Off-Season " Teams' Transactions " Review Part 3

Eastern Conference,

Southeast Division:

Carolina Hurricanes 1st Place:

Key Acquisitions: John Grahame from Tampa Bay, 2-year 2.8 million; Trevor Letowski from Columbus, 2-year 1.6 million; Scott Walker from Nashville, 1-year 1.52 million.

Key Departures: Josef Vasicek to Nashville; Matt Cullen and Aaron Ward to New York Rangers; Martin Gerber to Ottawa; Mark Recchi to Pittsburgh; Doug Weight to St. Louis.

Analysis: C+

Losing rent-a-veterans Mark Recchi and Doug Weight was a given, but the Stanley Cup Champs paid a price this offseason for their success. Matt Cullen, Aaron Ward and Martin Gerber were key contributors on the road to Lord Stanley and were even more valuable considering their previously low salaries (only Gerber was making over a million). In any case adding Trevor Letowski and Scott Walker will only strengthen an already lethal forward group that is still only coming into age.

Tampa Bay Lightning 2nd Place:

Key Acquisitions: Marc Denis from Columbus, 3-year 8.6 million; Filip Kuba from Minnesota, 2-year 9 million; Luke Richardson from Toronto, 1-year 500,000.

Key Departures: Fredrik Modin to Columbus; Darryl Sydor to Dallas; Pavel Kubina to Toronto; John Grahame to Carolina

Analysis: B-

The defense was horrid last season, but worse was the goaltending. The Marc Denis deal was a great move for the club and you know John Tortorella will be delighted about that (remember his press table goaltender rant after the Ottawa series was over?). With Denis securing the net the Lightning will take another serious stab at the title but there are still some pending questions in regards to their top 3 of Vincent Lecalvalier, Brad Richards, and Martin St. Louis who all took extended summer vacations last winter and couldn't get into gear in the post season. Kubina and Sydor will be missed but not as much since the quick emergence of Paul Ranger (?) that was very unexpected but greatly needed, and the addition of Filip Kuba who will fill in the other starting spot.

Atlanta Thrashers 3rd Place:

Key Acquisitions: Niko Kapanen from Dallas, 2-year 1.7 million; Johan Hedberg from Dallas, 2-year 1.7 million; Steve Rucchin from New York Rangers, 2-year 4.25 million; Fred Brathwaite (overseas), undisclosed.

Key Departures: Jaroslav Modry and Patrick Stefan to Dallas; Marc Savard to Boston; Ronald Petrovicky to Pittsburgh.

Analysis: B-

Although I knew he would eat his words when it came time, I like a man with some marbles who's not afraid to gamble with them now and again (although he seems to have lost his other marbles a long time ago). The Thrashers did not make the post season for the first time ever this spring, but at least we had a long laugh at GM Don Waddell who GAURANTEED they would. 1st off- in order for one to make such an adacious bet, one would have to be quite SURE it was at least a) realistic and b) plausible. Ok, so it wasn't a) realistic, but at March it was technically possible. a) was scratched out when you look down a roster sheet and would rather play with six men on the ice before any of the 6 or so goalies that made an appearance in the Thrashers net this year. Lehtonen, give him credit had flashes of consistency, but he's still only a young man in a sharpshooters league. Even looking outwards you cannot rely on de Vries, Havelid, and Sutton as part of your core defensemen, it's not going to slip you into the playoffs. The additions of Johan Hedberg and Fred Brathwaite along with Niko Kapanen and Steve Rucchin will.....but now you've lost your only A-list defensemen in Jaroslav Modry. Where they go from here is quite obvious- down.

Florida Panthers 4th Place:

Key Additions: Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld from Vancouver, 5.269 million (this year), 1.55 million (this year), 1-year 1.475 million; Ed Belfour from Toronto, 1-year 750,000; Ruslan Salei from Anaheim, 4-year 11.1 million.

Key Departures: Roberto Luongo to Vancouver

Analysis: A

Mike Keenan was drooling over the idea of having a top line consisting of Oli Jokinen, Gary Roberts and Todd Bertuzzi (wouldn't anybody) last November with the Luongo/Bertuzzi trade winds a blowin' and now he has it. The trade made sense for both sides as aforementioned in previous blogs but for Florida it was the dominating style of play that Bertuzzi brings to the table up front. Jokinen a skilled and fiesty forward has flashes of brilliance but does not change the tempo of the game like Bertuzzi does. Adding Salei was another smart move to add some experience and depth to a young blueline. It'll also be interesting to see how the goaltending gets divided up between Belfour and Auld this year.


Washington Capitals 5th Place:

Key Additions: Richard Zednik from Montreal, 1,967 million (this year) ; Brian Pothier from Ottawa, 4-year 10 million; Donald Brashear from Philadelphia, 1 million (this year).

Key Departures: None

Analysis: F

How do you not sign any big free agents when you have arguably the best all-round hockey player in the league entering just his second season in the NHL and more cap room than any other team (i think). Ovechkin is great, but he's no Zeus. This guy needs competent forwards. And the Caps had Cap room for that. And what did they do with it? Nothing. Richard Zednik, yes Richard Zednik from the Canadiens for a third round pick. And their replacement for Brendan Witt-wait for it..... Brian Pothier. Yeah exactly. My guess is Ovechkin widens the gap between the Caps' second leading scorer this year. Last year it was Ovechkin 106 to Danius Zubrus' 57; a difference of 49 points. This year I'll take 3-1 odds on Ovechkin making it a plus 50 point difference. Any betters?

2006-07 Prediction of the Final Standings in the Eastern Conference:

1. Ottawa Senators
2. Philadelphia Flyers
3. Carolina Hurricanes
4. Buffalo Sabres
5. New York Rangers
6. Toronto Maple Leafs
7. Tampa Bay Lightning
8. New Jersey Devils
9. Montreal Canadiens
10. New York Islanders
11. Atlanta Thrashers
12. Boston Bruins
13. Florida Panthers
14. Washington Capitals
15. Pittsburgh Penguins

* The top three biggest jumps from last year will be New Jersey down five from 3rd to 8th, Toronto up three from 9th to 6th, and Philadelphia up three from 5th to 2nd.

Off-Season Winners: Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers.

Off-Season Losers: Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals.