Let The Trade Speculation Begin
At the NHL All-Star break, general managers take stock of their team and assess what they should buy – or sell – before the league’s trading deadline.
Naturally lots of scuttlebutt comes from the All-Star weekend, especially since the event is staged in Montreal this season.
Here are some possibilities to keep an eye on:
- General managers are following Keith Tkachuk closely with the Blues bringing up the rear in the Western Conference. If Blues manage to re-sign Andy McDonald and keep him off the free-agent market, moving Tkachuk in a rental deal would make ever more sense – unless the Blues fight back into serious playoff contention.
- Because Vincent Lecavalier’s 11-year contract extension is front-loaded – paying him $78.5 million over the first eight years – rumors will persist that Tampa Bay will move him. And if he stays, the Lightning could move Martin St. Louis instead. Or perhaps first overall pick Steven Stamkos, struggling in his rookie season, could move along.
- Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke is on the prowl, looking to make over his team. He could win the bidding for cornerstone defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, who is being shopped by the perpetually rebuilding Panthers.
- Oilers power forward Erik Cole is headed toward free agency. Playoff-bound teams love to add size and grit for the stretch run, so Edmonton could get some nice offers IF the Men of Oil fall out of the race.
- The Flyers have some extra time to mull roster decisions, since Daniel Briere’s nagging abdominal/groin injury required more work. When Briere returns in a month or so, Philly will have to make room for him under the salary cap. A useful player or two will hit the waiver wire.
- Peter Forsberg is mulling another comeback and the Flyers would be interested, IF Peter would sign a cap-friendly deal like Brendan Shanahan signed in New Jersey. But, again, Philly would have to clear room for him.
- The Rangers may finally free Petr Prucha from captivity and move him to a Western Conference team looking for offensive depth. The struggling Canucks would have to have an interest, right? That team went 1-4-2 in its first seven games with Mats Sundin. Kyle Wellwood has just two goals since Dec. 16 and Old Friend Pavol Demitra has also struggled.
- Ottawa is looking to move goaltender Martin Gerber, who has about $1.7 million left on his contract. That price would be cut if the Senators put him on recall waivers and allowed another team to take him. So far, the Islanders have resisted the urge to add a veteran goaltender to replace Rick DiPietro.
Fantasy hockey general managers are following such storylines closely.
WHY WE LOVE ALEXANDER OVECHKIN
Now this is good clean fun at the Skills Competition:
AROUND THE RINKS: With the NHL once again experimenting with bigger nets – and new net shapes – the Blues are glad to have 6-foot-7 Ben Bishop in development . . . Speaking of minor league goaltenders, we’ll never see Marek Schwarz again. The Blues’ first-round pick in 2004 has officially washed out. He returned to Europe to play for the Mlada Boleslav team in the Czech Republic. So much for the notion he could become the Next Dominik Hasek. He appeared in six games for the Note during his not-so-illustrious career . . . Hockey Guy missed the All-Star Game while on a jet to Florida, so he missed all the fun. Many critics are calling for big changes to the NHL’s big weekend to make the event more compelling . . . There has been a lot of chit chat about eliminating fighting from NHL games, but commissioner Gary Bettman knows that would be fiscal suicide . . . Thankfully, the NHL avoided another labor war when the players association decided to stick with the current CBA rather than opt out. Given the economy – and the soaring NHL salaries – that was the right thing to do . . . Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Lidstrom will get a little extra rest after the All-Star break. They will serve one-game suspensions for skipping out All-Star activities . . . The Islanders are looking for a new arena and a new future. Kansas City is shopping hard for a NHL team. Is there a love connection?
Boy that would be neat if KC got a team. Although, you hate to see teams with a historic past leave the city where they gain acclaim.
Bring on the KC Scouts, redue
listen…
we need tchkauk (spelling???) we need st. louis from the tampa bay lightning. we dont need lacavlier. he is too old. he’s got some skills but we would waste too much money on him. i was in tampa and i had the fortunate ezperience to see lecavlier make a penalty shot and then on another game see the tampa bay lightning come from behind to defeat the stars. the blues have this same potential. we just need to get some fire, some fire that st. louis of the lightning has. that kid has skills. we need someone to take the reigns and the team should follow suit. i dont know what the leadership is doing and when you dont know acions speak louder than words, in short our coach god love em needs to change or get gone. we need our defense to get in gear. our blues dont talk on the ice, you can hear crickets out there. there is no heart i dont see the level of play that im used to seeing in the blue note jerzey. what happened to the president trophy winners of 2000? we got the skill, its the effort that we are lacking. in economic times like this, it seems as if the blues players are just doing the bare minimum and getting the paychecks at the end of the week no less. we need people that are ready to play. we need brewer to jump in a hole somewhere, andy mcdonald to resign, and our veterans to teach our youth and to jump start this team. even if we cant make the playoffs we can make a good run and set us up for next year. the blues are playing as if, they are in a hole in which there is a point of no return. playing like this makes KC look even better. whatever happened to the heart of blues of the days of the chaser, bobby bassen, harold snepts, and nash??? In the movie, “Rudy” he didn’t have great ability but he had had the size of the universe and thats all the blues need. we need heart. its like the ghost of christmas past has came in and jotted down in one fell swoop the fate of the blues. do we want to win, do we want to keep the blues in the STL, are we doing “whatever it takes”? You know what I think… I need more action as it speaks a lot louder than words. Holla back when the boys of Christmas Present and Future are ready to really open there gifts.
