Around The Rink 03.04.08: Deadline Deals

Posted by Jeremy Yoder on 03.04.2008

Around The Rink this week, a head coach got the axe and I’ll examine some of the trades made at the deadline. We’ll review the Western Conference’s Northwest Division and recap the week that was in Penguins hockey.

Main Topics...

The Ottawa Senators are tied for the second most points in the Eastern Conference. They are also second in their division. Sounds like a thriving Northeast Division team, right? Not exactly. The Senators have been struggling lately and rumors began to circulate that the coach was losing control of the team. Last Wednesday, in a move similar to one made by the New Jersey Devils late last season, the Senators gave head coach John Paddock his walking papers. Taking over for the rest of the season will be GM Bryan Murray, who does have coaching experience.

At the time of the firing, the Senators had dropped six of their last eight games and 14 of their last 21. They did that while losing first place in the Eastern Conference and their division.

Replacing a head coach this late in the season is rough. It didn't work out the best for the Devils last year and only time will tell if it will work out for the Senators. While I'm not an advocate of making a move like this, a coach needs to have control of the team he is coaching. Obviously some things were going awry with the Senators and a change needed to be made.

I, for one, think that some of the issues in the Senators locker room stemmed from troubled goalie Ray Emery. Emery has really been a detriment to team chemistry in Ottawa. He has been starting fights with team mates, showing up late for practices and sometimes looking downright uninterested during practices. I think it's interesting that Paddock got the axe the day after the deadline. From what I understand, the Senators were shopping Emery around and couldn't find any takers. Perhaps this was a case of one or the other needing to go. Emery needed to go because he was causing issues in the locker room or Paddock needed to go because he couldn't control Emery. Since Emery couldn't be moved at the deadline, Paddock had to go. It will be interesting to see if Bryan Murray can regain control of this team and bring them back to their dominant early season form.


The NHL trade deadline was last Tuesday, February 26th. There were a lot of deals made, but only about a handful that I consider to be really relevant to the landscape of the NHL. I will take a quick look at those deals now.

First on my list is the Brad Richards trade. The Dallas Stars acquired C Brad Richards and G Johan Holmqvist from the Tampa Bay Lightning for G Mike Smith, LW Jussi Jokinen, C Jeff Halpern and a 2009 4th round draft pick.

The Dallas Stars were already the second best team in the Western Conference and the league, for that matter. The Stars only got better with this deal. Brad Richards is a great playmaker and goal scorer. Add him to a lineup already featuring Mike Ribeiro, Brenden Morrow, Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen and you have a lethal combination of forwards. Niklas Hagman, while not setting many up, is scoring a lot of goals too so you really can add him to that list of forwards. When you look at what the Stars gave up, an under-achieving left wing, a role-playing center and a backup goalie, this was a great deal for them. They gained offensive power and playoff experience while not giving much up. Jokinen could turn out to be a good goal scorer in this league, but presently this was a fantastic move for the Dallas Stars.

To me, the Richards deal was the best deal made at the trade deadline. Coming in at a close second though is the Marian Hossa deal. The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired RW Marian Hossa and RW Pascal Dupuis from the Atlanta Thrashers for RW Colby Armstrong, C Erik Christensen, last years 20th overall pick in the draft C Angelo Esposito and next years first round draft choice.

The downside to this deal, obviously, is that Marian Hossa is an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. However, I don't think Ray Shero would have made this move without thinking that he has a chance at signing the two time All-Star winger at the end of the season. Hossa obviously brings talent on the wing that the Penguins desperately needed. While Evgeni Malkin has settled in on a line with Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone in Sidney Crosby's absence, Crosby was still in need of a wing for him when he returns. Hossa is that wing. He can make plays and he can finish plays. He's strong on the puck and has a good knowledge of the game.

While the Pens may have given up a character guy in Colby Armstrong, I think the team is very deep with character guys such as Maxime Talbot and Jarkko Ruutu, just to name a couple. As far as giving Christensen and Esposito goes, they are both centers, a position the Pens have plenty of depth at. While both of those players could turn into quality NHLers, they really didn't have a spot in Pittsburgh at this time. This was a good deal for the Pens and if they are able to resign Hossa at the end of the year, it was a great deal.

