Trade Deadline Winners/Losers

Even though we didn't see any high-profile names moved, we did see a record number of trades (31) and players involved (55). Let's take a look at some of the teams I feel were winners and losers, based on the moves made today:

WASHINGTON - Winner: I felt the Capitals went out and made moves that could precursor a Stanley Cup championship for them. Acquiring the likes of Scott Walker, a gritty veteran with plenty of playoff experience, and Eric Belanger, a solid two-way center man who will add a bit of offense, will pay dividends for them. Washington lacked experience last year during the playoffs, so combine a year's worth of time with the right player moves and you could see the Capitals hoisting a championship come June.

PHOENIX - Winner: Already turning heads with their surprising play this season, GM Don Maloney was extremely active on this day, acquiring 6 players in an effort to stock-pile his team for a deep playoff run. Wojtek Wolski and Lee Stempniak will provide some offensive depth up front and the re-acquisition of Derek Morris will bring a veteran presence on their blue line and in their locker room.

BOSTON - Loser: Despite acquiring D Dennis Seidenberg from Florida, Boston did not do much else to improve its playoff chances or address their primary need: goal scoring. At the moment, they are tied with the Rangers for the 8th spot in a vacuum tight Eastern Conference. Already plagued by injuries the entire season to forwards Milan Lucic and Marc Savard, the Bruins will have to scratch and claw their way to the playoffs.

LOS ANGELES - Winner: The Kings didn't make a splash today; instead they made some savvy moves that could make them dangerous in the playoffs. Los Angeles followed suit of their Eastern Conference counterparts Pittsburgh and Washington by acquiring a veteran presence for their team in Jeff Halpren from Tampa Bay. The Kings also acquired forward Fredrik Modin from Columbus.

PHILADELPHIA - Loser: Hear me out on this one. Most experts will tell you the Flyers are a dangerous team with young studs Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, Peter Laviolette behind the bench and have arguably one of the best all-around defenseman in the NHL in Chris Pronger. Notice how I didn't mention any goalies? That's because Philadelphia, quite honestly, doesn't have a household name. They are confident in their goalie Michael Leighton and opted to not acquire a goalie for the stretch run. This could prove very costly.

PITTSBURGH - Winner: If you include only today, Pittsburgh did relatively nothing compared to other teams. They didn't have to; they made their key acquisition of Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto the previous night. He joins the list of players that include Bill Guerin, Marian Hossa, and Gary Roberts whom the Penguins have acquired at the trade deadline each of the last 3 seasons to bolster their lineup. Ponikarovsky will add offense to an already potent Pittsburgh team.

MONTREAL - Loser: Like Boston, Montreal did nothing to improve their lineup for the remaining games of the regular season. The Canadiens sit in the 7th spot in the East, yet only 3 points separates them from being out of a playoff spot. They don't expect their best forward Mike Cammaleri back from injury until mid-March and already have forwards Andrei Kostitsyn and Beniot Pouliot out as well. However, by mid-March, it might be too little too late for Montreal.

EDMONTON & CAROLINA - Future Winners: Both of these teams had the future in mind today, stock-piling future draft picks in exchange for moveable assets and shed salary in the process. In their re-tooling, the Oilers got back USA Olympian Ryan Whitney, a young, puck-moving defenseman, who can help Edmonton in the long term. As for Carolina, they traded away 6 players for draft picks. Both teams will undergo major overhauls to their rosters over the summer and could possibly see them as playoff contenders, depending on the moves they make, as early as next season.

Teams like Dallas, Chicago, Vancouver, NY Rangers, New Jersey, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay didn't do anything of note to help or hurt their chances on this day. As the adage goes, some of the best trades are ones you do not make. Time will only tell for these teams if that cliché' holds true.

Trade Deadline Day is Upon Us

The busiest day in the NHL is here, the Trade Deadline is at 3 PM EST today. Check out the Neutral Zone's brand new Twitter feed to get all of the rumors, trade, and news we can sniff out.

The biggest move so far today is Phoenix trading their young, discouraged forward Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter to Colorado for Wojtek Wolski.

Some great sites in addition to ours to check out:

The Fourth Period

TSN

Enjoy!

