If you are a hockey and Penguins addict such as myself, you woke up yesteday with that feeling you had as a kid on Christmas morning. The feeling of anticipation was in the air, as we awaited that next "gift" that Ray Shero would bestow up on the fans of the Penguins to help us challenge for the Holy Grail of Hockey despite a ridiculous season, full of devastating injuries. Surely RS had that last rabbit to pull out of his hat to land some 25 goal winger in return for Crosby's moldy jock strap and a bag of pucks! There were rumors as of 2pm that the Penguins were up to something BIG! I thought maybe somehow they were in on Dustin Penner. Can you imagine a 240 lb winger with 20+ goals who can skate, added to this lineup? Like Neal, he was signed for another year, but unlike Neal he had a 4M cap hit. But hey, sign him, if you cannot fit him under the cap for next season, he would be a big enticement as a draft day trade. If you could move some salary elsewhere and field a top two lines next year of something like Crosby, Kunitz, Neal AND Malkin, Staal, Penner, to go with the defense and goaltending we have, you would be a scary team. This year, if Crosby came back, your top six was Crosby, Kunitz, Kovalev, Neal, Staal, and Penner? You could win a cup with that lineup. You could also leave a lot roadkill along the way! I was really thinking that this was what they were working on OR another Shero special that nobody thought of ala Kunitz and Tangradi for Whitney. As it turned out the Penguins did nothing yesterday.....and after the intial disappointment wore off, and I saw what the cost of some of these players was, I think Shero made a good decision. I did expect that he might move Max Talbot for a 3rd pick or so, since I cannot envision signing him for next year and he would have value as a character guy, penalty killer and occasional big goal scorer for a team like Vancouver in the west who was looking for just such a guy. The fact that despite inquiries about Max and Pascal Dupuis, another UFA after this season, that they remain on the team, MAYBE the Pens think Crosby could be back, and they wanted this depth to take a run this season. One can hope, cant they? Okay, the contenders as I see them, and their trade deadline moves/analysis from MY perspective:
Philadelphia Flyers-This team was already the top team in the East. leading the conference with 86 points, and in my opinion, and they got stronger at the deadline. The Flyers added additional scoring depth and a good two way player that fits in well with Laviolette's system in Kris Versteeg, a player the Pens coveted. To get Versteeg early, I think the Flyers paid a pretty big price in giving up both their 1st and 3rd draft picks in 2011 to get him. That said, the Flyers have a great shot with Versteeg added to the lineup to take a real run at the Cup. In addition, the Flyers claimed Nick Boynton off of waivers from Chicago to add even more depth to their blue line. The Flyers have one of the deepest top 9 forard groups I have ever seen, an excellent and deep blue line, but still unproven goaltending. In hind sight Boynton is a move the Penguins could have made, but I think they passed to keep as much as cap space available for the deadline day moves. All in all, not a spectacular, but the Flyers came out of the TD deeper and better, losing nothing from the current roster, but paying a hefty price in future assets to take a shot at the title. I like it, and I like/hate the transition Holmgren is making with the mentality and makeup of the Flyers!
Boston Bruins-The Bruins added gritty two center Rich Peverly and some Russian defenseman Boris something and sent Blake Wheeler and stay at home defenseman Mark Stuart to Atanta in return. Peverly has 15 goals and plays a very solid two way game. The Bruins gave up a solid stay at home defenseman, but got a depth defenseman in return and added scoring up the middle in Peverly. The Bruins also sent a second round pick to Ottawa in return for another gritty center in Chris Kelly. Finally, the Bruins made a big splash, adding puck moving defensman and power play specialist Tomas Kaberle(3G and 36A) to the blueline in return for a good center prospect plus a 1st round pick in 2011, and a second rounder in 2012. A steep price indeed. However, the Bruins, like the Flyers are positioned to win it all, and they added grit, depth and goals up the middle with Peverly and Kelly, plus a very good offensive defenseman in Kaberle. They lost some goals from the wing in Wheeler and a good stay at home defenseman in Stuart from the current team, but they gave themselves a great shot at competing for the prize now with the additional scoring punch up the middle and Kaberle. Finally, both Peverly and Kelly have another year on their contracts at 1.3M and 2.1M respectively, while Kaberle at 4.2M is UFA after this season. They have lost 2 second round picks and a first rounder from the next two drafts, but I like the moves for the Bruins and have them as a real challenger to the Flyers in the conference. They may be the only team who can match the Flyers up front, and they have better goaltending. The Bruins lead the Northeast Divsion, and are third in the conference with 79 points currently.