The San Jose Sharks were in need of a good puck-moving defensemen. They filled that need very nicely by acquiring D Brian Campbell from the Buffalo Sabres for RW Steve Bernier. Draft picks were also swapped in the deal with Buffalo receiving San Jose's 2008 first round draft pick and San Jose getting Buffalo's seventh round pick.

The Sharks are one of the lowest scoring teams in the NHL right now. In spite of that fact, the Sharks have the third most points in the Western Conference. Obviously, the only thing missing to push them over the top is some more offense. They get that in Brian Campbell. Even though he is a defenseman, Campbell comes to the Sharks and moves into second on the team in scoring. He will provide a good push from the backside which will lead to more goals being scored. Though they gave up a first round draft pick and a talented winger, it was a small price to pay for what they needed.

The team that made some of the best moves at the deadline, in my opinion, was the Washington Capitals. The Caps acquired G Cristobal Huet from the Montreal Canadiens for a 2009 second round draft pick, C Sergei Fedorov from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a defenseman named Ted Ruth and also LW Matt Cooke from the Vancouver Canucks for LW Matt Pettinger.

The goaltending situation in Washington has been shaky all year. Olaf Kolzig has not been setting the world on fire this year and Brent Johnson has provided inconsistent backup. With Kolzig aging, bringing in Cristobal Huet was a very good move for a team fighting to make the playoffs. If they can resign Huet, who becomes an unrestricted free agent, in the offseason, this move will have worked out nicely and the Caps will have two strong goalies for next season.

The acquisitions of Sergei Fedorov and Matt Cooke are deals that will probably go largely overlooked by followers of the NHL. Fedorov is an aging center who has probably seen his better days, but maybe he still has something left in the tank. If nothing else, he makes a good addition to any power play and can provide leadership. Matt Cooke is a good third or fourth line guy to have on your roster. He provides energy and despite being a smaller forward, can throw his body around too. I think that all of these moves were good ones for the Caps and could pay dividends in helping them to try and make the playoffs.

Tight Northwest Division Features Four Playoff Teams

The Western Conference's Northwest Division currently houses four of the eight Western Conference teams making the playoffs this year. Leading the way for those four teams is the Minnesota Wild. They are currently 37-24-5 with 79 points. When I last reviewed the Northwest Division, I said that the Wild were too inconsistent to win this division or even finish in the top three. While I stand by them not winning the division, I do think they are currently a top three team. I don't think they'll win the division because I think they are still somewhat inconsistent. However, they have taken advantage of the other teams in the division falling off the pace and have moved into first. Marian Gaborik has been a goal and points scoring machine of late for the Wild. He is clearly the offensive leader of this team but has been getting support from Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Brian Rolston and a surging Pavol Demitra. They have a largely veteran corps of defensemen with the exception of Brent Burns who is probably the best defensemen on their roster anyway. In goal, Niklas Backstrom has been picking up steam again and holding opponents to an average of close to two and a half goals a game. Under head coach Jacques Lemaire, defense is definitely not a concern as his system, when played properly, can shut down any NHL team. However, can he get his players to play consistently enough to win this division? I have my doubts. I see the Wild falling to second in this division and more than likely holding on to that spot to finish the season. Second place in this division should be good enough to earn them a playoff berth.

Currently second in this division are the Calgary Flames with a record of 34-23-9 and 77 points. The Flames are led, in every facet, by Jarome Iginla. Not only does this man provide the leadership that a great captain should, he puts up the points too. He quietly has 40 goals this season putting him at third in the NHL in goal scoring. Continuing to support him are Kristian Huselius and Daymond Langkow who are both having career years. Picking up steam of late to pitch in is winger Alex Tanguay. The Flames are middle of the line with regards to goals scored and allowed. While Miikka Kiprusoff isn't having the best year of his career, the big defensemen in front of him are helping him out. With one of the league's best young defensemen, Dion Phaneuf, and certainly one of the most under rated forwards in the league in Iginla, the Flames will be a force to be reckoned with come playoff time. They will rise to win the Northwest Division which will obviously earn them a playoff spot. Despite powerhouses such as Detroit, San Jose, Dallas and Anaheim, Calgary could be a dark horse in this conference.

