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Trade Deadline 2007/08
February 19, 2008
Scott Brattly
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Puckjunkie.com Premium Article
Sample
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February 19, 2008 Scott Brattly |
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As the trade
deadline approaches, respective GMs are busy trying to determine is there is
a team out there with the right combination of veterans that can push them
closer to the elusive pursuit of the Stanley Cup. This season, the majority
of teams still feel as though they are in the hunt for the playoffs and as a
result the number of sellers is few: the result is a sellers’ market. |
With their recent call-up of Dan Cloutier, it would appear that Kings
management is sending a message that almost half a dozen veterans are
available for trade. On the list are Rob Blake, Ladislav Nagy, Jaroslav
Modry, Kyle Calder, Tom Preissing, Brad Stuart and Michael Handzus. In the
off-season, the Kings were trying to land some higher profile free agents
(Briere, Drury and Souray), but came up with a mitt-full of 2nd tier UFAs
that have not generated the right team chemistry or results this season. GM
Dean Lombardi would love to move this group of players for younger prospects
and draft picks as they continue to build around the core group of young
players that they have (Cammalleri, Kopitar, Frolov, Brown and Johnson).
Potential buyers for Cloutier are few, but rumors have the Tampa Bay
Lightening “kicking the tires”. Such a move would mean Cloutier’s 2nd stop
with Tampa Bay. The Lightning will need to string together a number of wins
in order to get back into the race for playoffs, and they’ll need much
better goaltending then they are receiving currently to do it. Of the other
veterans, the issue for Lombardi is two-fold: they are either UFAs in the
off-season (Stuart, Blake, Modry and Nagy) or have lengthy multi-year deals
that will make them hard to move (Handzus and Preissing). Still, our guess
is that the Kings should and will be very active prior to the deadline. For
the poolie, Nagy has shown signs of offense, but has been inconsistent.
Stuart has been just OK, and Preissing has found himself in the press-box.
Blake is the one who if moved could have the biggest fantasy impact.