Monday, March 03, 2008
Trade deadline chat
Trade deadline comments and other hockey news
Heard a great nickname the other day for the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey players who refused to waive their no trade contracts – the frozen five – how good is that? Very appropriate. Sundin, Tucker, McCabe, Kaberle and Kubina. If there ever was a time you’d think at least one of them would want out of this situation it would have been now as they are on route to their third straight season out of the playoffs. You can’t put a price on loyalty but it has to be the absolute most incredibe scenario ever seen leading up to the trade deadline. What will transpire in TO now is Cliff Fletcher who did the best he could shaving more than 3 million off the cap and recouping several draft choices, he now will very seriously comtemplate buying out one or more of these contracts this summer. At two thirds of the total worth pro rated over a number of seasons it is still a cap hit albeit one that Toronto will no question look long and hard at.
So what happens going forward with these no trades and no movement contracts? The no movement is even more restrictive, that means you can’t even put the guy in the minors. I think we’ll see these slowly disappear. Probably not 100% but certainly to a large extent after the frozen five, Wade Redden, Rob Blake and seemingly others of the 104 that have this restriction on their contract, froze their respective GM’s. Granted Brad Richards waived his and promptly went out and tied a franchise record with five assists in one game in his first contest as a Dallas Star but the list of those who would not go and the impact they could have had more importantly how their movement could help their respective franchises will no question lead to this clause disappearing.
Bob Gainey did not make a mistake dealing Christabal Huet. Huet is unrestricted as of July 1, he was making 2.3 million and was not going to be resigned and he was not going to be any kind of saviour for this team come playoff time. In addition his play his last 6-8 games was atrocious and to be fair Carey Price was no stalwart in the pipes either during that stetch and now since the deal, Huet picks up a shutout in his first game with Washington and Price is 3-0. Go figure. No question the deal was done to also clear cap room for Hossa who was snapped up by Pittsburgh but at the end of the day, the deal seemed to be received to the same extent the drafting of Carey Price did. Hab fans and hockey fans scratched their heads when Montreal selected Price who since then dominated the World Juniors, dominated the AHL and is obviously one of the best young goalies in the game on a team that has a history of having young goalies come in and perform miracles in the playoffs. Patrick Roy, Steve Penney, Ken Dryden, Rogie Vachon, Jacques Plante, all burst on the scene in a big way very early in their NHL careers. Can Price do the same? Yes he can but the difference is the team in front of him is no where near as good as their current record indicates. Not with respect to success in the post season. They’ll make some noise and depending on their first round opponent Montreal could win a round but winning two is still a larger forward or two away who can play. After missing the playoffs last year though this is a huge turnaround and Bob Gainey deserves nothing but full credit for this especially given what has happened to him personally.
And while I’m on the topic of Marian Hossa....hell of a player. More talent in one finger than half the league has in their whole body but in my opinion he will never play for a Cup winner. At this point of his career Hossa needs to prove to me that he has the ability to perform in the playoffs. In addition he orchastrated his departure from Ottawa by indicating to John Muckler that if he did not get the money he wanted he would test free agency. Fair enough says Muckler. Here ya go Hossa. And then ten minutes later traded him for Dany Heatley in argueably the second best trade ever in Ottawa history. Subsequent to that and this says it all – Hossa and Co. Indicate to Atlanta GM Don Waddell that they want to know what Atlanta is going to do to improve their lot in life and become a contender. Umm, guess what Marian, they were to become a contender with you part of the process. Your play was to be a cornerstone of the turn around in Atlanta not your exit which you’ve now made. Once Hossa is back from his knee tweak and suits up with a healty Crosby, we’ll see what he has in the tank. If this opportunity does not inspire him to play outside his comfort zone in the post season then nothing will.
Heard a great nickname the other day for the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey players who refused to waive their no trade contracts – the frozen five – how good is that? Very appropriate. Sundin, Tucker, McCabe, Kaberle and Kubina. If there ever was a time you’d think at least one of them would want out of this situation it would have been now as they are on route to their third straight season out of the playoffs. You can’t put a price on loyalty but it has to be the absolute most incredibe scenario ever seen leading up to the trade deadline. What will transpire in TO now is Cliff Fletcher who did the best he could shaving more than 3 million off the cap and recouping several draft choices, he now will very seriously comtemplate buying out one or more of these contracts this summer. At two thirds of the total worth pro rated over a number of seasons it is still a cap hit albeit one that Toronto will no question look long and hard at.
So what happens going forward with these no trades and no movement contracts? The no movement is even more restrictive, that means you can’t even put the guy in the minors. I think we’ll see these slowly disappear. Probably not 100% but certainly to a large extent after the frozen five, Wade Redden, Rob Blake and seemingly others of the 104 that have this restriction on their contract, froze their respective GM’s. Granted Brad Richards waived his and promptly went out and tied a franchise record with five assists in one game in his first contest as a Dallas Star but the list of those who would not go and the impact they could have had more importantly how their movement could help their respective franchises will no question lead to this clause disappearing.
Bob Gainey did not make a mistake dealing Christabal Huet. Huet is unrestricted as of July 1, he was making 2.3 million and was not going to be resigned and he was not going to be any kind of saviour for this team come playoff time. In addition his play his last 6-8 games was atrocious and to be fair Carey Price was no stalwart in the pipes either during that stetch and now since the deal, Huet picks up a shutout in his first game with Washington and Price is 3-0. Go figure. No question the deal was done to also clear cap room for Hossa who was snapped up by Pittsburgh but at the end of the day, the deal seemed to be received to the same extent the drafting of Carey Price did. Hab fans and hockey fans scratched their heads when Montreal selected Price who since then dominated the World Juniors, dominated the AHL and is obviously one of the best young goalies in the game on a team that has a history of having young goalies come in and perform miracles in the playoffs. Patrick Roy, Steve Penney, Ken Dryden, Rogie Vachon, Jacques Plante, all burst on the scene in a big way very early in their NHL careers. Can Price do the same? Yes he can but the difference is the team in front of him is no where near as good as their current record indicates. Not with respect to success in the post season. They’ll make some noise and depending on their first round opponent Montreal could win a round but winning two is still a larger forward or two away who can play. After missing the playoffs last year though this is a huge turnaround and Bob Gainey deserves nothing but full credit for this especially given what has happened to him personally.
And while I’m on the topic of Marian Hossa....hell of a player. More talent in one finger than half the league has in their whole body but in my opinion he will never play for a Cup winner. At this point of his career Hossa needs to prove to me that he has the ability to perform in the playoffs. In addition he orchastrated his departure from Ottawa by indicating to John Muckler that if he did not get the money he wanted he would test free agency. Fair enough says Muckler. Here ya go Hossa. And then ten minutes later traded him for Dany Heatley in argueably the second best trade ever in Ottawa history. Subsequent to that and this says it all – Hossa and Co. Indicate to Atlanta GM Don Waddell that they want to know what Atlanta is going to do to improve their lot in life and become a contender. Umm, guess what Marian, they were to become a contender with you part of the process. Your play was to be a cornerstone of the turn around in Atlanta not your exit which you’ve now made. Once Hossa is back from his knee tweak and suits up with a healty Crosby, we’ll see what he has in the tank. If this opportunity does not inspire him to play outside his comfort zone in the post season then nothing will.
# posted by Liam Maguire @ 3:54 AM 