Third place sees a tie between the Vancouver Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche. With a game in hand, the Canucks are the respective owners of the position. The Canucks are 32-23-10 with 74 points. The name of the game for this team is defense, defense, defense. They are fifth in the league in goals allowed and have one of the league's premier goalies on their roster. However, with offensive star Brendan Morrison out and Markus Naslund not having a great year, the offensive production for this team has fallen squarely on the shoulders of the Sedin twins, Henrik and Daniel. While they are having good years, the Canucks need to find more scoring somehow. I don't think they have it on this roster. Without Markus Naslund playing the way he has the last few years, there really aren't any other scorers on this team to look to. The defensemen on the team are solid with a lot of veteran leadership in guys like Willie Mitchell, Aaron Miller, Mattias Ohlund and Sami Salo. The bottom line is that defensively this team is solid. They have good defensemen and good goaltending. Offensively though, this team has some major issues. I don't think they'll be able to find that offensive push this season with the players they have. The Canucks will lose this third place battle to the team they are tied with, the Colorado Avalanche and will just miss the playoffs.

The Avalanche are currently 34-26-6 good for 74 points. While the Avalanche made big noise at the trade deadline, not so much by their trades, but by a free agent signing, they still have some problems on this team. Peter Forsberg has yet to suite up for the Avs and they just lost Marek Svatos for the rest of the season and Ryan Smyth for an undetermined amount of time. The team did get a boost, if nothing more than a mental one, recently with the return of captain Joe Sakic. They also acquired, via a trade at the deadline, a guy that helped them to some Stanley Cups in years past in Adam Foote. However, what this team really needs is some more help offensively. Forsberg and Sakic may provide that, but I don't know that it will be enough. Svatos was their leading goal scorer with 26 on the season and their second place goal scorer is Milan Hejduk with 21. With the lack of scoring and neither goalie lighting the world on fire, the defense needs to step up in order for the Avalanche to have a successful end to their season. To that end, Adam Foote may help out, but I don't think he'll add that much. The Avs will go on to finish third in this division and will slip into the playoffs as the eight seed.

Bringing up the rear in the Northwest Division are the Edmonton Oilers. At 31-30-5 with 67 points, they are not the worst team in the league, but are very from the best. The Oilers have a lot of problems, but none more so evident than their defense. With the exception of Steve Staios and Sheldon Souray, who is injured, the defense is a young group and it is showing. The are tied for allowing the sixth most goals this season in the NHL. Add to their defensive issues some goaltending problems and you have a real mess. Dwayne Roloson was having a very bad year and has ultimately lost his starting position to Mathieu Garon, which isn't saying a whole lot. On top of the defensive and goaltending issues, this team doesn't have much scoring. Shawn Horcoff was having a good year before going down for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. The team is offensively lacking so bad that Horcoff, despite missing the last 13 games, is still second on the team in points scoring. Things won't get better for this Oilers team this year. They will finish in the basement of this division and miss the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Weekly Pens Update

The Pens had a pretty good week winning two games and losing two games. Last Tuesday night, the Pens took it to the Islanders winning by a score of 4-2. Two days later in Boston, the Pens looked disinterested and took a 5-1 beating at the hands of the Bruins. On Saturday they played a better game, but came up short against the Ottawa Senators losing 5-4. Sunday saw them win an exciting shootout game against the Atlanta Thrashers by a final score of 3-2. Through it all, the week was good enough to tie the Pens for first place in the Eastern Conference, giving them the Atlantic Division lead.

While the action on the ice was fantastic this week, there was major news off of it too. The Pens, going against what I thought they would do, made a huge acquisition at the trade deadline by acquiring Marian Hossa from the Atlanta Thrashers. I detailed that trade above, so I won't go into a whole lot. I would like to add to what I said above though. While most fans not familiar with the organization think the Pens paid a huge price for Hossa, I disagree. Colby Armstrong is a great role-playing hockey player who brings energy and fun to your lineup. However, the Pens have other players who can step up and do that. They have other players in Wilkes-Barre who can step up and do that if need be. Erik Christensen wasn't working out in Pittsburgh. He's a center and the Pens are all stocked up on that position for a while. He couldn't make it happen on the wing and he needed to go somewhere to play the center position. Angelo Esposito, as was mentioned by a friend of mine on hockeybuzz.com, was a gift to the Pens last year in the draft. He was supposed to go higher than 20th and the fact that he slipped that far says something about him. Add to that rumors that he has an attitude problem and you don't know what you're going to get out of him. On top of all of that, he's a center. Again, the Pens are loaded at that position. The first round draft pick from next year? That's not a big deal either. The Pens have had good draft position for the last six years. This year, the draft position isn't going to be so good, in the last six or seven picks of the first round. You also never know how your first round draft picks are going to turn out so this was a decent gamble to bring in a guy of Hossa's caliber. The other side of the coin is that the Pens still have young guys coming up in the system. There are players that the Pens own the rights to playing junior hockey that were being inquired about at the trade deadline. It's hard to say that the Pens gave up nothing to make this deal, but in the grand scheme of things, that's exactly what happened.

