On the Topic Of....Trade Talks

With the drama of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter now over and the free agency tank not on empty, but running on fumes-- it's now time to focus on who is going to be a tradeable asset. This summer seems to have quite the stock of assets that are just begging to be moved for one reason or another. However, the bigger names that could be traded could not be as desirable as the names who are just as comparable; but may have a little more overall upside than the names.

Case-in-point: Bobby Ryan and Rick Nash. These are two guys who many think will be moved this summer after turmoil with their current club, but which will be a better pick-up?? To be honest, when you look at the numbers-- both are comparable to each other and you'd probably get more out of them if they were surrounded with a better support team (though Ryan has it made with Perry and Getzlaf). But the bottom line coming down to it is whether or not a team has the assets and then want to depart with those assets in order to acquire one of the other. Of course, Ryan's asking price will probably be much lower than Nash and his salary hit will be much less and the contract is shorter. All of those will be a great selling feature with the two right wings pitted against each other.

Granted, Nash is the "sexy" name and will have fans bemoan the fact that they weren't able to get him. Nash, however, seems to be only the name. We haven't seen what he can do when playing with elite level players on the NHL stage, but one can assume that if Nash has a true #1 passing center, he'd reap the benefits. The San Jose Sharks name keep popping up from the attachment that Nash and Joe Thornton have-- but that was seven years ago and who knows if the the chemistry is still there.

Moving from the forwards, the name of Jay Bouwmeester is coming up, mostly because Jay Feaster gave Dennis Wideman an insane amount of money on an insane term; thus seemingly make Bouwmeester expendable. At two years left on his contract and a $6.68M cap hit, there's probably not going to be any teams burning up Feaster's phone lines. If anything, they'll make sure he stays hampered with that contract until the 2014 trade deadline. While Bouwmeester can be a great player when he applies himself, odds are teams wouldn't want to take on his streaky play, especially not in a contract year. Of course, should Feaster just give him away, that'd be attractive to some teams. Another option is for the Flames to bury him in the minors, as he only has a NTC, but very unlikely.

Yet, the biggest name, still, is Roberto Luongo. Since the Canucks playoff run ended, many were speculating on where his next destination would be because of his inability to get past Round One after being the Western Conference representative in the Stanley Cup Finals. Of course, that helped Cory Schneider break out and get a decent re-signing for his effort, but it also shows that the Canucks are willing to let go of Luongo, who has 10 years left on his contract and will have a cap hit of $5.33M for those seasons. Plus, considering he has a wacky NTC though it all-- it makes you wonder if any team would take the flier on him or not, especially when they know he can be great at times and horrible at times.

The biggest upside for Luongo is the lack of decent free agent goalies out there for a team that needs one. Rumor has it that Luongo only wants to go to the Panthers, but whether or not they are willing to give up on Jacob Markstrom just yet is another story. Of course, with the Panthers making the playoffs last year and coming within one goal of advancing to the second round-- Luongo could be the one thing that actually makes the Panthers true contenders in the Eastern Conference. That said-- both Jose Theodore and Scott Clemmensen are under contract next year-- Clemmensen for another year after next. It'd be a hard sell for the Panthers to get yet another goalie.

So, with the summer just starting/ending for free agency, you can bet that trade talks will be heating up sooner or later. Whether or not anyone gets moved is another story and whether it happens this month or closer to training camp is yet another story. At least we'll have something to talk about this summer....I think....other than that whole CBA crap.

Dany Heatley 2.0??

For the season year in a row, one of the Ottawa Senators top guys is talking about how much he is disappointed with playing in Ottawa. This time, it's Jason Spezza, who has been revealed to be unhappy right now with being a Senator and pretty much being the guy that the blame goes to in terms of the offensive woes that plagued the Sens this past year. While Spezza does get a hard time from the Ottawa faithful, how much do you really want him to do.....oh, right-- score more than 57 points and actually find a way to stay healthy.

Granted, he does have better than a point-per-game clip in his career and did say that he's actually happy to play in Ottawa during a scrum on Thursday-- but it does remind many Sens fans of the fiasco that happened last summer with Dany Heatley and ultimately saw the Sens not get much out of the trade, but it was the best they could get. The same could be said for Spezza, who's no-trade clause doesn't kick in until July 1st, as he has five years left on his contract at a cap-hit of $7M; something that many teams won't be able to shoulder.

