Trade Deadline Wrapup - Winners and Losers

February 28th, 2008 by James

Now that a few days have passed and the dust has settled, let’s take a look at some of the Trade Deadline Moves

The Flyers -

The Flyers didn’t make any moves on deadline day itself. The night prior they reacquired Vaclav “Vinnie” Prospal from the Tampa Bay Lightning. We still have to wait and see how this move pans out. So far at practice, Prospal has been put on a line with Danny Briere and RJ Umberger. They seem to enjoy practicing together, let’s see how they play together. As long as Prospal keeps putting the puck in the net, everything will be fine. The Flyers means the Flyers have another unrestricted free agent in Prospal to go along with Jason Smith and restricted free agent Jeff Carter. Holmgren has some work to do.

I’m not disappointed by the lack of moves by the Flyers on Deadline Day. According to Holmgren, the Flyers were interested in some of the big names that were available, but it seem the asking price was a bit too much. Unlike his predecessor, Holmgren is not willing to part with young talent or high draft picks in order to gain an overhyped player or a verteran who is passed his prime. Clarke routinely did that on deadline day.

The Penguins -

The most talked about trade was Pittsburgh acquiring Marian Hossa. Time will tell, but in my opinion they lost. They gave up some promising young talent to get Hossa. However, I do not see Hossa, who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, signing with Pittsburgh.

The reason is Sidney Crosby. Is anyone actually surprised that the Penguins have gone to the top of the Eastern Conference while Crosby has been hurt? I’m not. Evgeni Malkin is a great player and is proving it while Crosby is on the DL. When “Sid the Kid” is in the line up, Crosby is just that, a kid, who needs the spotlight. You are going to have an ego problem in Pittsburgh.

When Crosby comes back, he is going to demand the number one spot and start pulling his me-me-me crap. Before he hurt himself and was “captaining” this team, they were mediocre. He’s out, Malkin gets hot and they are top in the East. Now you add another number 1 forward in Hossa. My prediction: Crosby returns, the Pens start to tank, first round playoff exit, and Hossa signs elsewhere in the offseason. Sidney Crosby is repeating things already done by Eric Lindros.

The Sabres -

The Sabres are winners in my book even though they were sellers. Why? They didn’t screw themselves like they did last year. They knew the chances of signing Brian Campbell were becoming slimmer and slimmer. Instead of watching him walk away like Briere and Drury did last year, they got something for him.

The Capitals -

Washington has made themselves much better. Now they have a one-two punch with Ovechkin and Federov. Along with other moves they made, these guys are winners.

The Stars -

The Stars went out and picked up Brad Richards from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here is a guy whose numbers have been in decline for the past 3 years. They overpaid for an overhyped player.

The Sharks -

San Jose picked up a good defenseman in Brian Campbell for the push into the playoffs, but is it enough to stop the machine that is the Detroit Red Wings?

The Maple Leafs -

The For Sale sign is out front… they just have a few people who refuse to get out.

The Colorado Avalanche -

They are trying to relive past glory by bringing back Peter Forsberg and acquiring Adam Foote again. Are they trying to rebuild the 1996 Stanley Cup Team? Maybe they can call up Claude Lemieux and Patrick Roy and get them to come out of retirement.

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