Sports Guy North

Here is a look at my recap of the 2006 NHL trade deadline deals. The transactions are set out on a team by team basis, and are shown by highest ranked team on through the lowest. Enjoy.

Carolina

Acquired: Mark Recchi

Deleted: Niklas Nordgren, Krys Kolanos, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Verdict: Nordgren is a career minor-leaguer, who managed to get into 43 uneventful games this year. Kolanos was a waiver pick-up. Recchi’s value was really low based on his +/- this year, but his plus minus was 110% due to the rest of his team. Recchi for a second round pick is a steal for a team that desperately needed to fill Eric Cole’s hole. Not having to pay desperately was a huge bonus. The leagues top team filled their only hole at no immediate expense. That’s how a top team is supposed to handle deadline day.

Ottawa

Acquired: Tyler Arnason

Deleted: Brendon Bochenski, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Verdict: This, on the other hand, appears to be a top team making a deal just to say they made a deal. Tyler Arnason is a chronic under-achiever, which is not something Ottawa needs heading into the playoffs, where under-acheivers flourish historically for the Sens. Bochenski was a high price to pay for Arnason, and throwing in a 2nd Round Pick makes this a definite loss for the Sens.


Detroit

Acquired: Cory Cross, 7th Round Draft Pick

Deleted: 4th Round Draft Pick, Jamie Rivers

Verdict: Bringing in Cory Cross. Wow. Wow. He didn’t fit in with the old NHL, and CERTAINLY does not in the new NHL. Rivers isn’t great, but he’s not a liability. He’s a guy that plays 8 minutes for you and you don’t even notice. Cross is not. Effectively, the Red Wings found a sharp downgrade to one of the worst D-men in the league, and also dropped 3 rounds in the draft on top of it. Clearly outside of Carolina the top teams were not ready for deadline day.


Buffalo

Acquired: 2nd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Mika Noronen

Verdict: And here is another example. The Sabres had the “burden” of holding onto 3 NHL capable goaltenders, and what they got for one of them was only a second round pick? When goalies were at a premium, and every team wanted one? It’s also very surprising that they traded Noronen instead of Biron. Noronen would have been happy with a backup roll, he was just unhappy in the minors. Biron will not be happy as a backup. They really didn’t solve their problem, and traded a solid goaltending option for a draft pick. That’s just awful.


Dallas

Acquired: Willie Mitchell, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Martin Skoula, Shawn Belle

Verdict: I wasn’t actually aware that Willie Mitchell and Martin Skoula were different people. Shawn Belle sounds about right for a 2nd round pick. It’s a fair trade, but not really necessary one. It happened though.


NY Rangers

Acquired: Sandis Ozolinsh, 3rd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: 3rd Round Draft Pick, Ville Nieminen

Verdict: Well, this teams hard to sort out. Losing Ville for a 3rd round pick was a waste. Getting Sandis for a 3rd round pick was great. So, would Ozo for Ville have been a good trade? NYR’s defense was solid, but had no offensive fire-power like Sandis. Hard to say how Ozo will come out of the substance abuse program, but he should be alright. On the other hand, Ville was one of the few Ranger forwards who was competent in the defensive zone. I think with Lundqvist in net this is a good end result for the Rangers, but the end of the season will tell.


Nashville

Acquired: Brendan Witt

Deleted: 1st Round Draft Pick, Kris Beech

Verdict: *OVERPAYMENT ALERT* Brendan Witt is NOT worth a first round pick. Period. What the rest of the trade tells me is that Nashville actually thinks that Kris Beech has negative value. Not just no value, literally negative value. Otherwise this trade doesn’t happen. This will not only not help the Preds, but it could very well hurt them in many ways. This is up there with Buffalo’s deal as the worst of deadline day. Wait, and someone brought in Cory Cross too, didn’t they?


Philadelphia

Acquired: Niko Dimitrakos, Denis Gauthier

Deleted: 3rd Round Draft Pick, Josh Gratton, 2nd Round Pick, 2nd Round Pick

Verdict: Bobby Clarke is stupid. Period. 2 draft picks and Josh Gratton for Denis Gauthier? 2 2nd round picks even. I don’t get it. Niko for a 3rd round pick is harmless, but man. Gauthier is old (30 this year), and hasn’t done anything of note in his entire 9 year career. This is his best season, hitting 12 points in 45 games and a –4. Is that worth 2 2nd round picks? Not even slightly. Stupid.


Calgary

Acquired: 4th Round Draft Pick, Jamie Lundmark

Deleted: Jason Wiemer, 4th round draft pick

Verdict: Lundmark is a great pick up for a 4th round pick. He’s not the first rounder that some thought he would be, but a solid 3rd line player is worth a 4th round pick any day. He is certainly a trade up from Jason Wiemer, who is older, less talented and less productive. So, Lundmark for Wiemer won’t win you a cup, but it is a great end result.


Vancouver

Acquired: Eric Weinrich, 4th Round Draft Pick, Keith Carney, Juha Alon, Mika Noronen, Sean Brown

Deleted: Tomas Mojzis, 3rd Round Draft Pick, Steve McCarthy, Brett Skinner, 2nd Round Draft Pick, 2nd Round Draft Pick, 4th Round Draft Pick

Verdict: Everything else aside, Noronen for a 2nd round pick makes this a great deadline day for the Canucks. Auld and Noronen is a great tandem, now we all just have to hope that Cloutier’s injury doesn’t heal this season. As for the rest of this busy-body mess, Carney trade was stupid (Ozolinsh went for just a third round pick, Carney went for a 2nd and a prospect), Brown was pointless, and Weinrich was a nice pickup that might payoff well. Down 3 draft picks in the process, but nothing major considering the improvement in net.


Los Angeles
Acquired: Tim Jackman, Mark Parrish, Brent Sopel

Deleted: Yannick Lehoux, Denis Grebshkov, Jeff Tambellini, 3rd Round Draft Pick

Verdict: Lehoux for Jackman, my Mom for Belak, no difference. Parrish and Sopel, as I said yesterday, are great pick ups for the Kings, who have solidified their place in the Western Conference playoff race.


Colorado


Acquired: Jim Dowd, Jose Theodore

Deleted: 4th Round Draft Pick, David Aebischer

Verdict: It seems as though the Avs are taking their playoff spot for granted. While they may be only be 1 point out of first in their division, they are also only 6 points from missing the playoffs. This is not a time to experiment on a new goalie while you wait for another to recover from injury, and then not even be sure which Jose will show up. 7 points decide 3rd to 9th place, and they traded away their proven goalie for a risk in the midst of that race. Not the gamble a team, otherwise secure in a high playoff spot, should ever take.


Edmonton

Acquired: Sergei Samsonov

Deleted: Marty Reasoner, Yan Statsny, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Verdict: Well, at this point I’m pretty sure Thronton’s trade has proven that Samsonov is a Rucchin. Reasoner is about the same, throw in a second round pick. If Samsonov is as good as he once seemed, it’s a semi-decent deal. Otherwise the Oilers messed this one up big time.


New Jersey

Acquired: Jason Wiemer, 4th Round Draft Pick, Brad Lukowich, Ken Klee

Deleted: 4th Round Draft Pick, Sean Brown, 3rd Round Draft Pick, Alexander Suglobov

Verdict: Lukowich and Klee are solid defensemen who will fit in well in the swamp. Nobody wants a Wiemer on their team, though. Still, a decent day for the Devil’s.


Anaheim

Acquired: 3rd Round Draft Pick, 2nd Round Draft Pick, Brett Skinner, Jeff Friesen, Sean O’Donnell

Deleted: Sandis Ozolinsh, Keith Carney, Juha Alon, 2nd Round Draft Pick, Joel Perrault

Verdict: I don’t know how to interpret Anaheim’s moves on the day. Got more for Carney than they should have, but less for Ozolinsh. They will probably be about the same before and after the trades, but what a ride anyway.


Tampa Bay

Acquired:

Deleted:

Verdict: Tampa was the only team out of all 30 who wasn’t active around the trade deadline. I’m not really sure what that tells us about their intentions. They are barely in the playoffs right now, and will likely stay in that spot.


Montreal

Acquired: Todd Simpson, David Aebischer

Deleted: 6th Round Draft Pick, Jose Theodore

Verdict: Todd Simpson? OK. The only way this trade happened on Montreal’s side is if they have full confidence in Huet moving into the future. If that is the case, you’d have to think they could fill a bigger hole by trading a Vezina winner than backup goalie. Aebischer is a quality goalie, though, and deserves to be #1 somewhere.


San Jose

Acquired: 3rd Round Draft Pick, Ville Nieminen

Deleted: Niko Dimitrakos, 3rd Round Draft Pick

Verdict: Ville for Niko is a solid pickup. One of the better improvements of the day.


Atlanta

Acquired: Steve McCarthy

Deleted: 4th Round Draft Pick

Verdict: Yeah. OK.


Minnesota

Acquired: Martin Skoula, Shawn Belle

Deleted: Willie Mitchell, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Verdict: It still happened, I guess.


Phoenix

Acquired: Yannick Lehoux, 4th round Draft Pick, Oleg Kvasha, Jamie Rivers, Joel Perrault, Josh Gratton, 2nd Round Pick, 2nd Round Pick

Deleted: Tim Jackman, Jamie Lundmark, 3rd Round Draft Pick, 7th Round Draft Pick, Sean O’Donnell, Denis Gauthier

Verdict: Lots of stuff to sort through here. 2 second round picks for Gauthier still remains the steal of the day. That one’s ridiculous. They improved their draft picks (3 and 7 for 2, 2 and 4), and also got the best player (Kvasha). I think Phoenix might have had the best all around deadline day, but a lot of that credit really goes to Bobby Clarke.


Toronto

Acquired: Alexander Suglobov, Luke Richardson

Deleted: Ken Klee, Draft Pick

Verdict: MLSE got rid of one of their inept GM’s. It’s time to get rid of the other.


NY Islanders

Acquired: 3rd Round Draft Pick, 3rd Round Draft Pick, Denis Grebshkov, Jeff Tambellini, 3rd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Oleg Kvasha, Brad Lukowich, Mark Parrish, Brent Sopel

Verdict: Look at all those third round picks. 4 NHL players out, 0 NHL players in. You decide the verdict, it’s not that tough.


Boston

Acquired: Marty Reasoner, Yan Statsny, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Sergei Samsonov

Verdict: If Sergei is the Rucchin I think he is, they did pretty good for themselves. Sell offs don’t usually result in a decent player and a 2nd round pick.


Florida

Acquired: Ric Jackman

Deleted: Petr Taticek

Verdict: Great pick up. Jackman is much better than playing with AHL players made him seem.


Washington

Acquired: 1st Round Draft Pick, Kris Beech, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Brendan Witt, Jeff Friesen

Verdict: They got more for Witt than anyone could have ever imagined. A team building for the future, picking up a 1st and a 2nd round pick for 2 guys that never fit in makes for a great day.


Columbus

Acquired: Draft Pick

Deleted: Luke Richardson

Verdict: Yeah, its something. I guess.


Chicago

Acquired: 4th Round Draft Pick, Brendon Bochenski, 2nd Round Draft Pick, 6th Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Jim Dowd, Tyler Arnason, Todd Simpson

Verdict: Bochenski could be a decent NHLer in a couple of years. 2nd round pick is nice. Arnason’s absence will have some effect, but that’s about it. Not grea,t but a decent day for sure.


St. Louis

Acquired: Tomas Mojzis, 3rd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Eric Weinrich

Verdict: What would you have done if you were St.Louis’ GM? Seriously, what? They are almost as lost as the Penguins. I’m not sure what they’re trying to do, nor what they should try to do. Fold?


Pittsburgh


Acquired: Petr Taticek, 4th Round Draft Pick, Niklas Nordgren, Krys Kolanos, 2nd Round Draft Pick

Deleted: Ric Jackman, Cory Cross, Mark Recchi

Verdict: They got rid of Cory Cross. That’s pretty good. Not nearly enough for Recchi, although I don’t think they could have gotten more. Mediocre day. Taticek and the draft picks may pay off in the long run for a re-building team.