We continue a week-long feature, looking at past trade deadlines and seeing how they affected the teams and players involved...
The Blockbuster: Peter Forsberg to Nashville
Nashville: Peter Forsberg
Philadelphia: Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, 1st and 3rd round pick
The Predators sent shockwaves throughout the NHL the night they acquired Peter Forsberg. Barry Trotz’s gang was residing in first in the Western Conference standings, thought by many to be the team to beat in the entire league. With three bonafide lines, a deep blueline and Tomas Vokoun in net, Forsberg was that final piece to the puzzle.
Forsberg’s time in Nashville didn’t go as planned, though. He battled injury in the final weeks of the regular season and was never at full strength. In 22 games (including playoffs), he recorded 19 points. Possibly the biggest contribution ‘Foppa’ made to the team was making then-rookie and linemate Alexander Radulov a better player. Forsberg was also the centerpiece of a great moment when he scored a huge overtime winner against rival Detroit.
GM David Poile and the front office rolled the dice with Forsberg, hoping he’d lead them to the Promised Land. It wasn’t so, as they were quickly knocked out in five games. To this day, however, Poile doesn’t regret making the trade.
Philadelphia did not lose much in Forsberg, as they were the worst team in the NHL that season. The big package they received in return wasn’t all it was made out to be. Scottie Upshall and Ryan Parent both battled injury problems in their respective short stints with the team.
The first-rounder was flipped back to Nashville in the summer when the Flyers acquired the negotiating rights to Scott Hartnell and Kimmo Timonen.
The Steal: Braydon Coburn to Philadelphia
Atlanta: Alexei Zhitnik
Philadelphia: Braydon Coburn
Philadelphia’s Paul Holmgren picked Atlanta’s Don Waddell’s pocket in this one. Braydon Coburn was the eighth overall selection by the Thrashers in the 2003 draft. But Waddell unloaded his top prospect to the Flyers in exchange for veteran defenseman Alexei Zhitnik, to help their chances of winning the division.
Zhitnik did rack up 14 points in 18 regular season games to close out the year, but didn’t produce any in the postseason and had a minus-4 rating. The Russian stayed around for another year, but only had eight points and was a minus-8.
Meanwhile, Coburn has turned into a solid defenseman in Philly. He’s been a nice piece to the puzzle as the Flyers have made the playoffs in the three full seasons he has been around. Coburn also boasts a plus-14 rating this year and is still only 25 years old.
The Steal, Part 2: Josh Gorges to Montreal
San Jose: Craig Rivet, 2008 5th round pick
Montreal: Josh Gorges, 1st round pick (Max Pacioretty)
This one isn’t as big of a steal as others I’ve mentioned this week. With that said, the Habs definitely got the upper-hand of this deal.
While Craig Rivet had a good year and a half in San Jose, Josh Gorges has been invaluable to Montreal’s back end in the last two or three years. Gorges played a big role in the Habs going on their long postseason run last spring. Also, the draft pick obtained was used on Max Pacioretty, who is expected to be a key offensive contributor for years to come.
Not a big steal in Montreal’s favor, but one that caught my eye.
The Win-win: Brad Boyes for Dennis WidemanBoston: Dennis Wideman
Very few trades in 2007 that truly worked out for both sides, but this one did. A lot of Boston fans don’t like Dennis Wideman after the way his time ended in Beantown, but he had the best season of his career back in 2007/08 when the B’s were tops in the Eastern Conference; Wideman had 50 points and a plus-32 rating that year.
Brad Boyes has had his most successful seasons following the trade, as well. Between 2007/08 and 2008/09, Boyes compiled a total of 76 goals and 137 points. It’s safe to say that these two players benefitted from the change of scenery.
The Seller: St. Louis Blues
Acquired: Glen Metropolit, Ville Nieminen, (P) Jay Barriball, 1st round pick (David Perron), 1st round pick (Ian Cole), 3rd round pick, 2008 2nd round pick (Philip McRae)
Traded: Keith Tkachuk, Bill Guerin
The Blues weren’t huge sellers, but they did get a solid return for two veterans. Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin were traded away as the Blues were mired in another disappointing campaign. Then-GM Larry Pleau was able to nab two first-round picks, both of which he used on players that still have bright futures with the organization.
David Perron has had a tough year as he continues to battle a concussion. That said, Perron has a boatload of skill and scored 20 goals a year ago. Ian Cole is one of the team’s top prospects and is expected to be a factor on the blueline eventually.
A nice caveat to the Tkachuk deal is that he came back to St. Louis the next year. So Pleau got a first-rounder and change, only to see the veteran return!
The Cup Champion’s acquisitions…
Anaheim Ducks:
Acquired: Brad May
Traded: Michael Wall
Not much to say about the Ducks’ deadline moves, other than GM Brian Burke was a lot less active than what we’ve seen of him in Toronto. Brad May was strictly a depth pickup as that Ducks team was already built for a Cup run. Wise move by Burke to stand pat.
Other notable deals…
Calgary: Brad Stuart, Wayne Primeau, Conditional pick
Boston: Andrew Ference, Chuck Kobasew
Dallas: Ladislav Nagy
Phoenix: Mathias Tjarnqvist, 1st round pick (Nick Ross)
Edmonton: Denis Grebeshkov
NY Islanders: Marc-Andre Bergeron, 2008 3rd round pick
Tampa Bay: Shane O’Brien, 3rd round pick
Anaheim: Gerald Coleman, 1st round pick (Logan MacMillan)
NY Islanders: Richard Zednik
Washington: 2nd round pick (Ted Ruth)
Vancouver: Brent Sopel
Los Angeles: 2nd round pick (Wayne Simmonds), 4th round pick
Chicago: Jason Williams
Detroit: Kyle Calder
NY Rangers: Alex Bourret
Atlanta: Pascal Dupuis, 3rd round pick
Minnesota: Dominic Moore
Pittsburgh: 3rd round pick
Philadelphia: Martin Biron
Buffalo: 2nd round pick (T.J. Brennan)
Pittsburgh: Gary Roberts
Florida: Noah Welch
Ottawa: Oleg Saprykin, 7th round pick
Phoenix: 2008 2nd round pick (Jared Staal)
Pittsburgh: Georges Laraque
Phoenix: Dan Carcillo, 3rd round pick
Buffalo: Dainius Zubrus, Timo Helbling
Washington: Jiri Novotny
NY Rangers: Paul Mara
Boston: Aaron Ward
Detroit: Todd Bertuzzi
Florida: Shawn Matthias, Conditional picks
Toronto: Yanic Perreault, 2008 5th round pick
Phoenix: Brendan Bell, 2008 2nd round pick
Dallas: Mattias Norstrom, Konstantin Pushkarev, 3rd and 4th round pick
Los Angeles: Jaroslav Modry, Johan Fransson, 2nd round pick (Oscar Moller), 3rd round pick, 2008 1st round pick
NY Islanders: Ryan Smyth
Edmonton: Ryan O’Marra, Robert Nilsson, 1st round pick (Alex Plante)
Photo credits: UPI / Getty Images
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment