Curious Hair wrote:
As a team banking points whilst playing well over its head, the Hawks are very much in position to buy as we round the bend into trading season. Arguably the two things we most need are a premium third-pairing defenseman and a top six forward. The former shouldn't be too hard to procure; the latter is a bit more daunting. (We also may need a goaltender with lateral movement, but let's not spoil the good vibes coming off last night.)
The three absolute worst teams in the league are Columbus, Anaheim, and Carolina. They're done. Long Island is 4th worst and Colorado 5th, but they're so deep in the throes of rebuilding that there's not really much to be mined from them. Tampa Bay is right there in the shit, but they owe most of that to Yzerman's tactical error of backstopping an otherwise talented squad with an evidently not-so-ageless wonder who can't stop anything. They have a good thing going; doubt they'll gut it. Ottawa's treading water instead of occupying dead last as projected; losing Michalek indefinitely could help them reach those expectations.
Winnipeg is an interesting case, one clearly warranting an overdue line break. They're also playing WAY above their heads so far, being fueled, as many expected, by Unwavering Winnipeg Love. Organizationally, they're also in the awkward position of talking a big game about building through drafting/development while having their last few drafts pretty well raided from the end of the Atlanta era: the Byfuglien trade cost them their second-rounder from 2009 (Jeremy Morin), plus the 24th and 54th picks in 2010. The Ladd trade cost them the 36th pick in 2011. In the trade that sent Kovalchuk to Jersey, they also sent out the 38th pick in 2010. I'm sure it's nice to have the likes of Ladd, Byfuglien, and (snort) Patrice Cormier, but their cupboard is bare. They helped us a lot with the cap crunch; now we can help them restock.
Calgary and New Jersey are bad but nominally in the hunt; only gets tougher as we go up the line. So we're basically looking at those eight.
I'm looking at Vinny Prospal from the Blue Jackets. Only going to cost about $1.25MM for half the year, reliably good for about 20 and 30 a year, even at an advanced age. Slotting him at #2L with Hossa would promote Sharp to the Toews/Kane line, or move Sharp back to center to keep him with Hossa. Either way, it solidifies the top six. No one likes "trading within the division," but the Blow Jackets are so far gone that it's not like they have to worry about contending, anyway. The bigger concern is how we'd be improving them, but even then, Prospal is on an expiring contract, so they can't ask for much of a haul other than to take some money off their books, and boy do they have a lot.
Alexei Ponikarovsky is good for almost the same production as Prospal, save for a terrible 2010-11 with the Kings wherein he couldn't score for shit, but no one on the Kings can score for shit. His expiring contract would cost a little more than Prospal's, however, and he's much less proven. Backup plan.
Some people want to see Tuomo Ruutu back, owing to his solid production in Raleigh since trading him for Ladd, but I thought he was a big of a problem in the dressing room and about town when he was here, so I have some reluctance. Again, though, he's an expiring contract, so he wouldn't cost much to rent.
Teemu Selanne is getting vocally dissatisfied with how bad the Ducks are, and what a prize he would be, but I don't know how likely it is that he'll ask for a trade this late in his career. It's more likely that he sticks it out with the Ducks because Orange County is warm and pleasant, or just flakes out on them and retires.
Tim Gleason would fit in nicely on the third pairing as a good stay-at-home guy. You'd have to ship out O'Donnell or Lepisto (preferably O'Donnell, but probably Lepisto) for roster purposes, of course.
Who else are you looking at?
you are truly a man worthy of having a quote of me as your signature, good sir! may your yule log burn bright!!!
_________________
Curious Hair wrote:
Les Grobstein's huge hog is proof that God has a sense of humor, isn't it?
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