March 9, 2009 Deadline Day isn't for
everybody The NHL Trade
Deadline may be an exciting event for hockey fans, but it can take a
toll on the players traded. Josh Mora explains.
CHICAGO, IL -- The next time you
think about how glamorous it is to be a professional hockey player,
think about what it means to be a hockey player at the trade deadline.
Take the case of Craig Adams. He's
been hanging on with the Blackhawks this season, playing in 36 games,
sitting out as a healthy scratch for roughly 25 more. When he plays,
he doesn't play much; 4th line shifts. Occasionally penalty killing
assignments. He's averaging less than ten minutes a game. You'd think
he'd be overjoyed to leave Chicago.
But I talked to Adams trade deadline morning, after the Penguins
claimed him off waivers. He was almost despondent.
Yes, he acknowledged, he was looking
forward to the opportunity of getting more ice time and contributing
to a solid young team with deep playoff aspirations. But he was
leaving behind his toddler son and his extremely pregnant wife. She's
the one who now has to try to keep everything together: the
arrangements for the coming baby, the closing of the house they rent,
trying to make plans for next season and they have no idea where they
might be playing.
For Craig, his happiest times with
the Penguins will be when he's on the ice in Pittsburgh because he
won't have to think about how the rest of his life is ungrounded.
Or think about James Wisniewski, whom the Blackhawks drafted in the
fifth-round.
He's done everything they've asked of
him: developed as a player, worked hard to come back from three
different injuries, public relations and media appearances whenever
asked. He has integrated himself into the community in a way that has
made him popular with fans and media alike. The family he leaves
behind are the teammates he's developed with through the minors and
into the NHL, and now he has to go just as the going gets good and the
team is on the verge of making the playoffs. To his credit, Wisniewski
acknowledged that this is a business and that he understands that no
team stays together from draft days through the Stanley Cup finals.
But it doesn't make leaving any less difficult.
The fact that fans liked Wisniewski and Adams as players -- and that I
additionally liked them both as people -- can't enter into our
analysis of the trade itself.
From a hockey standpoint, the
Blackhawks had to added a center in Sami Pahlsson. They needed a guy
with playoff experience, a guy who could win faceoffs, and perhaps
most importantly a big, defensive forward who can match up with Mats
Sundin, Joe Thornton, Rick Nash and the Hawks' other potential playoff
opponents.
Though Pahlsson is an unrestricted
free agent, he's a guy they can resign in the off-season if they feel
they still need to fill that hole in their lineup. And if they don't,
they dealt from an area of strength because they are committed to
several young defensemen, including the rapidly improving Cam Barker.
Wisniewski on the other hand, was becoming too expensive for their cap
structure. He made just under a-million dollars this season, but as a
restricted free agent with arbitration rights he likely would have
caught at least 50% more next season.
All in all, the deal makes sense for the Blackhawks on a lot of
levels. They didn't join the elite of the Western Conference, but they
improved as a team, and in so doing they improved their chances to go
deeper into the playoffs.
Some notes on the trade deadline that were interesting:
*James Wisnewski was not the only guy traded at the deadline, who had
the same pronunciation of his last name. The Blues sent Andy
Wozniewski to the Penguins for Danny Richmond.
*There's more: Wozniewski and Richmond both went to the same high
school -- Adlai Stevenson in Lincolnshire, Illinois. That's a pretty
amazing coincidence considering how few NHL players come from the
Chicago area.
*I understand the Rangers had to make some moves, but I really don't
like the moves they made. It's amazing that the 20 years ago we all
thought Glen Sather was as brilliant a mind as there was in hockey.
Maybe the players around him made him so. Sather has turned a talented
team into a mess, and I don't think they'll make the post-season
Teams I liked at the deadline:
San Jose -- Love the guys the picked up for their 3rd and 4th
lines. These are the moves that no one pays attention to at the
deadline but which always make a difference in the playoffs. Boston -- Two perfect playoff rentals. Steady players who will
be good in limited time and doing the most with their opportunities. Columbus -- Got a top 6 forward for a player who won't play
again this year. Edmonton -- Traded a player who didn't fit in for two guys who
score in two different ways. New Jersey -- Built on their strength Florida -- LOVE that they kept their star, now hope he resigns
with them. Pittsburgh -- Did a great job of filling their areas of need.
Good moves for this playoff run.
Teams I disliked at the deadline:
Calgary -- Admire them for having the guts to roll the dice on
talent, but they gambled on the wrong guys. Minnesota -- Not against standing pat, but this team needed to
make moves Washington -- They didn't get either the goalie or the
defensive defenseman they needed. It's on Ovechkin now. Philadelphia -- The moves they made look like they were setting
up another which fell through. Montreal -- This team is so much worse than the team we saw at
midseason. They did not improve.
Teams who did interesting things:
Coyotes -- Had to move payroll. Like some of the players they
got, but they look like a Mickey Mouse organization. Ducks -- Gave up depth for this year, but maintained and
retolled their core. Sabres -- Made some nice moves in the short term, but the
Connolly contract makes no sense.
Josh
Mora,
a Columnist with TheFourthPeriod.com, is an Anchor and
Blackhawks Reporter with Comcast Sportsnet Chicago.
