Trade Deadline Open Thread

Well, today’s the day. What will Glen Sather do? We all know he will buy, but what is his plan? We will find out today.

Unfortunately for me, I again will not have internet all day. So a combination of all of us here at BSB will be updating this post as trades occur (Rangers trades will be bolded).

So, this is your thread to discuss all trades and rumors. The deadline is at 3pm. It should be a fun day.

Update 11:30am Some trades:

• As confirmed yesterday, Pittsburgh acquired Alexei Ponikarovsky from Toronto for Martin Skoula and prospect Luca Caputi.
• Matrin Skoula was flipped to NJ for a 5th round pick in 2010.
• Derek Morris is headed from Boston to Phoenix for a 4th round pick in 2011.
• Matt D’Agostini was traded from Montreal to St. Louis for prospect Aaron Palushaj.

Update 11:33am Boston acquired Denis Seidenberg and Matt Bartkowski from Florida for Craig Weller, Byron Bitz, and a 2nd round pick (TB).

Update 11:45am Aaron Ward is heading to Anaheim for Justin Pogge and a 4th round pick.

Update 12:00pm Edmonton claims Ryan Jones on waivers. Enver Lisin and Aaron Voros clear waivers.

Update 12:50pm: Three trades:

• Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter from Phoenix to Colorado for Wojtek Wolski.
• Yan Stastny from St. Louis to Vancouver for Cedric Labrie.
• Scott Walker from Carolina to Washington for a 7th round pick.

Update 1:00pm: Rangers trade Jordan Owens to Detroit for Kris Newbury.

Update 1:35pm: Mathieu Schneider has been traded from Vancouver to Phoenix. Jeff Halpern traded from TB to LA. When the return for each is tweeted, I’ll post it here.

Update 1:45pm: For the Halpern trade, Tampa gets Teddy Purcell and a 3rd rounder.

Update 1:46pm: Eric Belanger has been traded from Minnesota to Washington, for a second round pick

Update 2:09pm:Calgary gets Vesa Toskala from the Ducks in exchange for Curtis McElhinney

Update 2:09pm:For the Schneider trade, Vancouver gets Sean Zimmerman and a 6th round pick.

Update 2:27pm:Raffi Torres goes from Columbus to Buffalo for Nathan Paetsch and a 2nd rounder

Update 2:38pm: Sabres send Clarke McArthur to Thrashers for a third and fourth rounder

Update 2:50pm: Columbus sends Milan Jurcina back to Washington

Update 3:08pm: Lee Stempniak to Phoenix for a 4th and 7th rounder…Steal of the day

Update 3:09pm: Carolinia trades Joe Corvo to Caps for Brian Pothier and Oskar Osala and a 2nd rounder

Update 3:16pm: Fredrik Modin heads to LA for a conditional pick

Update 3:17pm: Leafs trade Joey MacDonald to Anaheim for 2011 7th rounder

Update 3:18pm: Andrew Alberts to Vancouver for a 3rd rounder

Update 3:19pm: As per Brooks, no NHL trades for the Rangers. Owens-Newbury only trade.

Update 3:35pm: Lubomir Vishnovsky traded to Ducks for Ryan Whitney

Update 3:37pm: Penguins get 2010 6th round pick from Toronto for D Chris Peluso (currently at Bemidji State)

Update 3:37pm: Blue Jackets trade Mathieu Roy to Panthers

Update 3:38pm: Flames trade Dustin Boyd to Nashville

Update 4:06pm: Edmonton moves Steve Staios to Calgary for Aaron Johnson and a 3rd round pick in 2010

Update 4:08pm: Per Zipay, Rangers have a minor league deal coming up.

Update 4:09pm: Stephane Yelle traded to Colorado with Harrison Reed for sixth-round pick and Cedric Lalonde-McNicoll

Update 4:10pm: Blue Jackets trade Alex Picard to the Coyotes for Chad Kolarik

Update 4:46pm: Rangers have acquired veteran defenseman Anders Eriksson from Phoenix in exchange for goalie Miika Wiikman and 7th rounder in 2011

Update 4:47pm: Rangers will assign Eriksson to Hartford

Update 4:48pm: Anaheim trades Petteri Nokelainen to Phoenix for a 6th round pick

Trade Season

It’s trade season. Of course, Dave and I will be all over all trades Rangers–and all other trades. We know the Rangers will be active. They always are. And we know they need a scorer and a hard hitting defenseman. Maybe two scorers.