Jerry,
Tkachuk isn’t all that hard to spell.
The heart of the blues is beating just fine…I don’t know what you’ve been watching, but Guys like Backes and Oshie are every bit the competitors that Bassen and Harold Snepsts were (?! quite a blue Harold Snepsts was, he played the last year and seven games of his career here and scored six whole points) That’s ok though, jump back on the bandwagon when we get ourselves some *real players* again…like Harold Snepsts and Tyson Nash - we’ll keep a seat open for you.
I also like how “that kid” St. Louis that plays for Tampa Bay has heart and Skills (and fire!), but Vincent Lecavalier is “too old” (newsflash, St. Louis is *five years* older than Lecavalier, and from a leadership standpoint, Vinny Lecavalier has been an NHL captain since before his twentieth birthday and has captained a Stanley Cup champion club). I don’t necessarily think the Blues need to trade off the whole rebuilding effort to absorb Lecavalier’s huge front-loaded contract…it would be a complete disaster. but your post doesn’t make a whole lot of sense…
To echo Matt’s thoughts, the Blues have gathered a pretty nice collection of good young talent the last few years. Blowing that up now is utterly stupid. The President’s Trophy in 2000 had everything to do with TALENT, not heart. The rebuilding program is working, and more and more I hear people across the NHL talk about how the Blues are going to be a force soon. This is the path the organization chose and they need to stick with it. It’s hard being patient, but that patience will pay off shortly. Don’t lose your guts now Jerry…
Jerry, I too was living in Tampa when the bolt won the stanley cup (attended game 2 of the series..horrible game) and the leadership of that team came from Dave Andreychuk and TIm Taylor…not St Louis or Lecavalier.
Matt, Andreychuk was the captain of the stanley cup winning team in Tampa, not Lecavalier who was stripped of the C in ‘00-’01.
I like the efforts this organization is making. I know its tough to look at the standings but overall they are a hard working bunch who are fun to watch. I love the way that St Louis plays the game, but I see a younger version of him in TJ Oshie.
Stay the course JD
Ronnie, Richie, Bass still gone
Skate boys Skate
If KC were to poach a team I, too, would hate for it to be a team with tradition and a glorious past like the Islanders. Rather, it should be one those teams that currently resides where no NHL team should rightfully exist…Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta, Nashville, Phoenix, I’m looking at YOU!
Saint-Louis in Saint Louis? Such a thing hasn’t happened since Jose Cardenal played for the Cardinals. Probably makes more sense than Patrick RAMSey to the Rams.
I hope the Islanders don’t move. If a team has to move to KC, let it be one that hasn’t won 4 cups.
Wow, Jerry, what a rant. You must be one of those people who would rather see a team win now and then spend the next ten years trying to rebuild themselves after dismantlement. Which is a shame, really - I have no desire to watch this team tear itself apart simply to win a single Stanley Cup.
What the Blues are trying to do is create a sustainable team through talent and youth. It’s not easy to do, admittedly. Young players take years to develop and not everyone is a Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin. But, I’m heartened by the young corps of players we have rising through the ranks (and the veterans who are teaching them), and I think that if not for injuries this year we would definitely be in the thick of things for a Cup right now instead of being on the perimeter.
After seeing this team torn apart only a few years ago I’m heartened by what I see here and hopeful for the future of the organization. I think that, with a bit more time and patience, good things will come to those of us who wait. I’m certainly as much a skeptic as anyone (especially here in Indiana which is the middle of Bluejacket and Red Wing territory), but I am and always will be a Blues fan at heart.
Go Blues!
WOW! Jerry, did you fallout of the Stupid Tree and hit every friggin’ branch on the way down??? After reading your note in the blog I almost fell out of my chair laughing at the hockey mind you seem to think you have. I would not trade anybody (almost) from the current Blues roster for the likes of Vinny or Marty of Tampa Bay. Sure they are good players, possibly even great players, but we are growing our own hockey studs down on the farm and unfortunately or fortunately, here on the ice in St. Louis. This team, for the most part, fights their collective butt’s off game, after game, after game! What team are you watching??? Bottom line… you can’t spell, you can’t write, and your knowledge of this team and this sport is embarrassing! Most of us have to work for a living, so save us all the time it takes us to stop laughing at your stupid statements so that we can get back to earning some dough on the job. Harsh? Yes, but Jerry… you are an idiot with comments like those!