that was still quality and a high octane offense which when it dwindled so did he - I personally think the guy makes more turnovers than McDonald's)  With the blue line now thin it reflects on the rest of the team but one of the things that I think Hartsburg really helped to develop was getting them back, a least a little, of their defensive game.  The Senators offense has been lacking and for an undersized group the defense has been performing as well as they can without the bodies they used to be able to throw around.  Picard and Kuba have been a nice payoff for Meszaros and it would be a mistake to deal either of them any time soon because they are the two best puck moving defensemen on the team currently (though Lee is making some strides).

With the defense thin this affects the forward situation and it is blatently obvious.  The Senators, when they do win, win because of their depth forwards scoring (i.e. Fisher, Foligno, Ruutu, McAmmond, Vermette, etc.) supporting their top three.  One can make the case that they are losing because the top three are not scoring and that Jason Spezza is back to his old ridiculous ways of turning the puck over trying to do too many dangles.  When the depth are not scoring the team only has the top line option so when other teams shut that down what other options do they have?  Each one of their forwards is having a down year and this can be attributed to laziness.  Perhaps the training staff is to blame...  One could continue to point the finger around the room but when it all comes down to it the GM is the one left holding the pen which just signed all these people to contracts.   Again, the players basically priced themselves out of town, a team that was rich in talent could not pay the price to hold on to it anymore and we are then left with the situation we have now.

What now?  How do we solve this?  Some suggest trading Spezza before his no trade clause kicks in next year and use that money to bolster the defense.  The usual excuse of getting a better goaltender.  Ottawa seems to have issues of not producing goalies, Glass and Elliot look like they could probably have a bright future and one of the good things this year is that Elliot is getting some decent playing time and is running with it.  I do not want to focus on the goaltending issue however as it is always the scapegoat in Ottawa but instead I will look at the youth movement.

Foligno is in his second year and his development seems to be coming along nicely.  The defense could be strong again in the next couple years if they hold on to their youth.  This is referring to Lee, Picard and Schubert.  Lee and Picard could be two excellent guys on the blueline quarterbacking powerplays while Schubert, if he plays to his size, could be a great shutdown guy.  Philips and Volchenkov should stick around for the next couple years with their contracts and so one should not worry about the blueline too much, just give them time.  Unfortunately time means that they may not make the playoffs this year and maybe the next and fans do not like that.  The issue is with the secondary scoring.  Fans often griped about Ottawa lacking grit the previous years and that is why they did not do well in the playoffs.  Now they have it and they cannot make the playoffs.  They do need gritty forwards who can get points and Vermette and Fisher can be those guys if they just get their 'A' game back.  In any case, a serious infusion of talent needs to occur which has been lacking the past few years due to Ottawa's strong regular season performances they have not been able to draft high in a long time and also trading away prospects for short term gains.

The problems could very well be solved soon and turned around quickly like things in Philadelphia last season.  Murray needs to make some tough decisions soon and Sens fans can only hope he makes the right ones.

Countdown to Vancouver: Goaltending

The newspaper in Regina got me thinking about Olympic Hockey today. They had an entire section devoted to the Olympics (with about half of it on men's hockey, not that I'm complaining).

Everyone has their own version of what the Olympic roster should look like, which is fine. Speculation on rosters is half the fun. But what shocked me was how many people left Martin Brodeur off their roster.

It's obvious that, barring major injury, either Brodeur or Roberto Luongo will be starting for Canada in 2010, but many writers figured that Brodeur is too old to back-up Luongo, and if Luongo starts, the back-up spot should fall to Carry Price. It's odd because I always figured the third string goalie spot was reserved for the up and comer, because, if Luongo reinjures his groin right before, or during, the Olympics, do people really want Carry Price in the net?

Look, Brodeur is still one of the worlds best goalies, but he's not getting any younger and Canada does need to look to the future, but in doing so it can't sacrifice the present. Even if Luongo gets the starting job, having a solid, experienced back-up in Brodeur is preferable to the youngster Price.

In fact, I'm not even sure Price should be on the Olympic team. You have to think that Steve Mason's spectacular play this season has earned him atleast a token invite to Hockey Canada's summer camp. And if he can continue his great play into next season, I see no reason not to put him in the number three spot.

Andy McDonald Re-Signs with Blues

Just a quick note on Andy McDonald. I had previously posted that I though McDonald could be moved at the deadline but it now looks like that won't be the case. Now that McDonald is healthy and seems to be back to his regular form, it appears that he will be with the Blues for a while. He signed a 4 year/18.8 million dollar contract which will average out at a 4.7 million dollar cap hit for the Blues.

This looks like the makings of a good deal for both sides, especially the Blues who have locked up a top centre for a solid term. McDonald surely got his value out of the deal but it didn't cost the Blues an arm and a leg, nor are they locked into McDonald for an absurd amound of years (see DiPietro, Ovechkin, Zetterberg, and Richards). The best thing for the Blues is that they have a few top forwards locked up but also have the cap space to be able to build around them. Unlike many teams, St. Louis has the ability to still sign top caliber players or to take other contracts in a trade if necessary (St. Louis only has 40 million signed for next season, where as many of the other teams are in the high 40's if not low 50's). St. Louis has the makings of a good team for years to come, and probably only needs a couple of additions, and some good health to make them a solid playoff team again.

Finally, here's some comparison of others centers (and their contracts) who have produced similar to McDonald over the last few seasons. Andy has averaged 71.67 points over the last three seasons, and besides his injuries this year has been incredibly healthy over his career (he has played all 82 games the last 3 years).

3 year Comparison
Andy McDonald: 246 games, 215 points = 71.67/season
4.7 m/season for 4 more years
Chris Drury: 240 games, 194 points = 64.67/season
7.05m/season for 3 more years
Patrick Marleau: 237 games, 212 points = 70.67/season
6.3 m/season for 1 more year
Daymond Langkow: 243 games, 201 points = 67/season
4.5m/season for 3 more years
Shawn Horcoff: 212 games, 174 points = 58/season
5.5m/season for 6 more years
Brad Richards: 238 games, 223 points = 74.33/season
7.8m/season for 2 more years
Anze Kopitar (2 yrs): 154 games, 138 points = 69/season
6.8m/season for 7 more years


I think McDonald's deal may be below market value, or at least where market value should be. St. Louis made one solid signing.

One final note: I could still see St. Louis selling off some of its assets at the trade deadline this year (Tkachuk, McKee, Legace) and try to rebuild some more. It simply appears that Andy McDonald has been identified by John Davidson, president of the Blues, as part of St. Louis solution.