Tag Archive for Toronto Maple Leafs

NHL Trade Deadline Winners & Losers.

February 28, 2012 NHL

So yesterday the trade deadline came and went, and though it started off slow it picked up around 1:30 EST. The first trade started at 10:45 in the morning when the Nashville Predators and Montreal Canadians exchanged some players and picks. From there 15 other deals were made before the clock ran out. Today we will discuss the winners and losers of the 2012 NHL Trade Deadline.

Winners:

1. Buffalo Sabres- The Sabres had a pretty busy day yesterday. They were getting a lot of interest from teams about center men Paul Gaustad, but with their high price of a 2012 1st round pick plenty of teams backed out. Until the Nashville Predators had contacted them where they received Nashville’s 2012 1st in exchange for Paul Gaustad and a 2012 4th round pick. With Gaustad leaving for Nashville, the Sabres were in need of a center, where they than had contacted Vancouver and agreed upon the biggest deal of the NHL trade deadline, Sabres traded off Zack Kassian and Marc-Andrei Gargnani to Vancouver for young Calder trophy candidate Cody Hodgson and defense men Alexander Sulzer. The Sabres were the clear winners from this deadline with these two moves they made.

2. San Jose Sharks- They made just one deal yesterday and though the players aren’t household names or superstars the deal they made can impact them now and in the playoffs and make them a stronger team. The Sharks had come to agreement with the Avalanche to send out youngster Jamie McGinn and two prospects for left wing T.J Galiardi and right wing Daniel Winnik along with a 7th round pick.  This gives the Sharks are solid 4th liner in Winnik and a nice young player in Galiardi who can fill in on the 3rd or 2nd line in San Jose.

Losers:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs- Now they did make a few trades yesterday but they were minor deals at most. they first shipped off prospect Keith Aulie to the Tampa Bay Lightning for former 1st round pick Carter Ashton. They also shipped out Dale Mitchell to Anaheim for Mark Fraser. Now coming into the deadline it was rumored the Leafs were looking at acquiring a steady goalie along with a big time scoring forward. There name came up plenty of time for 2002 1st overall pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Rick Nash, who has a limited NMC and can choose where he wanted to play. The Leafs were said to be “all in” for Nash and were putting together an offer, but GM Brian Burke had backed out after hearing about the large price for Nash. The Leafs did not help themselves get any better for the playoff push and this is why they are one of the deadline losers this season.

2. Calgary Flames- They stood pat this trade deadline after acquiring Michael Cammarelli a few weeks back from the Canadians. But with the obvious reason of needing a rebuild and having to get younger the Calgary Flames did not address that at all this deadline. A few of their older players could have gotten them some pretty nice returns had they put them on the block, Alex Tanguay who can have provided some goal scoring for another team, Captain Jerome Iginla whose whole legacy is in Calgary, but they could have gotten a great young package for him had they shipped him out and finally their star goalie Mikka Kippursoff, a team on the bring of the playoffs who need a goalie like the Capitals, Leafs, Blackhawks, Panthers, Lightning could have very well be in on him but they decided to stand pat and that is why they are considered a loser of this deadline.

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Jeff Carter Traded To The Kings

February 23, 2012 NHL

After a disappointing campaign in Columbus, Jeff Carter has been shipped out tonight to the Los Angeles Kings for defense men Jack Johnson and either a 2012 or 2013 1st round pick. Carter was acquired by the Blue Jackets from the Philadelphia Flyers in the off season for 2012 1st round pick who turned into Sean Couturier, 21 year old Jakub Voracek and a 2011 3rd round pick. Columbus had acquired Carter to be Superstar player Rick Nash’s 1st line center that he was never given the chance to play with since being selected 1st overall in 2002.

But when this trade did not work out and the chemistry between the players were not found, Columbus GM Scott Howson had mentioned both Carter and Nash on the trading block and made them available to teams in the NHL. There were plenty of teams interested in Carter who was never happy being dealt to Columbus in the first place, it was obvious he wanted out and now his wish came true. Heading into tonight it was rumored that the Leafs, Kings and Canadians all were pursuing one of the top deadline players.

