Roguish Lawyer
09-29-2006, 14:10
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=179262&hubname=nhl
:lifter
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/allan_muir/09/29/johnson.trade/index.html
Blue chip for peanuts
Kings robbed 'Canes in Johnson deal
Posted: Friday September 29, 2006 2:49PM; Updated: Friday September 29, 2006 3:01PM
A few months back, Carolina's Jim Rutherford earned accolades as the NHL's Executive of the Year. This morning, he did his best to help Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi follow in his footsteps.
Truth be told, the Kings aren't likely to reap the benefits this season of the deal that brought them promising defenseman Jack Johnson and veteran Oleg Tverdovsky for Tim Gleason and Eric Belanger. But, in time, this one has the potential to go down as a legacy maker. We're talking Cam Neely and Glen Wesley for Barry Pederson territory here.
The Canes were motivated to move Johnson, the third overall pick in 2005, for a number of reasons. First, he rebuffed multiple attempts to lure him away from the University of Michigan. This obviously angered the 'Canes, though they were informed by Johnson before the draft of his intention to stay in school. Second, a team staggered by free agent defections (Aaron Ward, Mark Recchi, Martin Gerber, Matt Cullen, Doug Weight) and long term injuries (Frantisek Kaberle) today just couldn't wait another year or more for Johnson to finish living out his college dream.
Gleason, a first-rounder himself back in 2001, can provide that immediate help for the Hurricanes. A potential top-four defender, he's a big physical blueliner with some offensive upside. But the Kings were concerned about his play in camp and the preseason, where his decision-making seemed less assured than last season.
Belanger, for his part, is a serviceable energy forward who can help replace Cullen. Rutherford clearly believes the 'Canes can repeat as Cup champs, and these two proven NHL players give him a better chance to do that than Johnson will while he's wearing Michigan's Maize and Blue.
But there's no way to sugarcoat this for the Raleigh faithful: the two of them together don't bring much value in comparison to Johnson's blue-chip potential. The one angle to this that might help it make sense for Carolina is the inclusion of Tverdovsky in the deal. He was expected to earn a fair amount of ice time this season, in part because Carolina needed to get something out of the $5 million they were to pay him over the next two years. Including him in the deal opens up another hole on the blueline, but also frees up some cash. If the 'Canes use that cap space to accommodate a defenseman in a future deal -- perhaps New Jersey's Brian Rafalski -- then the Johnson trade is far more palatable, at least in the short term.
For their part, the Kings take another step back in the present for the chance to take several forward in the future. After dealing Pavol Demitra at the draft, it was obvious that L.A. was heading into retrenchment mode, and the acquisition of a stud like Johnson gives them a solid foundation to build around, a player with the potential to be a true No. 1 defenseman in the mold of Rob Blake.
There are going to be a lot of fans around the league wondering why their GM couldn't come up with a deal to top this one, but the reality is that there are just a handful that could take on Tverdovsky's salary, an anchor without which this deal couldn't have been consummated. The Kings had the cap room at the right time and, conveniently, were in the Western Conference. Because of that, they landed an elite prospect for peanuts.
:lifter
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/allan_muir/09/29/johnson.trade/index.html
Blue chip for peanuts
Kings robbed 'Canes in Johnson deal
Posted: Friday September 29, 2006 2:49PM; Updated: Friday September 29, 2006 3:01PM
A few months back, Carolina's Jim Rutherford earned accolades as the NHL's Executive of the Year. This morning, he did his best to help Los Angeles GM Dean Lombardi follow in his footsteps.
Truth be told, the Kings aren't likely to reap the benefits this season of the deal that brought them promising defenseman Jack Johnson and veteran Oleg Tverdovsky for Tim Gleason and Eric Belanger. But, in time, this one has the potential to go down as a legacy maker. We're talking Cam Neely and Glen Wesley for Barry Pederson territory here.
The Canes were motivated to move Johnson, the third overall pick in 2005, for a number of reasons. First, he rebuffed multiple attempts to lure him away from the University of Michigan. This obviously angered the 'Canes, though they were informed by Johnson before the draft of his intention to stay in school. Second, a team staggered by free agent defections (Aaron Ward, Mark Recchi, Martin Gerber, Matt Cullen, Doug Weight) and long term injuries (Frantisek Kaberle) today just couldn't wait another year or more for Johnson to finish living out his college dream.
Gleason, a first-rounder himself back in 2001, can provide that immediate help for the Hurricanes. A potential top-four defender, he's a big physical blueliner with some offensive upside. But the Kings were concerned about his play in camp and the preseason, where his decision-making seemed less assured than last season.
Belanger, for his part, is a serviceable energy forward who can help replace Cullen. Rutherford clearly believes the 'Canes can repeat as Cup champs, and these two proven NHL players give him a better chance to do that than Johnson will while he's wearing Michigan's Maize and Blue.
But there's no way to sugarcoat this for the Raleigh faithful: the two of them together don't bring much value in comparison to Johnson's blue-chip potential. The one angle to this that might help it make sense for Carolina is the inclusion of Tverdovsky in the deal. He was expected to earn a fair amount of ice time this season, in part because Carolina needed to get something out of the $5 million they were to pay him over the next two years. Including him in the deal opens up another hole on the blueline, but also frees up some cash. If the 'Canes use that cap space to accommodate a defenseman in a future deal -- perhaps New Jersey's Brian Rafalski -- then the Johnson trade is far more palatable, at least in the short term.
For their part, the Kings take another step back in the present for the chance to take several forward in the future. After dealing Pavol Demitra at the draft, it was obvious that L.A. was heading into retrenchment mode, and the acquisition of a stud like Johnson gives them a solid foundation to build around, a player with the potential to be a true No. 1 defenseman in the mold of Rob Blake.
There are going to be a lot of fans around the league wondering why their GM couldn't come up with a deal to top this one, but the reality is that there are just a handful that could take on Tverdovsky's salary, an anchor without which this deal couldn't have been consummated. The Kings had the cap room at the right time and, conveniently, were in the Western Conference. Because of that, they landed an elite prospect for peanuts.