Sports Logic

written by Shaun Deering

As the trade deadline nears, the NHL media always divides the league into two groups; the buyers and the sellers. The goal of the buyers is obvious; bolster their roster in hopes of winning the Stanley Cup. The sellers have a different goal however. Their goal is to acquire assets to help the team in the future.

Determining if the buyers ever achieve their goals is easy to do. You have to look at the names engraved on the Stanley Cup and that should be a pretty good starting point. What is harder to do is determine whether the sellers achieve their ultimate goal of getting better.

With talks of Florida trading Jay Bouwmeester in hopes of piling assets for him, the question was asked, “Do sellers ever really get a bounty for their star players at the deadline?” In the cap era, this has obviously become tougher. So since the 2005-06 season, here are some of the key players who have been traded at deadline time:

During the 2005-06 season, the key players available were Sergei Samsonov, Doug Weight and Mark Recchi. Oddly enough, all three of these players were traded to teams who made the Cup Finals, but what about the sellers?

The Boston Bruins traded Sergei Samsonov to the Edmonton Oilers for Marty Reasoner, Yan Stastny and a 2nd round pick in 2006. Reasoner and Stastny were basically fillers until the end of the season, but that 2nd round pick turned into Milan Lucic. Some are comparing Lucic to Cam Neely, and has been a key cog in Boston becoming the best team in the Eastern Conference.

The St. Louis Blues traded Doug Weight to the Carolina Hurricanes for Jesse Boulerice, Mike Zigomanis, Magnus Kahnberg, a 1st round pick in 2006 (Patrick Berglund), a 4th round pick in 2006 (Reto Berra) and a 4th round pick in 2007 (Cade Fairchild). This trade is less effective in the turnaround of a franchise, but Berglund seems to be a decent NHL player, so all is not lost, unlike the next trade.

The Pittsburgh Penguins traded Mark Recchi to the Carolina Hurricanes for Niklas Nordgren, Krys Kolanos and a 2nd round pick in 2007. At the time, the deal made sense, since Recchi and Crosby weren’t exactly seeing eye to eye, according to reports. Also Krys Kolanos wasn’t a total bust by this point. Nordgren has played 58 NHL games for 6 points, Kolanos is a journeyman, and that 2nd round pick was traded away for more picks.

The 2006-07 trade deadline has been the most plentiful for sellers in the post lockout era. With names like Peter Forsberg, Keith Tkachuk and Ryan Smyth available, prices were at an all time high.

The Philadelphia Flyers traded Peter Forsberg to the Nashville Predators for Scottie Upshall, Ryan Parent, a 1st round pick in 2007 (Jonathon Blum) and a 3rd round pick in 2007. Upshall and Parent are NHL calibre players, albeit not top flight. Jonathon Blum was a member of the US team at the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships, and the 3rd round pick was traded away in another deal. The deal helped the Flyers go from the worst overall team in 2006-07 to a Conference finalist in 2007-08.

The St. Louis Blues traded Keith Tkachuk to the Atlanta Thrashers for Glen
Metropolit, a 1st round pick in 2007 (Ian Cole), a 3rd round pick in 2007 (Brett Sonne), and a 2nd round pick in 2008 (Phil McRae). This trade was a move of desperation by the Thrashers, and I’m confident that if GM Don Waddell had his time back, this is one he wouldn’t have made. While it’s too early to tell if Cole, Sonne and McRae will become full time NHLers, it looks like 2 of the 3 are headed in the right direction. Cole and Sonne were members of the USA and Canada respectively in the 2009 World Junior Hockey Championships.

The Edmonton Oilers traded Ryan Smyth to the New York Islanders for Robert Nilsson, Ryan O’Marra and a 1st round pick in 2007 (Alex Plante). I wasn’t a fan of this move at the time, and felt it was a poor return for the heart and soul of the Oilers. My opinion hasn’t softened on that, but Robert Nilsson has become a top 6 forward in Edmonton. O’Marra may never be more than a minor league call-up and the jury is still out on Alex Plante.

In 2007-08, there was a definite shift in the mentality of the General Managers. Players last year weren’t being traded for just role players and picks. This was probably due to salary cap considerations, but sellers were now getting bonafide roster players for their assets.

The Buffalo Sabres traded Brian Campbell to the San Jose Sharks for Steve Bernier and a 1st round pick in 2008 (Tyler Ennis). The Sabres felt the need to get something for a pending unrestricted free agent after losing Daniel Briere and Chris Drury the previous year for nothing. So they picked up Steve Bernier, who suffered an injury early, and has since been dealt and Tyler Ennis, who seems to be well on his way into a Sabres jersey next season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning traded Brad Richards and Johan Holmqvist for Mike Smith, Jussi Jokinen, Jeff Halpern, and a 4th round pick in 2009. So, here’s a perfect case of a trade where both teams can get better instantly. Essentially this was a Richards for Smith deal since Holmqvist is out of the league, and Jokinen and Halpern have been placed on waivers. Smith however may be one of the top 5 goalies in the league, and Tampa should build around him, if their owners could stop meddling in the team.

The Atlanta Thrashers traded Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a 1st round pick in 2008 (Daultan Leveille). I’d like to tell you that the Thrashers improved their team with this trade, but any NHL fan knows that the Thrashers just can’t do anything to improve.