That sucks, but I guess I can understand why he'd want to get back to Canada.

I agree. So far the trades we have seen, other than the Roenick deal, have seemed pretty reasonable from a hockey perspective.

This is an exciting deal... I'd almost forgotten what good old-fashioned "star for star" trades were like.

Still waiting to find an "official" version of the deal -- the AJC is now saying "sources close say" DeVries comes to Atlanta too, but an Ottawa newspaper site says it's Hossa for Heatley + 1 other player.

So, are the defensemen they are talking about any good, or they just throw-ins.

One site summed DeVries up this way (after he signed with the NYR before the last played season)


He's seems a likely candidate for the defenseman in the deal, since he spent 4 seasons in Colorado & Hartley would know what he's getting.

I don't think he's a star by any stretch of the imagination, but he strikes me as a solid piece in an improving machine. If he was good enough to be a top-4 D'man for Ottawa, he's going to be an upgrade for the Thrashers.

Devries was absolutely awful with Ottawa. He was not a top-four for them, not even close.

Apparently he cashed in with the Rangers, then got out of shape and lost his work ethic. The Senators traded for him on reputation and were shocked at how bad he was.

If he's back to his old form then he could be a very solid addition, but it's quite possible that he's done as a top NHL defenceman. Don't get your hopes up.

I can't help but wonder if the knee injury suffered just a couple of months earlier might have affected that some?


Actually, he doesn't really have to be a top NHL D to be an improvement for Atlanta.

That doesn't sound good. The last thing you need on a young team is a slacker vet.

de Vries sort of came out of nowhere to become a solid d-man for the Avs, but, keep in mind, he was on an extremely talented blueline squad at the time, which tends to sort of hide holes in his game.

and he cashed in bigtime with the Rangers, but he really isn't anything other than a decent player...probably not even a top 4 guy on most clubs.

I didn't realize Hossa was only 26...somehow I thought he was much older.

I really dig this trade. if it is de Vries (TSN is saying it is, other sites are still not clear), it's a good move for both teams. he is not good enough to be in Ottawa, but should help Atlanta. and yes, Jon, his best years, by far, were under Hartley, so that might help.

plus, he grows a really cool looking playoff beard.

Me too. I was amazed to see that deal. Pretty nuts, but nice trade. It'll be such a weird season this year. But in a good way, I think.

Pretty good take on the trade,from an Atlanta perspective. IMO, better insight than I expected considering the source.
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/cu...eatley_fi.html

As an aside, I think the whole "Heatley-as-face-of-the-franchise" stuff is interesting. That's not really how I personally saw him (I'd say Kovalchuk) nor was Heatley one of my son's favorites (He'd go with Kovalchuk or Nurminen). Yeah, I know, we aren't exactly the core audience for the team, but I still thought the difference in perspective was interesting. The very lukewarm reaction my son had to the deal (I really expected a moderate amount of trauma) just doesn't say "face of the franchise" to me.

well, the fact that Heatley looks like Jaws from Moonraker can't help him...

Good deal for Atlanta. A 1st line with Holik and Kovalchuk and a 2nd line with Hossa would be a great 1-2 punch.

As for "face of the franchise", I'd have to say Heatley was it. The fans of the Thrashers loved him his first year. He was gritty and could score. He won the MVP for the All Star Game. Kovalchuk is a good scorer, but really doesn't play a lick of defense. After the accident, things may have changed somewhat, but the fans of the Thrashers backed him and rallied around him.

So yeah, I'd say he was the face of the franchise. But it's a new day in the NHL.

edit: Also his injury and his shape in the offseason may have contributed to him being expendable.

Holik on any team's 1st line is a recipe for disaster.

I saw that the Senators signed Heatley to a 3 year $13.5 million deal. That's $4.5 per year. I think that's a pretty good bargain for the Sens. Less than what Nash is making and just as much as the Flyers are paying for Derian Hatcher...

Um... why? The guy is a great center. Gritty, tough minded. Can score. He was fabulous as a 2nd line center for the Devils.

