|
If you
happened to not notice the trade deadline came and went last week, you’re not
alone. In all honesty – you didn’t miss much.
Thanks to
the Olympic Break, we actually had 2 deadlines – an unofficial deadline, or
“roster freeze” before the Olympics, and the official deadline on March 3, just
as everybody in Canada was coming back to earth from the high of winning the
Gold Medal.
Such is
life in the salary cap world. No longer can a team trade a player for trade’s
sake. Nowadays, a team’s management team has to fit the salary under the cap.
Not the easiest thing in the world to do.
So have
any of the trades we witnessed on March 3 put any of the teams over the top?
This remains to be seen. On paper, however, I just don’t see it. One sports
media outlet in particular was calling it the “worst deadline” since 2004, even
though, yet again, there were a record number of moves made. Then again, it’s
quality, not quantity, right?
I often
wonder if the trade deadline has become nothing more than a mere formality, a
way for a team to trim the fat from its roster, in exchange for future
considerations, as a means to balance the budget. Case in point –Raffi Torres
moved from Columbus to Buffalo, for defenseman Nathan Paetsch, and a 2nd
round draft pick – fairly decent deal for some secondary scoring, not to mention
a little sandpaper, right?
Then, you
get a deal like Toronto sending forward Lee Stempniak to Phoenix, in exchange
for a fourth and a seventh round draft pick. The irony - this is the same
player the Leafs acquired a little over a year ago for two players – Alex Steen
and Carlo Colaiacovo. Yet, they can’t trade a player like Tomas Kaberle because
not only does he have a no trade clause – evidently nobody’s willing to take on
the contract.
Scott Walker
was an integral part of Carolina’s playoff run last spring – yet, he gets to go
to Washington for no more than a 7th round draft pick? Did they
throw in some composite sticks and a box of pucks too?
OK, we
already witnessed the Dion Phaneuf and Ilya Kovalchuk trades prior to the
Olympics, so in all fairness, this year’s trade deadline already had a lot of
hype to live up to. However, and a big however, it’s become abundantly clear to
me we’re now living in an age where teams are no longer concerned over the value
of a player as much as the value of their contract. And that, my friends, is a
crying shame.
I think it
was our good friend Brian Burke who put it best. I might be a little out of
context here, but his comments beg the question - if a franchise has to wait
until the trade deadline to build their team as opposed to doing some minor
tweaking, then aren’t they already in big trouble?
May the
best team win.
More Puckin' Around...
|
