Visnovsky for Whitney

			2009/2010 NHL Statistics
To Anaheim	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Lubomir Visnovsky	Defenseman	33	57	10	33	$5.6 million	$5.6 million
----------
To Edmonton	Position	Age	GP	Goals	Points	2010 Cap Hit	2011 Cap Hit
Ryan Whitney	Defenseman	27	62	4	28	$4 million	$4 million
6th Round Draft Pick

In one of the bigger deals of the deadline day festivities, the Oilers downgraded at the defense position by sending Lubomir Visnovsky to the re-tooling Anaheim Ducks for some more youth in Ryan Whitney.

The Ducks became buyers in a big hurry on Wednesday, scooping & moving goaltenders and defensemen and this was definitely a big prize to their day. Visnovsky is definitely a more potent offensive defenseman than Whitney, which is going to cost a little bit more in the end, but his offense should be worth the extra cap hit. Visnovsky will join an already strong Ducks' blueline, as they try and climb into the playoffs from 11th spot in the West standings.

Now, the Oilers are not necessarily losers in this deal, having to downgrade here. Whitney is touted as a more-than capable defenseman in the league, but he just hasn't developed his consistent offensive pop that he was paraded around to have. Whitney has plenty of upside and now with Sheldon Souray out for the season and Visnovsky going the other way, he'll be the number one guy for the Oilers, which is probably the position he wanted to be in sooner rather than later.

With the Ducks taking on some interesting names on deadline day, they might just be burdened with some new cap hits or at the very least, some bigger ones. Well, if we were talking in the annual sense, the Ducks would have a theoretical 23-man roster that is actually below the cap ceiling as a whole, but they have plenty of math issues of their own. According to capgeek.com, they have more than enough room under the cap to be happy with themselves. According to my list, the Ducks now have 13 players signed on for the 2011 season at a cap hit of $34.6 million, which is a very healthy and flexible cap hit. The Ducks won't be handcuffed next season at all.

The Oilers were in shedding cap space all day on Wednesday, so there is no question about how they will finish the season below the cap ceiling. Injury discounts to Sheldon Souray and Nikolai Khabibulin definitely see to that. Currently for 2011, I have the Oilers (sans Jordan Eberle) at 14 players signed at a cap hit of $41.2 million, which is still fairly flexible, but if Souray and Khabibulin are ready and healthy, the number doesn't seem so bad.

This deal may have some interesting implications in the Draft this year. Whitney, who now moves to a struggling Oilers team, belongs to Wes, who currently sits in 2nd place in the standings. Whitney should be getting number one defenseman minutes, but on a struggling Oilers team, how much is that really going to help? I would have to think that its a negative move for Whitney and his scoring pace may slow.

Visnovsky, on the other hand, is likely going to have a scoring outburst on a more-determined Ducks team, which is great news for our Draft leader, Leon, who owns him this season. Leon will likely get a little bit of help with some better scoring paces in Anaheim, which could very well mean an increase of scoring pace, keeping him on top of the game.

With this move, the Ducks are in it to win it. As of Thursday afternoon, they currently sit three points out of a playoff spot and are now ready to make their big move. This move was definitely the one that puts another couple entries into the lottery to win themselves a spot, so watch out.

The rebuild of the Oilers gets a solid shot in the arm with some more cap flexibility and an up & coming defenseman. That's nothing to sneeze at for this summer. It will just be a long time before October comes for most Oilers fans now.

share this: facebook