I just don't think he's a 1st line center. He is good as a 2nd line center or a checking line center, but not that #1 center.

Well Lou was going to get him as a 1st line center (moving Gomez to the 2nd line) before Atlanta won out. If Lou thinks he was worth it, I think I'd value his opinion more ;).

Hey, that's Jaws from "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker" ;)

SI

LMAO...Holik a 1st line center....dude, you have been drinking......LOL

Holy crap! The news just reported Pasi Nurimen has blown out his knee, and it was a career ending injury. That pretty sad for him and the Thrashers.

wow, that really blows
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sp...rashshort.html

Ducks trade Rucchin to the Rangers for some goon I've never heard of

What do you think he was with the Rangers in that last season? With that dreadful club, he amazingly cracked 50 points (leading the team). His 56 points was also higher than any Center on the Thrashers... Hell, more than any player on the Thrashers aside from Kovalchuk (though Savard spent a good portion of the year injured).

Nurminen going down sucks, obviously, but it doesn't have to be a HUGE blow.

That Lehtonen guy is supposed to be amazing, but anything can happen with rookies.

Yeah, it would have been better to have him there (esp. since they both are from the same country), but it probably will not be that big a swing in wins.

My bad, your right, on a shitty team, Holik can play 1st line center

Thanks for this link. You're right, it's a very interesting article, especially for Buffalo fans.

I don't know how much weight I put into the arguments made in the article. With the exception of Peca, all of the 'slighted' players were way past their prime and didn't deserve the money or playing time they demanded.

For instance, Gilmour was pissed that Ruff made him play left wing during his last season in Buffalo and wouldn't resign. After battling injuries, he lost almost all of his speed and was a huge liability by that point in his career, even on the heels of a decent offensive year the season previous.

Kozlov never wanted out of Detroit in the first place and was moody and lacked work ethic for his whole tenure with the Sabres.

The surprise here is Andreychuk supposedly being upset, which I don't necessarily buy. He still lives in Buffalo and has been reported as saying that if things didn't work out with Tampa he'd have no problem finishing his career where it started.

The article is honest in the assessments of Regier (he is entirely too cautious with trades, always feeling that he must 'win' every move) and Ruff (has always preached defense first but mostly because they didn't have the horses to play an offensive style). Ruff tweaked things in 2003-04, and the club finished 10th in scoring in the 30 team league, a marked improvement for sure.

I loved that Howard Berger predictions article too. What an idiot. To say a team like Colorado isn't a playoff team is just ridiculous, for one.

He has Buffalo being the worst team in the league this season. Now, I'm a realist and the team has done nothing to improve themselves from a player standpoint but they really haven't lost a lot either. Satan and Zhitnik are the only casualties...both excellent players. However, the addition of Thomas Vanek will account for at least 70% of Satan's goals and points and extra playing time for the other talented young right wingers (Afinogenov, Dumont and Kotalik) will account for the rest. Numminen's signing as a replacement for Zhitnik isn't good enough but the team isn't going to drop 30 points in the standings because of Zhitnik.

The Sabres will once again fight for the final playoff position but likely finish just on the outside. But last place? No chance...hell, I'll give Johnny93 tickets to a Leafs/Sabres game if that happens! ;)

yep - they did well here. Heatley will make 1.5 M less than Hossa and they get rid of de Vries 2.3 M salary to boot. Obviously, Heatley has some question marks, but Ottawa gets a potential superstar and clears up almost 4 million in cap room doing it.

meanwhile, Atlanta gets 2 veteran players (one with talent, one...well...) to join their improving team.

nice trade all around.

weird that Heatley and Hossa were both involved in notorious incidents in their past - one that obviously killed a player, the other that nearly cost a player his career.

