The NHL schedule resumes tonight (well, sort of.) Just one game though; Colorado is hosting Detroit.
The trade deadline is Wednesday at 3 PM Eastern time. I’d like for Montreal to get a big top-six forward; then again, I’m sure 20 other teams would like one as well.
Still lots of teams that are within hailing distance of a playoff spot. I’d say only Edmonton and Toronto are really out of it. It won’t be easy for teams like Carolina, the Islanders and Minnesota; though they aren’t very many points out of the 8 spot, they’ve got a lot of teams to climb over.
The Stars releasing Auld surprised me. I know they didn’t want to carry 3 goaltenders, but do we know what Lehtonen can do? The last part of the schedule is pretty brutal and there is no way Turco is going to start all of those games.
I am really curious about how the last few deals may go. The Wings are reportedly looking really hard at getting something done, but they have absolutely zero cap room, so I’m not sure what they can do.
yea I thought the wings could only do contract for contract trades. You really can’t be creative with something like that hindering you. Ray Whitney of the Hurricanes is supposedly the hottest item on the market. I think the trade deadline is gonna be weak because the fact that the more major stuff have been done before the Olympic break. We’re gonna see some movement, nothing blockbuster though. I hope the NHL GMs prove me wrong.
Brett Lebda is being mentioned. He’s a UFA next year and Detroit does have some young d-men that they want to bring up. Problem is that he won’t get much of a return.
File this under “there I’ve said it,” but would it be such a bad thing if Detroit missed the playoffs for a year? It’d light a fire under the players for next season. Lord knows they’ve had some long summers in recent years. I say this as a red wings fan, but the Wings fan base has become a bit spoiled, not really paying much attention until the conference finals if even then. Anything less than the cup is viewed as a failure and a choke. They’re almost a bit like the fans of team Canada.
In this poorly trained chimps opinion, the best thing for Detroit to do regarding the trade deadline is nothing. We would have to give up too much to get what we need, and even then we wouldn’t get what we need. Stand pat or trade for picks. Squeak into the playoffs if at all and go as far as we get with the players we’ve got. An early summer wouldn’t hurt.
Now that I think, I wonder if Filpula (sp?) will get traded. He’s got upsides, but he just hasn’t been consistent enough for Detroit. I’m thinking they might try to move him to a rebuilding team for a veteran.
Hmmm…Going by NHLnumbers.com, the Habs still have 2.2 million in cap space to do something with. I doubt they’ll do much; I believe the only deadline move they’ve made in the last two years was to trade Huet to Washington for a draft pick, back in '08.
The Wings still have 2.7 million to play with, more than I thought. I wonder if this is the last hurrah for Lidstrom, he’s a UFA after this year.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall when Olympic opponents meet back up as teammates in NHL locker rooms (particularly the four Canadian Sharks and Joe Pavelski).
Habs score 4 in the last period to beat Boston 4-1. Montreal moves ahead of the Bruins into 7th, just one point behind Philly. I guess it’s not inconceivable that they can catch Buffalo or Ottawa, but they’re nine behind the Sabres for fifth and ten behind the Sens for the division lead (the third seed) with eighteen games to go, so catching the Flyers might be the highest they can shoot for.
Looks like Alexei Ponikarovsky could be on his way out of Toronto. The Leafs have a deal in place that would send him to Pittsburgh for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula. Caputi looks to be the key to this trade from Toronto’s standpoint; a 21 year old, six-two forward who’s having a good season for the Pens’ farm team. Skoula is just a fill-in for cap purposes.
Getting back to the Habs; I really like Glen Metropolit, and I hope Gauthier re-signs him for next season. He’s been great for a guy who was plucked off the Philly scrap heap on waivers. He’s also a good “human interest” story, in that he grew up in one of Toronto’s poorest neighbourhoods with a single mom, was never drafted and had to work his way up from the ECHL, which is one level below the American League. He also spent a season playing in Finland.
And the Canes spanked the Leafs 5-1. A good night, all around
I’ve loved Metropolit since they got him last year. Works hard, scores often enough, and seems able to keep the young guys working hard. I think he actually played 2 or 3 seasons in Europe, and is now having one of his best years ever. I’d re-sign him too. I don’t think he’d break the bank and is a good, reliable guy.
Souding like the trade day may fizzle out all around. Pretty much every big rumor I’ve heard has now been ruled-out. But still 4 hours left for some fireworks.
So last night the Penguins sent Skoula to the Leafs as part of a deal for Ponikarovsky, and today the Leafs flipped him back to the Devils. I have no opinion on this trade, since I don’t really know these players, but found this (rare) gem of a post by a poster named MetaKaizen on the CBC message boards and I thought you guys would like it:
Or Getzlaf, Perry and Niedermayer for Team Canada and Bobby Ryan and Ryan Whitney for the USA. I am going to be so annoyed and disappointed if the Ducks have 9 Olympians, 7 of whom won medals (Selanne and Koivu won Bronze) and they fail to make the playoffs.
Looks like a fairly quiet day on the trade front. Among the highlights:
The Kings have acquired Fredrik Modin from the Bluejackets for future considerations
The Caps have shored up their blueline, acquiring Joe Corvo from the Hurricanes for defenceman Brian Pothier and prospect forward Oskar Osala
The Lee Stempniak era in Toronto is finished, as he’s peddled to the Coyotes for a fourth and a seventh round draft pick.
Probably the biggest deal of the day is the Avalanche sending Wojtek Wolski to Phoenix for Peter Mueller and prospect Kevin Porter. Wolski’s been a solid player for Colorado but hasn’t really built on his solid rookie year of 06-07, while Mueller has really regressed from his rookie year of 07-08, only managing four goals so far this year. The TSN guys were saying something about Mueller’s commitment bordering on the apathetic.
Habs didn’t do too much, sending Matt D’Agostini to the Blues for a guy named Aaron Palushaj, whom I couldn’t pick out of a two-man crowd.
Congratulations to Nicklas Lidstrom for reaching 800 assists in the game against Nashville on Friday. Only Yzerman, Howe and Alex Delvecchio have more for Detroit.
The Detroit Jeckyl and Hydes are driving me insane.
Two games ago looked like total shit in all phases, I was thinking the playoffs were a long shot. Last game they looked very good in all aspects.
And today I guess they decided to shorten the pendulum on their mood swings. 1st period they were crap and lucky to only give up 2. Second period they came out and controlled the play and scored 5 in the period(helped by a complete Huet meltdown). And back to crappy again in the third just chasing and scrambling the whole time, and again lucky to only give up 2 more.
Dammit guys, you just have far to much pure talent to be so fricken inconsistant. :mad:
