And the winners are …
The Stars, Islanders, Sharks and Blues.
Those four teams made the wisest moves at the trading deadline, with the Stars landing warrior defenseman Mattias Norstrom from the Kings, the Islanders prying Ryan Smyth away from the Oilers, the Sharks bringing in Bill Guerin from the Blues and the Blues getting a ridiculous package for Keith Tkachuk.
All but Norstrom could be unrestricted free agents in July and possibly end up rentals who sign elsewhere over the summer, perhaps even returning to their former teams.
So, yes, there is considerable balancing that needs to be done in those kinds of deals, and the Thrashers definitely leaned too far on the “risk” side here.
Generally, my view is that if the rental plays well enough that his new team wants to re-sign him (i.e., he is not Theo Fleury) and he indeed does re-sign, the deal worked. Rentals worked for Colorado with Ray Bourque and Rob Blake, but didn’t with Fleury, though I was all for it and won’t second-guess that one with 20-20 hindsight just because it turned out to be a disaster.
The one I don’t understand at all is Smyth’s trade to Long Island.
Smyth’s agent, Don Meehan, and Oilers GM Kevin Lowe were at loggerheads, but nonetheless weren’t far apart financially in discussions on a multiyear deal for Smyth.
Yet Lowe apparently reacted petulantly, trading Smyth, and the reason I say “apparently” is that I still wonder if there isn’t some sort of winking understanding that the talks will resume after July 1. This way, at least Lowe doesn’t have to say he was giving up on the Oilers making the playoffs and thus had nothing to lose by renting out Smyth for the stretch run and postseason.
But if there is some tacit agreement, everyone is a good actor, including Smyth, who shed tears at the Edmonton airport as he was on the way out of town. I’m going to guess he returns to the Oilers in the offseason, after some fence-mending and with Lowe essentially saying his opening offer has been dropped.
The Islanders continue to battle for credibility and attention on Long Island, and while the deal could backfire if the Isles don’t make the playoffs and Smyth departs, it was worth the risk.
At the Edmonton end, it’s not all Lowe’s fault, either.
Under the new CBA, the maximum any player can get is 20 percent of the available payroll, so it’s not as if the Rangers can jump in any longer with an offer of $12 million a season. (The new CBA is idiot-proof or Ranger-proof, take your pick.) Being less than ruthless about squeezing every dollar possible out of a team even can be a bit self-centered, in the sense it can help a team fill in around a star or two. So part of the onus has to go on Smyth, who could have stepped in and told his agent he appreciated his negotiating savvy and energy in getting the offer on the table, but now it was time to close the deal.
Guerin’s acquisition by San Jose isn’t a Cup-sealer, and portraying it as anything close to that forgets how disappointing he was at Dallas before the Stars bought him out. But he can be a complementary piece, especially given his friendship with Joe Thornton, and the Sharks improved themselves.
Anniversary
The third anniversary of Todd Bertuzzi’s mugging of Steve Moore is Thursday, the day after the Avalanche faces the Sabres at Buffalo.
How are the two connected?
It was interesting to note the way Sabres co-captain Chris Drury last week refused to join the war of words with Ottawa’s Chris Neil and the Senators, who continue to maintain that a clean hit – and not a cheap shot – ignited a brawl and knocked Drury out of the lineup.
“Being mad or angry or upset isn’t going to get me back sooner,” he told reporters Thursday, the first time he has commented since the Feb. 22 incident. “I don’t want to be carrying that baggage around.”
By the way, I’m accused of not letting go of the Moore/Bertuzzi/Brad May mess. I plead guilty, and I won’t stop talking about it, or arguing that the Avs should publicly show they still consider Moore part of the “family,” even if it takes defying the league, which is nervous about Moore’s pending suit against the Canucks.
But tying current Avs general manager Francois Giguere to May’s signing isn’t fair.
When May was signed, Giguere was an assistant GM of the Stars. After May’s trade last week for goalie prospect Michael Wall, no reporter asked Giguere at his news conference if he believed signing May was a mistake in the first place, so to criticize him for not volunteering an opinion on something that took place when he wasn’t with the organization isn’t justified.
Even if he had passed on second-guessing a decision made by his predecessor and current boss, team president Pierre Lacroix, that would have been understandable. But he wasn’t even asked.
I’ve maintained all along that Vancouver’s Markus Naslund could have headed off the worst of the trouble, saved his organization from imploding – and Bertuzzi from himself – if he had been more decisive in saying the Canucks’ vigilante attitude was counterproductive in the wake of Moore’s hit on Naslund in February 2004.
Moore’s open-ice hit on Naslund was clean, by the way. Neil’s on Drury was not.
Drury is hoping to be back in the lineup against the Avalanche.
Speaking of which …
The Avs most openly disgusted with what happened at Vancouver that night were Peter Worrell and Andrei Nikolishin, now out of the league; Derek Morris, who was traded to Phoenix the next morning; and Teemu Selanne, now with Anaheim.
I wonder if Ducks GM Brian Burke, then GM at Vancouver, asked Selanne what he thought of the possibility of trading for May last week?
Burke and May were co-defendants in Moore’s original lawsuit in Colorado, since tossed, and Moore’s Ontario suit now is against the Canucks and their ownership. But it’s curious the Ducks would get May to add toughness, when his surgically repaired shoulder has him under orders not to fight. He played surprisingly well in his return to the Colorado lineup, but about all he can add to the Ducks are ill-advised penalties.
PENALTY BOX: GM WADDELL MAKES DESPERATE MOVE
Miscreant: Atlanta general manager Don Waddell
Infraction: With the Thrashers struggling in February and in danger of sliding right out of the playoffs, he couldn’t have been any more blatant about hoping to save his job with the acquisition of potential rental Keith Tkachuk.
What’s wrong with the deal: Well, nothing, if the Thrashers indeed make the postseason and advance more than one round – and Tkachuk is an important element in that. But Atlanta gave up so much – first- and third-round draft choices this year and a second-rounder next year – it was obvious Waddell was saying he might not be around if the deal doesn’t work, anyway. (Atlanta also gives up a No. 1 in 2008 if Tkachuk re-signs with the Thrashers.)
SPOTLIGHT ON … BLUE JACKETS DEFENSEMAN ADAM FOOTE
It has been a trying year for the former Avalanche defenseman.
In the second year of a three-year, $13.5 million contract with Columbus, Foote is deep in minus territory and the Blue Jackets will keep their record intact of never making the playoffs.
Foote has been the subject of some criticism in Columbus, including from an anonymous NHL scout who referred to Foote in The Columbus Dispatch as nothing more than a “No. 4 defenseman” in today’s game.
Perhaps sensitive to the knocks, Foote said his numbers don’t reflect his value to a team.
“In the new NHL, I don’t think stats like plus-minus mean as much,” he said in Denver last week. “I feel like I’m still playing well and help my team. It’s been frustrating, though, no question. We still aren’t there yet as a team. But I still think we have a lot of pieces in place, and next year is going to be really important for us.”
Foote has a no-trade clause, and said he did not consider waiving it at the NHL trade deadline.
“I heard some teams called about me,” he said. “But I don’t want to leave this dressing room. I still want to be part of this team and the future.”
Top 10
Polls close Friday morning:
(Rk. Prev. Team Comment)
1. 1 Sabres Get well, Drury
2. 4 Predators ABBA’s favorite now
3. 3 Red Wings Boo who?
4. 2 Ducks Headed for London
5. 5 Devils Brodeur rolls on
6. 6 Penguins Not the Pitts
7. 9 Stars Norstrom a steal
8. 7 Sharks Guerin will help
9. – Flames Somebody’s got to …
10. 8 Canucks … win Northwest
Terry Frei can be reached at 303-954-1895 or tfrei@denverpost.com.