Tampa Bay Lightning-The Lightning are currently atop the Southeast Division with 81 points, 5 ahead of the stains in my drawers, er Washington Capitals. Their 81 points puts the Lightning second in the conference overall as well. With a lineup that includes Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, Vincent LeCavalier, Teddy Purcell, Simon Gagne, and by the end of March Ryan Malone, the Lightning cannot be taken lightly. Their big move was to bring in young gun defenseman Eric Brewer in return for defensive prospect Brock Beukeboom, son of former Rangers defenseman Jeff Beukeboom and a 2011 3rd round pick. Brewer has the potential to add some offensive to the blue line for Tampa, as well as some size and good defensive zone presence. The Lightning also added veteran goaltender Dwayne Roloson about a month ago, to bolster that area. The Lightning added an excellent blue liner in Brewer, but I don't think they did enough to keep up with Boston and Philaelphia as Eastern Conference favorites. I think their goaltending is a bit suspect, and their blue line is average, but with the depth up front, Tampa cannot be overlooked.
Washington Capitals-The Capitals have gotten themselves a bit stronger at the deadline as well. The most publicized move was bringing in Jason Arnott, a big strong center ice man from New Jersey in return for 4th liner David Steckel and a 2nd rounder in 2012. Arnott who earns 4.5M per year and is a UFA after this season is a rental to be sure, but he will add size, scoring depth down the middle (13 G and 11A), leadership, and championship experience to a team that lacks all of the above. Expect Arnott to anchor the second line for Boohoodreau. In addition, the Capitals added Dennis Wideman to the blue line in return for a center prospect Hauswirth, who is in the ECHL, and a third round pick. This is a nice pickup as well for a team who is struggling on the power play and other than Mike Green, has little offense from the backend. Wideman has 33 points this season, after netting a career high 50 last year, so he will be a big addition to the blue line of the Capitals. The sleeper move though may be the acquisition of Marco Sturm off of the waiver wire. THIS is the move I wish the Penguins had made in hindsight. Sturm has scored 20 or more goals in 7 NHL seasons, including 22 last year. He was injured for the start of the year, but has 4 goals in 17 games, which would equate to about 20 on a full season basis. He carries a 3.5M cap hit, and is UFA after this year, but Sturm will add quality scoring depth and grit to the Capitals, and they gave up nothing to add him to the mix. Earlier in the season they brought in stay at home defenseman Scott Hannan, who has been solid, but is a 4.5M UFA after this season. All in all, it pains me to say this, but I think the Capitals brought in a lot of the ingredients that they were lacking and gave up precious little in return. That said, they were the Champs of the deadline last year, and yet somehow once the good players they brought in became Crapitals, the general Captard way set in, and they were dumped in the first round. I think the Craps still lack big time goaltending, good coaching, and character. I do however rate what they did at the trade deadline as highly productive for the stretch run and playoffs, though I doubt that anyone but Wideman will be on the team next season.
New York Rangers-The Rangers are currently 7th in the conference with 70 points, and third in the Atlantic Divison behind Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The trading started early for the Rangers, when on January 10th they sent Michael Roszival and his 5M per year contract to Phoenix in exchange for big winger Wojtek Wolski. This was a good salary dump for New York, and they added size and scoring touch to their forward positions. Two days before the deadline the Rangers added veteran defenseman Bryan McCabe in exchange for depth forward Tim Kennedy and a third round pick. McCabe is a solid veteran defenseman who can add offense (5G and 17A), plus leadership. He is a 5.75M UFA at the end of the year but the Rangers could decide to keep him if they do not get in on the Brad Richards sweepstakes in July as a replacement for Rosival's bloated salary. In addition, the Rangers added depth forward John Mitchell in exchange for a 7th round pick. I generally like the youth movement in New York this season. Bryan McCabe adds a lot to the Rangers for very little in return, but I don't think it is enough for the Rangers to make a real run in the East. The health of Marc Staal and Marian Gaborik will also factor in to their post season seeding and aspirations.
Montreal Canadiens-The Habs are currently in 6th place in the conference with 73 points. The Habs also had to start the trading early due to injuries on their blue line. With Andre Markov and Josh Gorges out for the season, and Jaroslav Spacek out for an extended period of time, the Habs brought in James Wisniewski from the Islanders in return for their 2nd round pick in 2011, and a conditional 5th round pick. On deadline day the Habs added steady defenseman Paul Mara in return for their 5th round pick, a move by the way the Pens might have made to shore up their short term blue line needs. Mara is steady and inexpensive at 750K per year and a fifth rounder for him was not a bad move. Then the Canadiens added steady defenseman Brett Sopel and fringe NHL forward Nigel Dawes in exchange for their 4th round pick and center prospect Ben Maxwell. The short term good news for the Habs is that they steadied their defensive corps for the playoff run at no expense to their current roster. The bad news for the Habs is that they have given up their 2nd, 4th and 5th round picks from this draft, and the 5th round pick for their next draft for three blueliners who replace three injured defensemen and all three are UFA at the end of the season. Despite making an heroic run last year knocking off top seeded Washington and second seeded Pittsburgh with stifling defense and great goaltending, I don't see this year's Canadiens team repeating history. Halak, who had a magical post season is gone, and despite doing an adequate job of replacing injured blueliners, the Canadiens treaded water, but did not really improve their team.
