Haas: The Conacher Conundrum

You have to give to get.

These words ring eternally true in the sports world, but they do little to soothe the sting of a fan favorite departed. (Photo/Susan Ferlita)

Cory Conacher was traded, along with a fourth round pick, to the Ottawa Senators for large goaltender Ben Bishop.  The need for a competent goaltender, both this year (while Anders Lindback is injured) and next year when Mathieu Garon is on a couch somewhere, was obvious.  That being said, a large majority of Lightning fans were outraged to see Conacher going the other way.  Instead of long-winded paragraphs, here are some observations in bullet form:

Facts:

• Conacher is a terrific young player.  He was the AHL MVP last year and is the leading scorer for the Senators after today’s trade.
• He was a part of a surplus-within-a-surplus.  Tampa has a glut of talented young forwards and a further glut of smallish ones.
• After starting hot, teams got the book on him and he struggled.  This is to be expected, but his ice time had been even further diminished after Jon Cooper took over behind the Lightning bench.

Opinions:

• Not surrendering a high pick is the best thing about this deal.  Tampa will more than likely pick in the top 15 this summer.
• I really like Conacher’s game – but this trade is a win based on simple economics. Tampa dealt from a surplus to address a deficit.  None of Garon, Cedrick Desjardins or Riku Helenius inspire a lot of confidence behind Lindback.
• Conacher will play well in Ottawa this season, much like Steve Downie did after being traded to Colorado last season.  It’s anyone’s guess beyond that, but the young man certainly has the tools to succeed.

Bottom line:

Ok, so this isn’t bullet-ed.  Whatever.  Fans have every right to be outraged by this trade – Conacher was a fan favorite and he’s sure to be the same at every stop in his NHL career.  For that reason, over and above his obvious talent, it’s difficult to comprehend that he’s gone after less than one NHL season.  That being said, the competition between Bishop and Lindback could propel both players to new heights, which is impressive, given that Lindback is the small one at 6′ 6″.  The Lightning should be able to replace Conacher too – take your pick from Ondrej Palat, Brett Connolly, J.T. Brown, Tyler Johnson, the list goes on.  Whether anyone can captivate the Lightning faithful like Conacher did in such a short time,  is the greatest unknown.

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