Olympic Philibuster: NHL Resumes Season, Rangers Veto Senators 4-1 for 3rd Straight Win

Post-Game Thoughts:

• I thoroughly enjoyed the Winter Olympics, but I was extremely excited to see the Rangers and the NHL back in action tonight. And this game certainly didn't disappoint any Ranger fans.
• Michael Del Zotto didn't see the ice tonight as he's still recovering from his 50 stitch laceration. More troubling was Marian Gaborik sitting out with a "lower body" injury suffered during the Olympics.  That is the last thing the Rangers need to hear as their playoff aspirations lie heavily on his shoulders.
• Newly crowned Olympic Silver Medalist had a game worthy of a gold standard tonight, scoring 2 goals and one of which was worthy of the highlight reels.
• The Rangers scored 4 unanswered in the 2nd period and 3 came within 3:02
• Henrik Lundqvist didn't have much work in this game, stopping 24 of 25 shots whith his team around playing solid defense.
• Nice to see that the Olympic break helped guys like Dubinsky and Avery, who scored in this game. If the Rangers want to go anywhere this season, they're going to need secondary scoring from players like Callahan and Dubinsky.

** Of note, NHL Trade Deadline is tomorrow at 3 PM. We saw Aaron Voros and Envir Lisin put on waivers today, which could be a pre-cursor to a trade. By noon tomorrow we will find out if they have cleared waivers or not.

Next Game: Thursday @ MSG 7:00 PM against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lisin, Voros Waived, Move Coming?

Via Twitter, Bob McKenzie confirms both forwards Enver Lisin and Aaron Voros were placed on waivers today.

Lisin is an RFA at season's end and Voros has another year at $1 million left. It's not much cap space trying to be cleared, yet its something that should be monitored as it could signal an potential move.

Apologies Aplenty

I realized I started blogging about the Winter Olympics and then stopped right before the actual medal rounds began. Basically, when the good stuff came I was nowhere to be found.

Congratulation to Team Canada on their gold medal and Team USA for their brilliant effort during the entire Olympics. But now, the march starts towards Lord Stanley's coveted challis

The trade deadline in the NHL is tomorrow at 3 pm. Sadly, I'll be in class through most of the day but will try my best to update n the latest trades and rumors throughout the day.

Happy dealing!

2010 Winter Olympics - Men's Ice Hockey Pre-Lims

Thursday, February 18th, 2010:

• U.S.A def. NOR 6-1

• CAN def. SUI 3-2 in OT (shootout)

• SLV def. RUS 2-1 in OT (shootout)

Didn't see the USA game, but its nice to see the Rangers' guys contribute with Drury scoring and Callahan assisting in limited ice time. Team USA will go deep if their role-players not only play efficiently but contribute offensively.

What a great game between Canada and Switzerland. Jonas Hiller played the game of his life, stopping 44 SHOTS from some of the best players in the world. Myself, along with many experts, continue to say the Swiss are a dangerous team, and this near upset proves it even more.

Marian Gaborik and the Slovaks were able to pull an upset of their own over team Russia. Slovak goalie Jaroslav Halak (Montreal) played lights out, stoning Ovechkin twice in the shootout en route to their 1st victory in the pre-lims.

2010 Winter Olympics - Men's Ice Hockey Pre-Lims

Wednesday February 17th, 2010:

• FIN def. BEL 5-1

• SWE def. GER 2-0

• CZE def. SLV 3-1

Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of any of the 3 games played yesterday. Actually, I was prepared tp watch some of the Sweden Germany game, but it was delayed because of a CURLING match that went into extra innings so I was forced to watch. Let me just say this, apparently the U.S. is not clutch when it comes to curling. 2 days in a row the Americans blew a game winning "shot" only to lose.

Finland could be a dark horse in this tournament. They have excellent goaltending, sound 2-way ability, and enough offense to make some noise.

Only 2 goals for Sweden? Impossible. It must have been the Rangers dressed in Sweden's uniforms. I could have sworn I saw Wade Redden out there. In making 21 saves, G Henrik Lundqvist earned his 1st ever Olympic shutout.

The Czech Slovakia game probably had the most juice considering they're "natural rivals." This game also makred the return of Jaromir Jagr to North America, and the surprise of seeing sniper Marian Gaborik in the lineup for Slovakia, thought to be questionable because of a leg injury. Each player scored in the game, with Jagr's being the game-winner.

2010 Winter Olympics - Men's Ice Hockey Pre-Lims

Tuesday, Feb 16th 2010:

• USA def. SUI 3-1

• CAN def. NOR 8-0

• RUS def. LTV 8-2

USA played well enough to win over an underrated Swiss team. It's pretty evident that the US team lacks some firepower up front and will have to grind out games in order to make a run. 

Canada is an offensive juggernaut and poised to take a run for the gold. Everywhere you look on their roster you see an excellent player. Wait till they get to practice more...

Russia seriously outplayed an overmatched Latvian team. If their defense, a point of weakness for the Men in Red, can hold up and play solid, look for Russia to be in it till the end.

2010 Winter Olympics - Men's Ice Hockey Groups

Group A  Canada  United States  Switzerland  Norway Group B  Russia  Czech Republic  Slovakia  Latvia

Group C

•  Sweden
•  Finland
•  Belarus
•  Germany

Sinfully Good: Devils Acquire Kovalchuk

Amongst all the trade buzz created, it's the New Jersey Devils who come out victorious in the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, acquiring the prolific goal-scorer from Atlanta, along with D Anssi Salmela in exchange for F Niclas Bergfors, D Johnny Oduya, a prospect (Patrice Cormier), and a 1st round pick. Both teams exchanged 2nd round picks as well.

Click here to see Atlanta GM Don Waddell discuss the trade.

Hockey's Future has a profile of Patrice Cormier.

.. I end up going to work, where I'm not able to update blog posts and the trade goes down...nice. Amongst all the media frenzy is the fact that a number of credible sources were riddled with inaccuracies, which amazes me. 


First, Nick Kypreos and Kevin Allen incorrectly name the Flyers the ones that acquired Kovalchuk. Then, they're both refuted by numerous, credible sources that it's Kovalchuk to New Jersey, not Philly. Once the correct team was actually figured out, it was the prospect heading to Atlanta reporters had trouble figuring out, first saying Tenedby, then Palmeri, and finally Cormier.


As far as the deal goes, Atlanta fans can't be too thrilled with this trade. Where's the dynamic player coming back in the trade? Bergfors is still unproven despite having a decent year, Oduya is still young but carrying a 3.5 million a year contract. Cormier is in potential legal trouble with his year suspension in Junior Hockey and may face assault charges.


New Jersey made out in this deal, if you go by the notion that the team getting the best player wins the trade. Kovalchuk will provide an immediate offensive punch to a Devils team that hasn't had a talent quite like this in their franchise before, even if its only for a couple months. The real question is: will Kovalchuk sign long-term in New Jersey?

Kovalchuk On The Move?

UPDATE 1:50 PM: Larry Brooks of the NY Post, every Rangers fan's buddy, tweets the price for Ilya Kovalchuk would be Staal or Del Zotto+Callahan or Dubinsky+Stepan or Kreider or Grachev+1st rounder.

.. I almost laughed out loud reading this. Sure, it's feaseble to ask for if your GM Don Waddell since you're trading your star player. But, I can't see the Rangers even entertaining this offer. Thanks, but no thanks.

UPDATE 1:41 PM: Craig Custance, writer for The Sporting News, wrote an article believing the San Jose Sharks could be involved in Kovalchuk trade talks and shouldnt be ruled out.

.. If San Jose were to acquire Kovalchuk, I'd be afraid to play against them. However, acquiring someone of Kovalchuk's calibar means parting ways with the likes of Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski and/or Devin Setoguchi, and I'm not sure San Jose would do that.

UPDATE THURSDAY 9:43 AM: Kevin Allen of USA Today tweets that Kovalchuk deal "probably" won't happen today.


UPDATE 8:53 PM: According to Craig Custance's Twitter page, the Devils have inquired about Kovalchuk and could be one of the 6 teams "seriously interested."

.. I don't see Kovalchuk going to New Jersey. In this tweet, Custance also mentions the Devils were in on the Hossa sweepstakes a couple years back before being dealt to Pittsburgh, offering Brian Gionta. So, the desire is there, however, I don't know if Kovalchuk would want to come play in Jacques Lemaire's defensive-minded system. 


UPDATE 8:15 PM: Kevin Dupont of the Boston Globe tweets that Boston is NOT one of the teams considered to land Kovalchuk.

.. Cross Boston off the list. 


UPDATE 7:59 PM: Kevin Allen of USA Today tweets this:

1. Kovalchuk deal won't happen tonight. 2. Surprise teams in the mix. 3. Atlanta will get better return than it got for Hossa.

..  No. 2 goes along with my speculation that Columbus could be involved in the Kovalchuk sweepstakes.

Original - Darren Dreger, who does an excellent job for TSN, had this to say on his Twitter today:

Don Waddell met with Kovalchuk today to tell him he should expect a trade. 5 or more teams still in.

Wow, this is big news for the NHL and GM's looking to make a splash. We've had 3 major deals happen this week, but this would top them all if it were to go down. Kovalchuk will demand premium, top-end talent, along with high draft picks in any deal. 

Obviously, the Rangers will be inquiring. Glen Sather wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't. However, I don't know if we have the pieces GM Don Waddell & Atlanta would be looking in return for their franchise player. And, as I've said on here before, the Rangers don't have the long-term cap space to sign Kovalchuk to a deal he wants, despite moving Kotalik's contract to calgary. 

Los Angeles seems to be a good fit, having young talent and the car room to sign him long term. My sleeper team is the Columbus Blue Jackets. They just made a major move today, firing head coach Ken Hitchcock, one year after taking them to the playoffs for the 1st time in franchise history. GM Scott Howson might be looking to continue rocking the foundation of Columbus by bringing in Kovalchuk. This is pure speculation on my part.  

Game Highlights : LA 2-NYR 1

* Not a formal re-cap of the game last night but some thoughts on the game, plus my apologies for blogging about the Colorado game and the Rangers-Flames trade fiasco*


.. Even shipping out underachievers Kotalik and Higgins didn't change the Rangers scoring woes.


.. Olli Jokinen played decently in his Rangers debut despite playing the night before.


.. Brandon Prust will quickly become a fan favorite if he consistently plays as he did last night.


.. Biggest mistake of the night: 5 forwards out on the PP before Kopitar scored short-handed. I know Del Zotto's in the box, but what's wrong with Gilory at the point there? Baffling, and costly.

Phaneuf a Leaf After Blockbuster deal with Calgary

**UPDATE 4:44 pm:
Toronto sent goalie Vesa Toskala along with forward Jason Blake to Anaheim for J.S. Giguere.


*UPDATE 12:41 pm:
Via Helen Nothelen on her Twitter

"Giguere has waived his no-trade clause and is on his way to Toronto."

Two major deals for Toronto in a span of a couple of hours. Giguere has been frustrated in Anaheim with his lack of playing time, still believing he can be a No. 1 goaltender. With Jonas Hiller signing a 4-year extension with the Ducks, Giguere was the odd man out. Now, he's reunited with Burke in Toronto and will be given the chance to be the No.1, meaning goalie Jonas Gustavsson will have to split time.


Kudos to Burke for shaking his team up, acquiring an all-star defenseman and a starting goalie for his team. This wont be the last we hear from him between now and March 3rd.


UPDATE 12:37 pm:
Per TSN again, Toronto is also working on a deal to acquire goalie J.S. Gigure in Anaheim in exchange for goalie Vesa Toskala, and potentially another player. Giguere has a no-trade-clause and would need to waive it.


Original Post:
TSN is reporting that Leaf's GM Brian Burke has completed a deal with Calgary that will send All-Star Defenseman Dion Phaneuf, along with F Fredrik Sjostrom and D Keith Aulie to Toronto in exchange for C Matt Stajan, F Jamal Mayers & Niklas Hagman, and D Ian White.


Wow...what a shakeup for both teams, and relatively surprising. The Rangers were thought to be players for Phaneuf, with Calgary scouting their last few games. But, the Rangers needed to move considerable money to acquire Phaneuf's 6.5 million a year contract and probably didn't have enough talent for Calgary to trade for. I highly dount they had any interest in Wade Redden or Michal Rosival.


Toronto now has 2, physically intimidating defensemen in Phaneuf and Mike Komisarek. Calgary, I think, gets a little worse here; defenseman like Phaneuf don't come around too often. I'd give the edge to Brian Burke in this trade; well done.

'Yotes Howl Loud in 3-2 Win over Blueshirts

Post-Game Thoughts:

• 5th straight loss, over 202 minutes of offensive ineptitude on the road before the 1st goal, and 50 minutes of uninspired, lethargic, and atrocious hockey = your New York Rangers.
• Didn't I say after the last game giving up 2 quick goals to start a game, given how tight the standing are, was unacceptable? Then what's the right word for 3 unanswered goals?
• Chad Johnson looked overmatched and nervous in a spot start for Lundqvist tonight, who is battling the flu, but settled down after the 2nd period. Precisely why this team needs a serviceable backup;  you cant rely on a rookie to do the job.
• Michael Del Zotto was the goat in this game, 2 defensive miscues lead directly to goals by the opposition. But, he wasn't the worse Michal on the ice, that honor goes to Captain Hook-ing, (holding, and high-Sticking.)
• 3-for-39 in the last 12 games on the PP. I say why not put the 4th line out there instead. It can't get worse, could it?
• You think there's any correlation to the Rangers offensive woes after the Dubinsky-Christensen-Gaborik line was broken up? Gaborik and Christensen hooked up for a pretty 2-on-1. I urge thee Tortorella, put them back together.
• Your heart had to sink when you saw Gaborik's baseball swing shot hit the post with 1:25 remaining. 

Next Game: Right back at it tonight 8:00 pm @ Colorado.

Kovalchuk a Possibility on Broadway?

Steve Zipay, Rangers beat writer for Newsday, wrote yesterday that if Ilya Kovalchuk is available the Rangers are expected to be interested.

Zipay adds that Atlanta will most likely command Brandon Dubinsky, either Chris Higgins or Ales Kotalik, a prospect such as Bobby Sanguinetti and maybe a No. 2 pick. The Flyers, Bruins, Canucks, Flames, Kings and Blackhawks could put together even more attractive packages.


Thoughts:

• Here's my problem with this....Not only are the Rangers in salary cap purgatory but the only way the Rangers make a move like this is if they firmly believe they're on the cusp of winning and Kovalchuk is the missing piece to put them over the top and make a run at the Stanley Cup and you're able to rid yourself of either Wade Redden or Michal Rosival's contract as well. However, I feel they're nowhere near that level so why trade young talent away when you can sign him in the offseason (He's a UFA). The Rangers should just sell off any players that have value (Prospal, Girardi, Kotalik?) and get something in return to build with.

Rangers neglect to heed Hurricane Warning

Post-Game Thoughts:

• Maybe I should stay off this blog thing... Granted, since December they haven't played better than average. Having said that, I chose a great night to begin blogging again. 
• Giving up 2 quick goals to start a game is an absolute handicap and, given the desperation the Rangers know they need to play with right now, is unacceptable. 
• Wade Redden only saw 7:13 of ice-time, mainly due to being benched after attempting to pinch in the neutral zone and failing, leading to the 3rd Carolina goal. He was Tortorella's scapegoat tonight. 
• Henrik Lundqvist looked off tonight. Staal's goal was soft at best and it begs the question; when will the King get a rest?
• Marian Gaborik is in a big time slump (2 goals in his last 12 games) and it showed tonight, shooting wide and whiffing on shots he normally buries. 
• Ryan Callahan netted the lone Rangers goal...(no pun intended).
• 7 goals in 4 games since being named Captain of the Hurricanes, you think Eric Staal is enjoying his new role?

Next Game:  Saturday 8 p.m. @ Phoenix to start a 3-game, West Coast trip.

Am I Pretty Enough?

With a new semester of The Neutral Zone radio show upon us, I figured the old blog could use a little media "makeover," if you will. And, with a Rangers game tonight against the Hurricanes, look for a long-awaited review of the game.

30 sec news Story

The Neutral Zone returns!

Thursdays at 10:00 am will mark the new date and time this semester you can hear The Neutral Zone. It should be another great semester of sports talk radio. And now with WKNJ FM streaming 90.3FM live, anyone around the world can listen. Tune in on Thursday and check it out!