Deals at the Draft

Vancouver sent Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen & Alex Auld to Florida for Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek & a 2006 6th round pick.

A deal like this doesn't exactly bode very differently in the pool sense, except Bertuzzi may have a better season away from the legal challenges in Florida. We all knew that Vancouver goaltending would generate points, having 41 wins last season between Cloutier & Auld, but we didn't see the injury to Cloutier (who does?). Luongo's stock does go up from a 35-game winner to a 40-game winner.

Atlanta sends Patrik Stefan & Jaroslav Modry to Dallas for Niko Kapanen and a pick.

Dallas upgrades their defense in Jaroslav Modry with this deal. Modry, a good mobile defenseman who finished with 38 points, is always a good pickup in most pools. Look for his stock to go up with the Western juggernaut. Niko Kapanen will probably not play with Kovalchuk, so don't get your hopes up with this young kid. He'll roughly average the same 35 points in Atlanta as well.

Calgary acquires Alex Tanguay from Colorado for Jordan Leopold and a couple picks.

Well, believe it or not, the Flames got a whole lot of something for a whole lot of nothing. A keen upgrade of Alex Tanguay makes the stock of Jarome Iginla go through the roof. A talented playmaker like Tanguay was exactly what the Flames have been missing and there is no doubt that he'll excel and make his linemates excel at the same time. Leopold, on the other hand, will come into the Avalanche as the third or fourth defenseman, probably seeing a downgrade in ice time. The new GM for the Avs is high on Leopold, but I would be surprised if the coaching staff had the same sentiment.

The Minnesota Wild acquired Pavol Demitra from the Kings for blue-chip prospect Patrick O'Sullivan and the 17th overall pick (Trevor Lewis).

The Wild want Marian Gaborik to stick around, badly. Getting Pavol Demitra does two things for the Wild... it gives Gaborik a veteran countryman to help sort him out and it gives them a little more scoring now. This does probably mean that the Wild got better, and if Demitra and Gaborik can stay healthy, there's a great chance that the Wild will have quite a few more than the team's 231 goals in 2005/'06. The Kings on the other hand, picked up the AHL's rookie-of-the-year in Patrick O'Sullivan, who has an awesome upside. New GM Dean Lombardi may have shifted the focus of the Los Angeles organization to go for more youth, but it could take a bit more time to develop the team, as they are a couple seasons behind. O'Sullivan is a good bet to make the team and is also a good bet to be a decent sleeper in next season's pool.

The Maple Leafs picked up goaltender Andrew Raycroft from the Bruins for Finnish prospect Tukka Rask.

The Leafs needed goaltending and they needed it now. The Bruins have goaltending and there is no reason why you can't stock up for the future. That's the essence of the deal here. The Leafs didn't exactly want to bank on J-S Aubin or Mikael Tellqvist next season, although Aubin showed some real good poise coming into relief late last season. Raycroft, a former Calder trophy winner, took a hard hit from the sophomore jinx and the Leafs will put their eggs in the basket that he'll rebound quite nicely from it. In dealing Tukka Rask, they only give up a prospect who was falling behind Justin Pogge in the depth chart in Toronto and they'd both probably bloom at the same time. Boston doesn't need goaltending now, but they have been known to dessimate goaltending careers in a big hurry.

Technorati Tags
NHL
Hockey Pool
Trades
Florida Panthers
Vancouver Canucks
Calgary Flames
Minnesota Wild