I am not going to get too much into the Thrashers, Hurricanes, Sabres, or Leafs moves, as I do not see any of them as having a shot regardless of which of them takes the 7th or 8th seed in the conference. They all made multiple moves, and the Leafs stocked up on prospects and picks, but none of these teams made enough of a move to have any real shot at going deep into the playoffs, and in many instances swapped similar assets to net some extra mid round draft picks.
Finally, a short recap of the Penguins trade deadline. The Penguins despite literally missing half of their starting lineup at times are fourth in the conference and second in the Atlantic Division with 80 points. They are 8-7-2 without both Crosby and Malkin in the lineup, and 11 of those games include Kunitz being on the shelf too. Given the caliber of players missing for huge chunks of the season, it is miraculous that they are still in the top 4 in the conference, and this is due in large part to a top defensive unit and penalty kill, along with a fast start. As far as the deadline moves, for the short term adding Kovalev gives the Penguins some much needed offensive threat and an improved power play for very little in return(conditional 7th round pick). Kovalev barring some remarkable run and unlikely willingness to take half of his current money for a single season is a rental, but a necessary one who came at no real cost. The big trade of Neal and Niskanen was a big win for the Penguins in my opinion despite my high regard for Alex Goligoski, whom I wish and expect the best for in Dallas. As good as the Goose is, on this Penguins team he was going to be the 5th defenseman/3rd pairing regardless of what he did. With a top four of Orpik, Letang , Martin, and Michalek all signed for the long term, that was the reality. Add to that, the likes of Bortuzzo, Strait, and possible star Despres all pressing for NHL time on the Pens blue line next year, and the writing was on the wall. Goligoski was the one piece of the puzzle that A. had value and B. was coming from a position of strength. To get James Neal, by all accounts a legitimate top 6 power forward, who is 23 years old and signed for at least one more year addressed a huge need for the Penguins up front both NOW and for the long term. Neal will be part of the nucleus of this team for years to come. He is good enough that former Calgary Flames GM Craig Button noted that he could have the impact of Kevin Stevens, and post 45-50 goals playing with Crosby or Malkin. Neal alone was enough to make this a good trade for the Penguins. Get a similar asset of similar age and similar contract term by moving an asset where you have a surplus to get an asset where you have a glaring need. But Shero did MUCH better than that. Viewed by some as a throw in, Matt Niskanen made this a huge win for the Pens. Here is why. Though he is no Goligoski in terms of offensive numbers, he will at least be a very adequate plug in as the Pens fifth defensman meaning that they did not HAVE to make a secondary move to fill the hole made by moving Goose. That is a big plus. Add to that the fact that he fits our system, will be better in his zone and the corners, will likely have some decent offensive numbers, and he is signed to a cap friendly 1.5M for next season. So we fill a huge hole by getting Neal, and get an adequate replacement for Goligoski with long term upside in the same move. Now we have more options for next year. If Niskanen develops, AND Bortuzzo and Despres develop, Bortuzzo, Lovejoy, or Niskanen are very movable assets that could bring in another good winger if necessary. At a minimum, it affords the Pens if need be, the luxury of giving Despres a year in the AHL without rushing him to the big club. In short, Shero has made the Pens a lock to get to the playoffs despite the injury bug, and a potential dark horse if Crosby would come back to go deep into the post season. He did this while positoning the Penguins to be a favorite next year too, and by giving up only one asset of any value from an area we could afford to give. He did not panic and mortgage the future for high priced rentals. I could Monday morning quarterback some of the waiver wire assets we could have had for nothing if I got really bored. Given our injuries on the blue line, and the inexperience of Engelland and Lovejoy, one could say that getting Paul Mara, Nick Boynton, or Craig Rivet on the blueline for this season, without giving up anything might have been nice. It would look VERY good if we had anothe injury on the backline. Even more interesting would have been adding Marco Sturm, a perennial 20 goal guy without giving up an asset. BUT, it seems as if Shero was keeping the cap space in order to have the ability to make a longer term hockey move on deadline day, so he could not take up that cap space. As it turned out it was not to be, but the strategy was sound. Adding Jason Arnott to the mix would have given the Penguins more Stanley Cup experience, better secondary scoring, and a very solid corps of centers, but Shero felt that the draft pick and roster player was too much for an aging veteran. In Shero we trust. Go Pens!!
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