Yesterday was the NHL trade deadline, it's practically a holiday to die hard NHL fans and teams basically announce to their fan base whether they are throwing in the towel for the season or if they plan to make sure you pay attention the rest of the way out. The Caps want you to pay attention and they aren't asking, they are demanding it.
4 trades of significance for the team and not much in the way of assets lost, George McPhee has done a masterful job of giving his team a legitimate shot at playoff birth. Weather that is secureing a spot in the at the bottom of the 8 seeds or claiming the division lead and leap-frogging their way to the 3rd seed remains to be seen.
A quick examination - Matt Pettinger sent to Vancouver for Matt Cooke. Mostly a contract swap dictated by Matt's struggles this season. If Cooke makes a good impression he could be resigned but in the short term will bring some fiestyness to the line-up.
A prospect swap with Atlanta, we send them Joe Motzko for Alexandre Giroux, who we had in the organization last season. I feel like there is something going on that I don't know about here, like why did we let Giroux go if we liked him this much. I liked Motzko but guess this has to be considered and even-steven trade.
Sergei Fedorov from Columbus for prospect Theo Ruth. Ruth was our second round pick last season but his stock has fallen - projected to be a 5th or 6th D-man, meaning he was very expendable. Fedorov is past his prime but he's not being asked to lead the team in scoring so he should be a great addition to the club, plus he is looking to impress heading into free agency this summer. Here is to hoping the three time cup winner has enough left in the tank for another go around.
Finally, what had to be one of the most shocking trades I've seen in a while - Montreal send us Christobal Huet, their #1 netminder for a 2nd round draft pick in 2009. Yeah, 2009 that is really not anytime soon. This is a steal and a half. But it does cause a stir in that the team decided to keep both Olie Kolzig and Brent Johnson. Can you say 'awkward'?
I like both Kolzig and Johnson, however, in my opinion Huet is the goaltender we need to keep. I don't want to shove Olie out the door, and Johnson is a great back-up so I don't know what the Caps will do this summer, but Huet could be the bridge we need so our very young goalie prospects can develop. I've been impressed with Huet since his days with the Kings when I would go to Staples Center and tell the fans their that he was better than there actual #1 at the time Roman Checkmanek - guess who was right? Me! So I was stupefied when LA traded him to Montreal, but at least there he got his chance and took the job from Jose Theodore and earned a trip to the all-star game last year. Plus the dude is French, not French-Canadian but French French, as like from Paris! How often do you see that? Impressive.
So what will happen with this new three-headed monster in goal? Who knows, but if it helps us makes the playoffs and maybe a nice run deep into the spring, I dnn't think too many folks will be complaining about it.
Oh yeah, and the Caps put together a very nice 4-1 last night over Minnesota, with Kolzig looking like a goalie who knows he needs to stay sharp to keep his #1 spot. Competition can be a wonderful thing. Congrats to Brooks Laich on a career night - 4 points (2 goal 2 assists)
Lets keep it up boys!
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