Coming down the wire was between the Kings and Leafs who were basically the two highest bidders for the prized possession. The Kings ultimately won the bidding by shipping off Jack Johnson and a 1st round pick in either 2012 or 2013. Carter’s former teammate and best friend Mike Richards was acquired by the Kings in the off season for Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. Richards and Carter were mainly moved from Philly because of their partying and their lack of leadership in the locker room, they became more of a problem then anything for the Flyers.

But now with the two of them re united in Los Angeles one of the biggest party cities in the US, will this become more a problem for the Kings then it will a solution? Only time will tell if this will help bring the Kings to the playoffs or will the two best friends embarrass this franchise by partying all the time?

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What Will Columbus Do With Nash and Carter?

February 7, 2012 NHL

The Columbus Blue Jackets in the off season made a deal to bring Jeff Carter to their team from the Philadelphia Flyers for the 8th overall pick (Sean Couturier) Jakub Voracek and a third round pick in 2011. They also went out and signed defense men James Wisniewski to a 6 year deal worth 33 million dollars. Also a few other signings like Vinny Prospal, Mark Dekanich and Radek Martinek helped round out their roster for opening night.

 

They have brought in Jeff Carter to be the top line center that Rick Nash has always lacked since being drafted by the Blue Jackets 1st overall in the 2002 draft. With these signings and trades they Blue Jackets had so much potential to be a top team in the Western Conference, but with Wisniewski starting off the season with a 10 game suspension and Carter going down with an injury the Blue Jackets have worked their way to a record of 14-32-6 for 34 points which puts them down as the worst team in the NHL at the midway point of the season.  Carter has been a major disappointment since joining the team and now rumors surrounding the player of potentially being dealt.

Now as the trade deadline approaches the Blue Jackets have discussed potential trades of shipping out both Carter and Nash, but now the question is will Columbus get the return for Carter that they originally shipped out to the Flyers in the off season? These 3 players were supposed to be the face of the franchise along with young net minder Steve Mason, who has also struggled and has taken the back seat to now start Curtis Sandford. The Blue Jackets have been rumored to almost give up on Mason who had a phenomenal rookie season a few years ago.

Carter with just 18 points in 31 games this off season has not produced as much as the Jackets thought he would, plenty of teams such as the Kings, Canadians and Leafs have all expressed interest in the 27 year old center. If traded to LA, he can re-unite with his party boy teammate from the Flyers, Mike Richards. Rick Nash has also been on a slump himself with just 34 points in 52 games this season, plenty of teams have shown interest in the franchise forward but it all depends on what Columbus would like to do with him. But for the near future we can expect to see the Blue Jackets as sellers at the deadline and potentially go into a rebuild.

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Darcy….are you awake?

January 7, 2012 NHL

Darcy Regier

Show of hands, how many of you think Darcy is on his couch right about now watching reruns of Will and Grace?

I wouldn’t doubt it. After watching another grand opportunity to make up some ground in the Eastern Conference slip away, I came to a conclusion. There isn’t a player, coach or bucket of pucks I wouldn’t trade. This team has some talent but zero heart. It has a lot of prospects but nobody stepping in and taking over a game.

You hear that Anaheim is ready to move any of the big 3, Getzlaf, Ryan or Perry. Who on the Sabres roster is trade worthy? Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek and Tyler Myers is about it. Should Buffalo plan on bringing in a marquee player like Bobby Ryan one of the 3 players I mentioned are heading West. So get your crying towels out and put the brakes on buying a jersey anytime soon because one of the players I mentioned is gone and soon. I mean what are you going to get for  Drew Stafford? Nothing, nada, zilch. What we see out of Stafford, so does every other GM. Slugs like Stafford are waived not traded.

I’m starting to lose patience with our GM yet again. The Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke was quote this past week saying that although Regier is a close friend, Burke is not comfortable or willing to enter any trade discussions with Darcy. He accuses Regier of being out of touch. He went onto say that Regier expects mch more in return then what he offers. Which pretty much tells me the Sabres are putting a Matt Ellis and a 4th Rd Pick in the 2024 draft for Ryan Getzlaf.

You can Tivo the sitcoms Darcy, but you cannot start the season over. Get to work.

The Sabres loss to Winnipeg tonight is actually a 3 point swing in the standings, in the wrong direction.

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