Off-Season " Teams' Transactions " Review Part 4

Western Conference,

Central Division:

Nashville Predators, 1st Place:

Key Aquisitions: Jason Arnott from Dallas, 5-year 22.5 million; Josef Vasicek from Carolina, (this year) 1.3 million.

Key Departures: Scott Walker to Carolina; Adam Hall to New York Rangers; Mike Sillinger and Brendan Witt to New York Islanders; Mark Eaton to Philadelphia; Danny Markov to Detroit.

Analysis: B-

With Thomas Vokoun recovering nicely from his blood clots and the addition of power forward Jason Arnott who had a great year with Dallas collecting 32 goals and 76 points respectively, the Predators look to control the Central Division in 2006-07. A few key members may have left but with the emergence of younger players such as Ryan Suter and Dan Hamhuis on the blueline and David Legwand and Scott Hartnell up front there is nothing for fans to worry about in terms of off-season departures. The Preds will most likely take the Western Conference crown if only because they face the likes of Columbus, Chicago, and St. Louis eight times each due to the new NHL schedule.

Detroit Red Wings, 2nd Place:

Key Acquisitions: Danny Markov from Nashville, 1-year 2.5 million.

Key Departures: Brenden Shanahan to New York Rangers; Steve Yzerman to retirement.

Analysis: C+

The departures of Shanahan and Yzerman will cripple the confidence of the now much younger Detroit Red Wings. But as a new age is passing, a younger one is coming into effect. Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg lead the new wave of Detroit forwards who have as much promise as the younger group of Red Wings in the 90's who ended up winning 3 Stanley Cups in 10 years. The backline still has veteran savvy with the returning of four time Norris Trophy winner Niklas Lidstrom and ageless Chris Chelios. It's a little difficult to interpret how much the Wings will drop off from their impressive 123 point campaign from last year, but my odds are with this group it won't be too far.

Columbus Blue Jackets, 3rd Place:

Key Acquisitions: Fredrik Modin from Tampa Bay, 2.2 million; Ty Conklin from Edmonton, undisclosed.

Key Departures: Marc Denis and Andy Delmore to Tampa Bay; Trevor Letowski to Carolina.

Analysis: C-

After making the worst deal in 2006 for Sergei Federov's 6 million dollar per year contract, and the 12 goals he paid for ( In exchange for Francois Beauchamin, the biggest coming out party in the playoffs), GM Doug MacLean has settled down and made a positive trade with T-Bay to acquire some more depth up front in Freddy Modin. This transaction is still a gamble considering Pascal Leclaire is still in the audition period to prove whether or not last year was a fluke. But when your a new franchise is still lying in the basement cellar gambles are to be made. If Nash finally has a full season with the club, and Gilbert Brule translates his superb WHL career to the bigs, Columbus have something to look forward to. Unfortunately I'm hearing reports saying Nikolai Zherdov is going back to Russia? I thought he was desperately trying to leave? Well, Columbus had better show him a good time this summer or there'll be just as many tallies in the loss column next year.

St. Louis Blues 4th Place:

Key Acquisitions: Doug Weight from Carolina, 2-year 7 million ; Jay Mckee from Buffalo, 4-year 16-million; Dan Hinote from Colorado, 2-year 2 million; Bill Guerin from Dallas, 1-year 2 million (more with incentives).

Key Departures: Patrick Lalime to Chicago.

Analysis: A-

Much needed acquisitions considering the catastrophe which was last season. Mckee will add some much needed veteran grit and skill to an atrocious blueline, and Weight and Guerin will add some scoring punch to a depleted forward group. If the youngsters can stay healthy and get back on track the Blues will be able to speed up this rebuilding period and move closer to the good ol' days when Chris Pronger and Al Macinnis were manning the blueline. Seems so long ago now doesn't it. Youngster Curtis Sanford will have to build on last year's success for the Blues to start moving up the Standings anytime soon.

Chicago Blackhawks, 5th Place:

Key Acquisitions: Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski from Ottawa, 3-year 18 million and (this year) 1.52 million respectively; Patrick Lalime from St. Louis, 1-year 700,000.

Key Departures: Mark Bell to San Jose; Matthew Barnaby to Dallas

Analysis: D

Ok, so you trade for a good young forward in Martin Havlat. But then you give him a superstar salary and jeopardize future franchise success with a payroll clot? Not only that you gave away one of your top in-house forwards Mark Bell for him; a very minimal upgrade in talent. This is why Chicago has done nothing since going to the Finals in 91'. They have continually made poor business choices; and yet again, their reputation precedes them. Yes, their youngsters are playing exceptional (Pavel Zorobiev, Brent Seabrook, and Duncan Keith), but what happens when they're all looking for a new contracts? Will the Club dump them for more underachieving overpriced free agents? Time will tell.