WHEELING AND DEALING: Versteeg to Toronto
So 3 of the 4 guys we predicted might be gone are. While we wish Kris Versteeg the same gratitude and good wishes we wished Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Sopel and even Ben Eager, there are some simple facts to face here.First of all, for most of the season, Byfuglien and Versteeg were skating on the third line. Eager skated on the fourth line, when he dressed. Sopel was a third pair defenseman.
When you win a championship in any sport, these are the guys you hope you lose. The core of this team is still very much intact, and will be for a while.
Secondly, trades in the modern NHL aren't the same as they were before. Once, it was a very simple proposition - you traded players, you got players. Now, sometimes you have to trade players to keep players. SO while on paper you can say the Hawks traded Dustin Byfuglien, Ben Eager, Brent Sopel and Kris Versteeg (along with Akim Aliu and Bill Sweatt) for Kevin Hayes, Justin Moll, Marty Reasoner, Jeremy Morin, Viktor Stalberg, Phillippe Paradis and Christopher DeDemonico, you can also say the Hawks got Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Antti Niemi, Andrew Ladd and Niklas Hjalmarsson.
See, you only have a set amount of money to spend. In order to extend Kane, Toews and Keith last season, they knew salary needed to be moved. So you get to keep three stars, along with three other valuable players - now the Hawks have plenty of cap space to sign their three RFAs (Ladd, Niemi, HJalmarsson), and they will probably keep other RFAs Jordan Hendry, Bryan Bickell) in the fold as well. In fact, they might even have enough wiggle room to do a little shopping of their own.
The thing to admire about Stan Bowman's trading here is that he moved all these players to teams where they probably won't hurt the Hawks. I'm guessing Versteeg hits career a new career high in goals in Toronto this season - he'll skate top 6 minutes every night, and will be able to drag the puck around to his heart's content - there isn't a lot of offensive creativity there outside of Phil Kessel. But still, neither the Thrashers nor the Maple Leafs are going to be Cup contenders this season. Of course, that's not to say any of these guys might not be dealt to a contender at some point. But that's really out of Stan Bowman's hands.
So the Hawks managed to load up more organizational depth, and there's a very real chance that Stalberg might make the team this season, and they can still backfill the roster with inexpensive players from Rockford. This team's retooling is almost complete, and it still has the look of a Championship contender.
Sorry folks, doesn't look like you're getting rid of the Hawks that easily.
Posted by Forklift at 6/30/2010 11:09 PM 
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, News and Notes
Tags: Chicago Blackhawks Toronto Maple Leafs VERSTEEG!
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, News and Notes
Tags: Chicago Blackhawks Toronto Maple Leafs VERSTEEG!
I'm startin' to like dis' Bowman guy. And the DiDomenico kid sounds like he has potential, assuming he fully recovers from that broken femur.
Reply to this
Who will CT write in all caps now that VERSTEEG is gone?
Reply to this
VIKTOR!
Reply to this
Must break you.
I know he's a swede but with that name it seems like a ruskie type name.
Reply to this
REASONER!
Reply to this
CRABB!
Of course, CT would then need to start a blog on the Rockford Icehogs, then shortly after start a blog on Meijer grocery store.
Reply to this
Sadly, the Joey Crabb Era is over, the Leafs signed him.
Reply to this
=(
Will there be a special post on the Joey Crabb era?
Reply to this
Bowman said last week that no trades were necessary. Now that being said, he might have just said that so teams would call up and try to offer some of their young guys. I am sad to see Versteeg go, but as everyone knows, this is a business.
Reply to this
OK, so Stan Bowman's one hell of a poker player.
Let's see...he needed to get of three or four overpaid contracts.
Barker, Byfuglien, Versteeg--check. Huet--pending.
That's 9 million gone, with another 5,625 about to go.
Thought 'the experts' said Stan couldn't do that.
What do 'the experts' know?
Now let's see what Stan got in return.
Barker--first round pick from Minny (Nick Leddy).
Byfuglien--first round pick from Atlanta (Kevin Hayes)...plus a roster guy in Reasoner, plus another top prospect in Jeremy Morin.
Versteeg--former first rounder from Carolina (Philippe Paradis)...plus a roster guy in Stalberg, plus another solid prospect in Didomenico (who won gold with Canada's World Juniors).
Thought some GM said Stan was asking too effin much.
What did some effin GM know?
Stan's The Man.
Reply to this
Stan unloaded line 3 and line 4 guys with high contracts without touching the top 6 forwards and top 4 defensemen. He completed the necessary trades I would have made myself. So there must be something wrong. I hope not.
I think Stan did great so far. I was not a fan of his coming off the emotional Dale firing. So far he won me over.
Reply to this
I endorse Jerry Kayne's message.
Reply to this