Depending on who you talk to, the story will change. Mentioned sentences earlier, Spezza said he was happy. All the while, TSN's Bob McKenzie said that Spezza told GM Bryan Murray he was fed up with being the "whipping boy" for the Senators woes up-front, which is a fair point. Last season, Spezza missed 22 games and really couldn't be the end-all, be-all for the Sens issues scoring; but in '08-'09, his 73 points in a full season does send off alert-bells when it comes to the long-term. And while Heatley's departure did leave a gap in the arsenal for the Senators, that's a time where someone like Spezza could have stepped it up and been the superstar. Though, one thing in McKenzie's piece about Spezza having a rough playoff year-- I'd take a point-per-game stat, albeit in seven playoff games.

Yet another thing that makes me worry-- especially as a Sens fan-- is the fact that it seems Ottawa is slowly become Edmonton East, as it seems not many guys want to be in Canada's capital as one many believe. When you have the "super" stars of the team not wanting to be there, you have to wonder what internal issues there has to be with the organization. While the likes of Daniel Alfredsson and Chris Phillips have pretty much stayed there for their career thus far, you have to wonder if they'd get as much press or money elsewhere if not in Ottawa-- which is the cause for them staying there. I'm glad they're there and that they have guys who will have their numbers retired as full-time Senators or somewhat lifers in the town.

With all of that, the angle you have to take is what will happen at the end of all of this. The Dany Heatley thing is still very fresh in the minds of people in Ottawa and this is a eerily similar situation. While Spezza would probably get a rejuvenation from a new postal code, the contract he has would be a rough one to move. The Senators would have to do a lot of work to sweeten the pot for someone to take the center. After the issues last year, Murray probably doesn't want to be undercut like he was last season in the Heatley deal. Granted, it may be the only thing that Murray can get-- less than face value to take a big contract and upset player off his hands.

At the same time, I'm sure a team like the Columbus Blue Jackets could be a nice destination for Spezza, as it would give them someone to be the top-line center to play with Rick Nash on the top line and be more effective. Granted, that could give them two underachieving, oft-injured forwards-- but if they're on, they'd be a force to be reckoned with.

The turmoil in the summer in Ottawa seems to be the annual thing-- first with Ray Emery, then Heatley, now Spezza. This situation really depends on how you look at it, as Spezza is saying one thing; Murray's camp is claiming another-- somewhere in between, the truth lies. The heckling and jeering is something that will wear on anyone, but I would think it would wear on Spezza especially after the issues he had in order to actually break the everyday line-up under Jacques Martin regime and then having the crowd turn on him as quickly as they did. It is all about "what have you done for me lately" in the terms of sports and Spezza is the latest casualty to it. In the end, if Spezza is on the Sens roster come opening night-- the focal point will be how he plays after this disagreement has played out like it has and if he'll play well enough to get teams interested and make him move his NTC or if he'll dog it and be the goat everyone says he is while collecting a large paycheck at the same time.

Let the Spezz-Watch begin.

Awkwardess of Hanging Around

As we see the smoke clear from the trade deadline and the new acquisitions don their new duds, more and more reports are coming out about trades that didn't happen and players who were so sure that they were going to be moved and then didn't; you have to wonder if there's any kind of awkwardness in the room or resentment from some guys in the long-run for not asking to be moved at all.

For instance, Brian Burke came out after the deadline was done and mentioned that Tomas Kaberle had three teams he'd be willing to waive his no-trade clause for. While speculation about the teams will go on and could be obvious, the fact Burke and Kaberle went back and forth about either Kaberle would be moved during the day could have put some weird vibes in the Leafs room, although most of the faces have changed and probably wouldn't have too many issues with the whole thing as some other teams would. If it were another team with a tighter bond, the awkwardness of this guy wanting out and not getting it could have been disaster for chemistry.

Moving onto reports out of Minnesota about Owen Nolan willing to be traded to two teams, San Jose and Washington, if GM Chuck Fletcher got the call from either team. This issue is a bit different, as Nolan said he believes the Wild has a chance at the playoffs; but Fletcher was willing to give Nolan the option because he hasn't won a Cup and Fletcher wanted to give him the chance to have his moment. For a team like the Wild who is still trying to find their identity, I don't think many people would be against Nolan leaving-- especially with what's he put into the league and knowing he doesn't have much time left to play on a contender.

