Before I forget, here's a nifty little video recapping highlights of the 2007-08 season. For me its the Nash goal at the very end that says it all.
I was very pleased to be able to attend the lottery this year and even more pleased to see Gms from the Highlanders, Edge and Great Whites in attendance.
With the unfortunate unavailability of the Highlanders GM last year the oversight of his drinking a shot from the cup was rectified (thanks to the Edge GM for his role in this as well), whereafter the trophy was given to the Severed Heads GM for safe-keeping.
The Lottery results were as follows;
1 - Severed Heads
2 - Personal Vendetta
3 - Wolves
4 - Bladerunners
5 - Ramapithicines
6 - Shadowmen
7 - Edge
8 - Lost Boys
9 - Scourge
10- Highlanders
11- Knights Templar
12- Great Whites
It's been just two years since the Severed Heads came out of the hat first, but hopefully this time we won't make the mistake(s) we did last time. Preliminary conversations with the teams GM give no clear indication yet as to who the team will take, though Nabokov, Lecavalier, and Datsyuk are all possibilites, and the team will almost certainly consider a bid on RFA's like the Wolves Phaneuf as well.
As for the goings on at the draft itself I didn't find many of the picks to be a surprise, but I did see some highlights of #2 overall Drew Doughty that moved him way up my draft board.
The Cammalleri and Tanguay trades weren't downers or uppers, but recognition that pieces were being shuffled around. Tanguay wasn't happy and gettng Montreal to part with a 1st and 2nd for him was fair price. To aquire a replacement who is faster, grittier, a better goalscorer and above all, cheaper, for a 1st was also a fair bargain.
Tanguay in Montreal is an intriguing situation as he could very likely be asked to play back at his centre position or remain a top line LW. If he can handle the media pressure he might even rebound to the just sub 100 pt mark.
We all were a little taken aback by the Jokinen trade, as all of us questioned why it was that Phoenix's offer was superior to what the Flames had been rumoured to be offering. On the surface two NHL caliber defensemen and a high 2nd round pick in a very deep draft is fair price, and while Ballard is enough player I don't see All-Star games in his future. Boynton is a reclamation project that Phoenix was patient with after Boynton struggled through several uneven seasons in Boston and wrestled with repeated knee surgeries. At best I see Boynton as a #5 on a good team, or 4 on a bad.
The logjam of D-men on the Panthers roster now makes it virtually certain that Florida will be moving Jay Bouwmeester - probably for scoring help.
The Umberger to Philly trade was good for both teams. The Blue Jackets need NHL calibre players right now, and can't wait for a low-end first round pick to develop into a mainstay. Philly was pressed against the cap and Umberger despite his upside as a 60 point 2nd line centre with tremendous physical tools (Keith Primeau is my favourite comparison), was odd-man out thanks to Carter and Richards hitting the cookie jar first. Getting a 1st for the burly Ohio State graduate was a solid return.
As for my drink from the trophy? The Jagrmeister never tasted better.
2 comments:
I understand the Tanguay deal as the flames have no cap room. The other deals made no sense to me whatsoever.
Camelerri for a mid first rd pick boggles my mind. He is young, cheap, and good and he can be better.
Jokinen, as if Florida couldnt have done better on this... reminds of my Luongo deal all over again.
As for the lottery it looks like im stuck in comfortable 9th pick again... yippeee
I think the key to remember in both deals is that the contract term for the player is the real issue.
Tanguay was a class act. He wanted out for whatever reason (Keenan), politely asked management for a trade and then shut his mouth and played hard.
And in return Sutter was a class act in kind, he never hung Tanguay out to dry and I'm sure that the rumours we've all heard for a while about a Calgary/Montreal deal in the works.
Getting a 1s and a 2nd rnd pick for Tanguay is probably not the best deal.
I have visions of Joe Mullen to Pittsburgh for a 2nd rnd pick (who did nothing).
I like that Sutter played his hand at once, 'gin!' style.
Once he landed the deal for Cammalleri he had evened out the Tanguay situation. Picks moved in and out leave him up a 2nd round pick for next year - which brings him back to 'even' (I believe we owed our 2nd next year already to...SJ? for Kipper??) and he gets a 1st line player for a 1st line player.
My personal quibble is that I though they were also going to get Latendresse.
As for Tanguay vs Cammalleri, I thought Tanguay was the answer to Calgary's prayers when we landed him. A legit first line playmaker with speed and playoff experience to compliment Iginla.
Instead he moved back and forth to the wing, and he was exposed on checking assignments facing up against power centres in the West like Thornton, Marleau, Getzlaf, etc. And aside from a sporadic bit here and there, he simply hasn't dominated for prolonged stretches of time at either end of the rink in the way you want your top line pivot to dominate.
As for Cammalleri, he's got Paul Kariya syndrome. He's a small guy who relies on being faster than everyone else, but because of the way he plays the game sooner or later he just ain't fast enough and you have a concussion, whatever.
Also, given his physical limitations he has to be a top six forward, and his contract is up at the same time as Tanguay's was.
That said, unlike Tanguay, the kid is a gunner. He won't hesitate to whip bullets given an opportunity. Tanguay's allergy to shot-taking was positively Janney-esqe and teams would expose defense coverage and dare him to shoot rather than give him a passing lane.
Ultimately though, I like Cammalleri as a compliment to Iginla or the 2nd line but as a winger, and that we still need a Jokinen-type #1 to play with Iggy in a power duo.
Enter our top draft pick, Greg Nemisz, a strapping power pivot in the making...Sadly, no.
Let me say I was once again underwhelmed by our selection, which seems in many ways to be a parallel to other recent draft question marks like Matt Pelech, Kris Chucko, Nystrom, etc.
They are all refrigerator big, often slow, Western League and NCAA projects who in optimal settings would be third liners and late pairing defensemen.
I still have hope that Michael Backlund is as good as he looked making hustle plays and scoring goals for Sweden, cuz he was a boatload of Kalashnikov's more exciting than any of the guys I named above, and IMO it's time to get him here and if he can beat the turtles around the rink the Tanguay spot should be his for twenty games till he proves he can't handle it.
In the meantime, Phoenix manages to make a deal that everyone I know scratched their heads at. Boynton and Ballard and a 2nd rnd pick gets you a power pivot who can play 30 minutes, run your power play, kill penalties and fight? And we missed out why?
Likely because of the two NHL defensemen part. Which of the following two defensemen does Florida want from Calgary? Phaneuf, Regehr, Warrener, Sarich and Erikkson? The correct answer is; Phaneuf and Regher. If it isn't one of them then the Panthers aren't interested as much as they are by Ballard.
Far enough, but dear God, Boynton? Which is exactly my reaction. That said, Boynton hasn't got a lot of miles on his odometer because - perversely enough - he's always hurt, and now that he's recovered from his last knee injury he's got the protoype skating and passing abilities the Panthers are looking for. In my mind he's a risk, but he's healthy, cheap and has lots of upside. In contrast we can offer...Anders Erickson. Yeah thanks.
One wonders if Calgary ever talked Tanguay to Florida and got nixed by the no trade clause.
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