The other trade the Pens made was to acquire Hal Gill from the Toronto Maple Leafs. I understand why this trade was made. Everybody thinks the Pens need to beef up their defense. While that may be the case, Hal Gill is not the answer. At least not in his first two games he hasn't been the answer. Gill is slow and has been out of position most of his time on the ice for the Pens so far. Maybe it is just adjusting to new team mates, but I was skeptical of this acquisition from the start. I hope he pulls it together, but he hasn't done anything to make me feel any better about the trade to bring him here.

Back to the action on the ice. The Pens, though by and large getting healthier, have also been bit by more of the injury bug. Defensemen Ryan Whitney is currently day to day with a groin problem and defensemen Rob Scuderi left the game against the Islanders with a broken little finger that required surgery. Scuderi will be out 4-6 weeks which really hurts the Pens defense. Also getting injured, less than a half game into his Penguins debut, was newly acquired star winger Marian Hossa. Hossa had a knee on knee collision with former Penguin Glen Murray and strained his MCL putting him out for a week. The injury could have been much worse and the Pens should be happy it wasn't.

Getting back onto the ice though was Marc-Andre Fleury. He wasn't sporting his bright yellow pads anymore, but did sport some nice saves and looked good in his return start on Sunday against the Atlanta Thrashers. Fleury saw some action in Thursdays 5-1 loss against the Bruins and got the call to start on Sunday. It was good seeing Fleury back in the net and I think he will be getting the start tomorrow night in Tampa Bay. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think he needs to be the Pens number one guy in net. However, I feel a very unnecessary goalie controversy coming on in Pittsburgh.

With Marian Hossa set to possibly return on Sunday in Washington against the Capitals, it could be a huge day for the Pens. Sidney Crosby is also expected be back in the lineup very soon and it is largely speculated that same Sunday could be the day. Crosby left with the team for their three game road trip this week, which is a good sign. If Crosby and Hossa come back on the same day, it will be an amazing boost for a team that has played extremely well in their captain's absence.

Evgeni Malkin continues to tear up the NHL, leading the scoring race. Just today, Geno was named the NHL's number one star for the month of February. It was very deserving and it's great to see Malkin playing with such intensity night in and night out. When Sid does get back, the one-two punch that these two will provide will be something that no team can hold a candle to. Add Marian Hossa, Petr Sykora and Ryan Malone, who has been playing outstanding hockey in his own right, to that punch and the Pens are going to be quite the offensive force.

As I mentioned, this week the Pens embark on a three game road trip. Tomorrow, Tuesday, they will be in Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning. Thursday they will remain in Florida to battle the Florida Panthers. Sunday they will make their way back up north into the District of Columbia to face the Washington Capitals. With Crosby and Hossa expected to crack the lineup later this week, it will be another exciting week of Penguins hockey!

Random Thoughts

Why do people who live in the city shovel snow into the street? Living in an urban area of Pittsburgh, I have come across this phenomenon and have really begun to wonder why people do this. Don't people get upset when the road crews don't have the roads clear of snow? Why would you contribute to the problem? Pretty much everybody has at least some place they can pile the snow. Is it just laziness because it's easier to push it into the street? I don't know, but hear this: If you are shoveling snow into the street and I'm coming down that street, you better hope there's not a puddle of slush nearby. I will not hesitate to hit that puddle of slush and give you what you deserve for shoveling snow into the road.

More Next Tuesday...

I'll be back next week with another column. Please send any comments, questions, suggestions or a topic that would interest you to [e-mail].