Even though the two names above wanted out-- what about the guys who were pretty much rumored out the door, but stuck around. Especially in the goalie department where the likes of Cristobal Huet, Martin Biron, and Dwyane Roloson were rumored to be moving, but just a matter to where. In the Biron and Roloson case, the news of Rick DiPietro being done for the year, their plans got changed. But with Huet, how much could you prove to a team that seemed willing to dump you at the drop of a hat. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas was in the news because of the fans not accepting him anymore and him losing some playing time to Tuukka Rask, and while there were rumors of him getting dealt, nothing happened. Thomas was then quoted of saying he hopes he can play well enough to shove all the negativity up the arse of the media and fans who doubt him. Nicely played.

Plus, as mentioned on the show; there was something posted on Twitter about a Caps forward, with his number in the teens, having his bag outside the Caps locker room in Buffalo because he was being dealt. That cause rumors about about two players-- Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann-- being moved for something big. In the end, it was a false alarm as neither were moved. At the same time, how could you go back into the room and have to look around and feel sane with the idea of thinking the team was going to move you somewhere else-- the uneasiness of the whole ordeal would be a little much and with a team on a stretch run and wanting to get to the Cup Final; that could disrupt some chemistry. Or it could cause the rumored traded player to show his team he's worth it and prove to other teams they could have had him if they had offered the right price. Or not-- I don't know-- I wish I knew how these things go.

As it all clears out, we see more and more stories come out of this nature. It's always an interesting thing about guys not going places when they were 95% out the door. How that effects chemistry with the team and how that effects relations between the player, his agent, and the upper management is always something that brings interesting subplots to what will happen to it during the summer or other contract negotiations that happen in the future. Though, in this profession, you have to have a short memory, especially when it comes to trades, contracts, etc. It's only business.

Lack of Paying Dues

Incidents like what's happening with Sergei Kostitsyn in Montreal and now with Ilya Zubov in Ottawa, both being sent down because they weren't good enough to make the big club, then requesting a trade because they thought they were good enough. It almost makes like these kids don't feel like actually going through the motions of the hierarchy of the system and they can ply their trade in the minors while waiting for their chance in the barrell.

In Kostitsyn's case, he is very good in the minors, but with the Habs organization, he seemed to be wasted. He has a case that he wants to get out of the Habs organization because of mismanagement of his talent and his skill set, so maybe it's justified. The Zubov issue is that he just wasn't good enough to crack the roster and wants to be in a place where he can play in the NHL. Not only did the Senators have to deal with Dany Heatley going this summer, but another prospect last year in Alexander Nikulin wanted to be dealt when he couldn't crack the roster for Ottawa. Nikulin was dealt to Phoenix, but still stayed in the AHL and eventually rushed to Russia for this season.

Whatever happen to the passion of getting to the NHL and actually working to get to that pinnacle?? You look at guys like Denis Hamel, Darcy Verot, and maybe to a lesser extend, Mike Keane-- guys who are willing to toil in the minor leagues and wait for their call for the big show. While Keane has had his taste of the show, including a couple Stanley Cup; the career minor leaguers are willing to toil and usually it's a big deal when they get the call to finally follow through on their dreams of reaching the NHL, if only for one game. They work all the time and hope to get some recognition, but do it because they love the game and would rather being doing that then something else back in their homes.

It could very well be the culture. The players I mentioned about waiting-- all North American players. The players in turmoil now are from Eastern Europe. It could be a case where the entitlement of the European players are a little bit higher, considering they could be in their home country's league and be making better money than they would in the minors of the NHL. People get into their ear, saying they are better than they actually are and could be tearing things up in a place like the KHL or over in their home country's league, rather than paying the just dues in order to get into the NHL.

Point is, that if you're not good enough for one NHL team, what makes you think that you're going to strong-arm your way to another NHL roster?? It's not the way the system works. It's not the way it should work either, because in sport--you have to prove you're better than your peers if you want to get to the top of the mountain, you have to actually climb it-- it's not going to be handed to you. If they aren't good enough, they should take the constructive criticism and work on their game rather than throw a hissy-fit and run away from the NHL because they weren't handed the roster spot they probably didn't deserve in the first place. Man up, pay your dues, and you won't have all this unwanted attention for your negative things and get more attention for what you do on the ice.