In the new NHL, if you can get a star player, for another star player, and save 4 mil in cap space, its a no brainer....Ottawa wins huge here, bot talent wise, but overall, cuz the cap space....I now hate Dany Heatly even more

oh, and ill take those sabres/leafs tickets, though i dont think the Sabres will finish last either

My predictions as of right now:(so bored)

Eastern Conference

New Jersey
Ottawa
Tampa Bay
Philadelphia
Toronto
Montreal
Boston
Buffalo
------------
Florida
Atlanta
Pittsburgh
NY Islanders
NY Rangers
Washington
Carolina

Western Conference

Detroit
San Jose
Colorado
L.A. Kings
Vancouver
Calgary
Anaheim
Edmonton
-------
Dallas
St. Louis
Chicago
Nashville
Minnesota
Phoenix
Columbus

Leafs/Wings Cup, cuz what hockey fan wouldn't love to see that!!!!

Fixed.

How many friggin cups do you need......shared damn it!!!!!

hey, cool, only 28 more "fixed" posts to go!

St. Louis re-signs for 6 years...
http://www.tampabaylightning.com/prd...126&category=3

I've read $31 million. This makes no sense to me. First, I thought there was a 5 year maximum on contract length. Second, where does this leave the bolts with respect to Richards, whose contract is up at the end of the season? Are they planning on dumping others to keep the big three around?

Six years?

I don't understand this move.

Tampa is going to be in some serious cap trouble, they'll be a one line team if they bring back Richards after this year. Hell, even if they don't bring him back, it's going to be tough to ice a decent team with 11 mil or so going to 2 guys. The Canucks will be facing the same problem after this year with 14 mil going to the top line, Jovo can't be coming back next year.

That being said, Ohlund reupped for 4 years at 3.5 per.

Perhaps Vancouver and Tampa are hoping the cap increases in a couple of years.

Who's playin net in tampa?

Sean Burke

So St. Louis, Lecavalier, Iginla, and Thorton have signed long term with their teams. That Rangers' plan of saving now so they can be prepared for the FAs next year sure has worked out well...

Can't seem to find anything wrong with the Rucchin trade. He's healthy, right? No blurred vision? Amputation of a leg?

with all the potential RFAs signing early, instead of holding out for a potentially larger payday, it sounds to me like the players/agents are assuming the salary cap is headed down.

Keep hitting the hash pipe and maybe that dream will come true one day. The cap is going nowhere but down for a few years at least imo. Besides, a couple of years isn't going to do it, Jovo will be gone after this season and so will Richards. Got to love the way the league punishes success.

Hey, I just plunked down the $130 needed for the NHL Centre Ice package, so I am doing my part to keep that cap up.

Punishes success? Well, it's a salary cap. It's just a fact of life. I'd rather have a little "success" punished, then the same few teams competing for all the top guys year in and year out. (eg, NFL = good / MLB = bad).

salary cap is teh suck.

You're only saying that because the salary cap PWNED!!11!1! teh Avalanche. (note: not that the Red Wings will or are fairing that much better)

Salary cap doesnt punish succes.....Calgary seemed to have alot of succes last season, and the cap hasnt hurt them.....it has hurt the big money teams, but it was neccesary to save the league......plus, i think good gm's and bad gm's will be very easy to spot with this new system

well, yes.
but there WERE good things about the cap. I think there were big market teams that really DID spend pretty wisely as a whole (Wings and Avs, for example), generally more to retain/maintain their talent level than to build their team, and I, as a fan, appreciated that more than seeing my favorite team dismantled. Then you have teams like, say, the Rangers, ruining it for everyone. I liked the fact that the Wings and Avs (or Sens and Leafs, whatever) could build and maintain a rivalry for a number of seasons. I'm not so sure you'll see that as much anymore.

and it's not like there were just one or two franchises dominating - in the last 12 years, 7 different teams won the Cup, and only 1 team (I think you know who) managed to repeat. meanwhile, the 12 seasons before that, you had 5 different teams winning, and 5 times a team managed to repeat the following year. heck, from 73 to 88, only 4 franchises won the Cup, and EVERY winner except the Habs in 85 repeated at least one more year.

personally, I'm not so sure that a cap was needed for competitive balance.