Trade Wrap Up

Well now, last week Troy (who is back in St. Marteen like a jerk, leaving me to fly solo for this one) and I made some bold predictions for what yesterday, the Trade Deadline had to offer and we made some good calls and some not so good calls.

Let's start with the right shall we?

Detroit got Todd Bertuzzi, just as Troy called. I think that this was a solid trade for Detroit, who are playing very well right now but could always use a bit more grit-up front. The thought of a healthy Todd Bertuzzi playing with Datsyuk and Zetterberg should give every other team in the west nightmares. Also, I said that it would be a conditional draft pick package, and low and behold, right I was on that one.

While neither of us called the right team for Tkachuk and Geurin, we both said that whoever acquired these guys would no doubt pay a premium. I don't know how on earth Atlanta is going to build their franchise over the next two years since they gave up so many draft picks.

I also said that I don't think that Toronto should buy. They did not make any big, stupid or reactionary trades. They did some tinkering and made a smart choice in getting Yannic Perrault from Phoenix. I am surprised more teams did not go after this guy, a 5th round pick seems like the deal of the century.

Troy said that Biron would get traded and right he was. I am amazed that the Flyers only gave up a 2nd round pick for him. Unreal, I would have thought more teams would have made an effort to go after him. Especially Montreal with Huet injured. But I'll get back to Montreal in a bit.

And now the wrong...

I didn't think that San Jose would sacrifice long term stability for short term gain. Oops!!! They made two really big trades for Bill Guerin and Craig Rivet. Rivet gives them a solid Top 4 Defenseman who will add depth to their solid lineup. Guerin on the other hand, makes their forward lines even scarier. Guerin-Thornton-Cheechoo...gulp. To top it all off, Guerin has experience playing with Thornton from many years ago in Boston. While it was not what I predicted, I am really happy for the Sharks. I have always liked this team for some reason and I really want them to succeed.

Troy, along with many others, thought that Roberts would go to Toronto or Ottawa. Needless to say, it was a surprise to see him in Pittsburgh. I can't say that I blame the guy, wouldn't you waive your no-trade clause to get to play with Crosby? Also the Pens added Laroque which should go miles to protect Crosby, Malkin and Staal from opposition. I think that this young teams playoff chances got a lot better.

Troy said that Vancouver would reacquire Carter, but he went to Carolina. I'm not sure why the Canucks didn't offer more than a 5th round pick for the guy. He was awesome last year with them. But instead they got Sopel and Smolinski. I think that they are both really good depth players and they really didn't give up much for them. This should really help their playoff drive (yes I'm FINALLY admitting that they will be in the playoffs this year)

I said that Montreal would shake things up and they didn't. I don't understand how Gainey did not make a big move or two, especially for a goalie. As I already said, Biron went cheap but there were rumours of Joseph and Belfour being on the market. Either of them would have been great short term fits until Huet got healthy again. Besides, how much would that piss off the Leafs-nation to have one of their former goalies guide the Habs to the playoffs? That surely must have been worth some high draft picks.

But most of all, Ryan Smyth. Wow. I don't think that anyone saw that one coming. He is now a New York Islander, and what did the Oilers get in return? Not a hell of a lot. I honestly don't understand this situation. How could that have been the best deal available for someone like Ryan Smyth? I really don't know what to say, other than congratulations Garth Snow, you just earned some serious cred as a GM.

But to sum it up, here are my Top 5 biggest winners and losers coming out of yesterday.

Losers

5. Ottawa - Yuppers, this team could have used a bit more depth and as always, toughness. Saprykn is a good pick up but they probably could have made another move or two.

4. Florida - They made some smart trades for the future of their franchise, don't get me wrong. It is just the net result of trading Roberto Luongo is Alex Auld, a prospect and some maybe draft picks.

3. Anaheim - First off, this team is solid. But when Nashville gets Forsberg, Detroit gets Bertuzzi, San Jose gets Guerin, heck even Dallas gets Norstrom and Nagy and you get nothing you have to class yourself as a loser.

2. Montreal - Like I said, they needed a goalie or something and got nothing.

1. Edmonton - Trading away Smyth with no short term gains (and relatively little long term gains) is the equivalent to throwing in the towel. I really thought that this team would make a bigger push.

Winners

5. Pittsburgh - Like I said, I like their chances in April a lot more now.

4. Atlanta - While I know that they over payed, Tkachuk will help them out a lot this year and I guess that is what matters to them. They also got Zhitnik from Philly. There are not many teams in the league that could have too many veteran defensemen kicking around. I'm excited to see what this team can do in the playoffs.

3. San Jose - I already covered this one. But I think more and more that I will be right about this team playing in the finals.

2. The Central Division - Detroit gets tougher, Nashville gets some serious talent, St. Louis has more draft picks than they know what do to with. Well done to all three of those teams.

1. New York Islanders - See everything else I have said about Smyth and paste it here.

Anywho, that's about all that I have to say about yesterdays events. I will e-mail my predicted standings to Troy in the near future, and hopefully he will no be too big of a poo-face and send them back to me soonish.

Until next time,

G