NHL Deadline Deals

The NHL trade deadline passed on Thursday, otherwise known as my mom’s birthday (Hi, mom!), with the typical flurry of deals. This years deals were notably mundane compared to years past, with the biggest deals being done earlier in the season, such as the Joe Thornton trade, or the Doug Weight deal. The three biggest deals at the deadline this year were headlined by David Aebischer, Jose Theodore, Sergei Samsonov and Mark Recchi, who will join Weight in Carolina. (Which begs the question, why aren’t there any Carolina-specific teams out there? The Bobcats are Charlotte, but that doesn’t really count, does it?)
The Aebischer to Theodore trade is the prototypical “let’s shake things up” deal, especially for Montreal, as they are acquiring the hotter goalie, despite the two being at roughly the same level. Samsonov’s arrival in Edmonton signals that the Oilers want to win now, and they happily gave up eternal prospect Marty Reasoner, as well as a pick and another prospect. Recchi, at this point in his career, especially with the ‘Canes, will just be a role player, and not the centerpiece of a line, which he was in Pittsburgh.
Two interesting deals that I do think warrant discussion are the two that the Wild made. On Wednesday, they traded backup goalie Dwayne Roloson to the Oilers for a first round pick, and a conditional pick, pendant on whether or not the Oilers resign Roloson after the season. This was a great trade in which the Oilers certainly overpaid. Roloson is a great, consistent goalie to be sure, but they will only have him for 20 games and the playoffs, and they sacraficed a first rounder in order to get him. The Wild had their long term interests in mind, and they were able to bolster that future while getting rid of spare parts.
The second trade the Wild made was with the Dalls Stars, trading Willie Mitchell, an overrated defenseman, and a 2nd round pick for Martin Skoula and prospect Shawn Belle. Mitchell, who excelled in Jacques Lemaire’s defensive system, is overvalued as a defender. He doesn’t possess the skating or puck skills to carry a first line defensive unit outside of Minnesota. On the other hand, Skoula, who has Cup experience and is younger, will fit nicely into Lemaire’s system. Lemaire has a history of bringing the best out of underachievers, and Skoula definitely fits that bill. The best part is that Skoula is an offensive minded defenseman, and Kurtis Foster has proved that they work well in the Minnesota sysem. As for Belle, scouts say he is a speed demon, and would be the fastest player with the Wild if he came up today. And he would be the first black player in the Wild’s short history.
In short, if you look at the total additions and subtractions, the Wild definitely strenghtened themselves for the future. Essentially they swapped a 2nd round pick for a first, Willie Mitchell for Martin Skoula, and their backup goalie for a lightning fast prospect. I think that, if not next year, in a couple of years, the Wild will be a force to be reckoned with in the NHL. – Ryan