Monday, February 11, 2008
Big Deal
The consensus among fans and non-fans of the Ottawa Senators is that GM Bryan Murray made a terrific deal in getting the team ready and loaded for the Stanley Cup playoffs by bringing in two former Stanley Cup winners in Cory Stillman and Mike Commodore.
The Senators had to give up D Joe Corvo, a player with good speed and skills but not so reliable without the puck. Murray revealed that his agent had asked him to make a trade to an American team as he didn't like the scrutiny he received being in a city that's passionate about hockey. Combine that with the fact Ottawa has three defencemen that are virtually identical in Corvo, Andrej Meszaros and Wade Redden, Murray wanted to get more of a shut-down physical defenceman and Commodore fit the bill perfectly. At 6"5 and 230 lbs, he'll make the defense better. He's not as quick, but that's the tradeoff. He'd be a perfect partner for Wade Redden to offset the defensive lapses Redden's been known for lately.
Patrick Eaves is a young player with potential to be a 30 goal-scorer in the league, but this is the sort of player you need to give up to get immediate veteran assistance for the post-season. Stillman is surprisingly (by NHL standards) underpaid at $1.75 million for a near point-a-game player. He'll be a nice fit on the 2nd line with Mike Fisher to help out with secondary scoring. And I can't emphasize how great it is to bring two guys who have been through the wars to win the championship. These guys were no bystanders in 2006 with Carolina, both Stillman and Commodore were important parts of that Stanley Cup run.
Hardly any blockbuster trades are made anymore with the cap system, but this is a pretty exciting one to talk about. I think this makes Ottawa better, and the nice thing is Murray actually has still about the same amount of cap room as before the trade so he can still make another acquisition if he feels the need. In any case, here's my salute to the trade, courtesy of the Bandit:
The Senators had to give up D Joe Corvo, a player with good speed and skills but not so reliable without the puck. Murray revealed that his agent had asked him to make a trade to an American team as he didn't like the scrutiny he received being in a city that's passionate about hockey. Combine that with the fact Ottawa has three defencemen that are virtually identical in Corvo, Andrej Meszaros and Wade Redden, Murray wanted to get more of a shut-down physical defenceman and Commodore fit the bill perfectly. At 6"5 and 230 lbs, he'll make the defense better. He's not as quick, but that's the tradeoff. He'd be a perfect partner for Wade Redden to offset the defensive lapses Redden's been known for lately.
Patrick Eaves is a young player with potential to be a 30 goal-scorer in the league, but this is the sort of player you need to give up to get immediate veteran assistance for the post-season. Stillman is surprisingly (by NHL standards) underpaid at $1.75 million for a near point-a-game player. He'll be a nice fit on the 2nd line with Mike Fisher to help out with secondary scoring. And I can't emphasize how great it is to bring two guys who have been through the wars to win the championship. These guys were no bystanders in 2006 with Carolina, both Stillman and Commodore were important parts of that Stanley Cup run.
Hardly any blockbuster trades are made anymore with the cap system, but this is a pretty exciting one to talk about. I think this makes Ottawa better, and the nice thing is Murray actually has still about the same amount of cap room as before the trade so he can still make another acquisition if he feels the need. In any case, here's my salute to the trade, courtesy of the Bandit:
# posted by SBP : 7:42 PM
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