Last year, we saw Nik Antropov and Derek Morris come to New York. I don’t know who we will see this year in blue. That said, who do you want the Rangers to acquire at the deadline?

Nashville Deals for Grebeshkov

The Nashville Predators are buyers at this deadline. The Predators have acquired Edmonton defenseman Denis Grebeshkov in exchange for a second round draft pick. Grebeshkov ($3.15 million cap hit), a RFA at the end of the year, has a line of 6-13-19 in 47 games with a 3.2 GVT. He is also a -16, but the entire Edmonton team is a minus, so sticking with GVT is your best bet.

This is a very interesting move for Nashville. The Predators have an owner-induced cap that is well below the $56.8 million NHL cap. Acquiring Grebeshkov, while being unable to retain Dan Hamhuis, is curious to say the least. Maybe they think Grebeshkov can be resigned for less.

Curious deal.

Update 5:35pm: Expect the Oilers roster to be completely dismantled by Wednesday’s deadline.

Florida Will Sell

Add another team to the sellers list. With the Jordan Leopold deal, Florida General Manager Randy Sexton has unofficially named the Panthers as sellers this year. The only other UFA on the Florida roster is defenseman Denis Seidenberg, who will most certainly be traded before the deadline. Other players have popped up in pipe-dream scenarios (Nathan Horton), but I don’t see the Panthers moving someone like Horton, or David Booth.

Seidenberg would have been nice at the beginning of the year, but he doesn’t fill a hole on the current Rangers roster. I don’t see the Panthers as a good trading partner for the Rangers.

And So It Begins…

The post-Olympic trades have begun, with Pittsburgh acquiring Jordan Leopold from Florida in exchange for a second round pick. The Pens now have eight defensemen, so expect a minor deal to move one, probably Martin Skoula, to be announced before the deadline.

A trade deadline counter has been added to the side bar. The trade deadline is March 3, 2010 at 3pm.

Souray Rumors Heating Up

Update: Ok, this post title is extremely misleading. Sorry.

There is nothing official going around the blog/twitter-sphere about the Rangers pursuit of Sheldon Souray, post-injury. There is some talk going around about the continued pursuit of the defenseman, because he is signed through next year at a relatively reasonable* price.

*-Reasonable when compared to the Wade Redden and Michal Rozsival contracts.

That said, I propose this trade. Bear in mind that this has nothing to do with any rumors, or anything I have heard. It is just me speculating what could work.

To EDM:
Michal Rozsival
Dan Girardi
NYR 2010 4th round pick

To NYR:
Sheldon Souray
Andrew Cogliano
EDM 2010 5th round pick

Replace Girardi in the lineup with one of Corey Potter/Ilkka Heikkinen (Bobby Sanguinetti is injured). I think it’s feasible. What do you guys think?

Prospal Wants to Stay

As per Arthur Staple of Newsday, Rangers forward Vinny Prospal has made it public that he does not want to be traded by Wednesday’s trade deadline:

“I’m very happy with the way things are going here,” he said, noting that his agent and Sather have had no discussions on a contract extension. “The most important thing is I have family here, the kids are in school and I don’t like the thought of being away from them for who knows how long.

The way this quote is phrased, it sounds like Prospal wants to stay a Ranger in the future as well. If he wants to play for under $2 million, then I’m all for it. After all, he is getting $1.16 million a year from TB through 2014-2015.

Are You Willing to Part With Dan Girardi?

The end of the Olympics is coming. The trade deadline is shortly thereafter. It seems clear that GM Glen Sather is going to be a buyer at the deadline, but to what extent remains a mystery. He surprised us all by swapping spare parts for a legitimate upgrade in Olli Jokinen before the Olympic roster freeze. This type of move seems to be Slats’ MO, swapping spare parts and players that have are not going to be a part of the future for upgrades for the current season.

That said, who do you think Slats is going to part with at the deadline? Other than the usual suspects on the wish list (Wade Redden, Michal Rozsival), who simply cannot be moved, the most notable name that I think the Rangers are willing to part with at the deadline is Dan Girardi, and I am perfectly OK with this. Now, before you jump down my throat for joining the trade Girardi bandwagon, you should know that I thought he was expendable in June of 2009, long before this “Trade Girardi” movement.

Girardi is in the third season of his young career, and although his GVT stands at 4.9, good for a top-10 place on this current Rangers squad, it is tough to overlook some glaring holes in his game. For example, he is big, but not physical. He is also slow on his feet, and constantly gets beat like he stole something. Yes, he is good with his positioning, but at his current price ($1.55 million cap hit), and a probable raise on the way, Girardi may price himself into a deadline or draft-day deal. With the defensive depth in the system, and the likes of Bobby Sanguinetti and Ilkka Heikkinen both NHL ready (and both combined make what Girardi makes), it appears that Girardi has run his course on Broadway.

Girardi will draw a good amount of interest around the league. He is young (25), and as mentioned before, has good positioning. Am I saying that the Rangers should dump Girardi for a 5th round pick? No. Hell no. I think a Girardi package has the potential to draw a top-six LW from teams. The loss will sting a little bit, but the trade return and the cheaper replacements on defense who have the potential to produce better results will make it more palatable.

Good win but where does that leave us?

A good win against the Lightning even if it, again, was devoid of a complete 60 minute effort.

The game perhaps left more questions than answers though;

• This 3 in 4 stretch. What does this make the Rangers come deadline day – buyers or sellers? you know my opinion (sell, sell, sell)
• Where is Christensen’s best place on the roster? top line, top 6? 3rd line? Clearly he has talent (as his 18 goal season in Pittsburgh proved) but to be a top 4 team in the East does it reflect on our depth if he’s permanently a top line player?
• Will Henrik get any rest as we battle for 7th, 8th? Clearly its going to be a scrap all the way. Does Torts have the guts to dress Chad Johnson for atleast 2 full games?The King will need a break at some point but we’ll need every point here on in.

Finally… this team really is at a cross roads and as a fan it’s very frustrating. Against the Pens in particular but also against Jersey and 40(ish) minutes against Tampa this team showed it can (should) be a top 6 team in the East…. but then you have the Nashville yawner inbetween. Dare I give him some slack, but this team isnt an easy one for Sather to gauge (though that is mostly his fault in the first place)…..

The Hunt for the Veteran Defenseman

It is no surprise that the Rangers are in the hunt for a veteran defenseman. The defense has been inconsistent at best, and there are many gaping holes, particularly a blue liner that hits on a regular basis. General Manager Glen Sather is looking at low risk, high reward type players to help fill this gap. To be more specific, Sather is looking for a player that won’t cost a high-end prospect/pick, and will be a UFA at the end of the year. Unfortunately, that is what everyone and their mother wants.

But the real question here is this: Who sits when that new defenseman arrives? Of the most notable players available (Garnet Exelby, Christoph Schubert, Denis Seidenberg), none are seventh defensemen. Each of them is capable of playing top-six minutes, and none will want to sit in the press box, keeping Donald Brashear and either Aaron Voros or Enver Lisin company.

The player every Rangers fan wants to sit is Wade Redden. Redden barely plays 15 minutes a game, and it is mostly due to the fact that he simply cannot skate with the above average players anymore. But this raises another question: Does Rangers brass have enough balls to sit Redden continuously? If not, then the most likely candidate to get the axe will be Matt Gilroy. Here’s why. (Update 12:15pm: This is strictly from a business standpoint, not stats/results.)

Matt Gilroy has not played 60 games this season, he has played 54. Matt Gilroy can be optioned to Hartford without passing through waivers or re-entry waivers, because he has not reached teh the 60 game threshold. Dumping Matt Gilroy in Hartford also clears enough cap space to take on a more expensive contract. It will also give the Rangers some additional time to evaluate how the new acquisition adjusts to his new team. If he can’t adjust, then Gilroy is simply recalled and inserted back into the lineup, with zero repercussions.

Some may not like this thinking, some will. The bottom line is that if the Rangers do not want to sit Redden, then Gilroy is the most likely candidate to go. Sometimes, it’s not about who is playing the worst, but who is the safest to get to Hartford.