Off-Season " Teams' Transactions " Review Part 5

Western Conference,

Northwest Division:

Calgary Flames, 1st Place:

Key Acquisitions: Alex Tanguay from Colorado, 3-year 16 million; Jeff Friesen from Anaheim, 1-year 1.6 million; Brad Ference from New Jersey, undisclosed; Jamie McLennan from Florida, (this season) 575,000.

Key Departures: Jordan Leopold to Colorado; Chris Simon to New York Isles; Shean Donovan to Boston.

Analysis: A-

Brent Sutter made just the right kind of moves to keep Calgary perrenial contenders for the Stanley Cup. Losing to Anaheim in that 7th game at home was a heartbreaker, but considering the lopsidedness of the affair, and Sutter having the best seat in the house- it was only a perfect sign that Calgary still had a lot more to be desired in the Sniper department. Now with newly acquired Alex Tanguay and veteran Jeff Friesen the Flames have a nice veteran forward corps alongside Tony Amonte, and Jarome Iginla. The keys to Calgary's success will be whether some of the younger guys can contribute on a regular basis as well. The loss of Leopold won't effect the team at all as they're already stocked heavy with great defensemen.

Edmonton Oilers 2nd Place:

Key Acquisitions: Joffrey Lopul from Anaheim, undisclosed; Marty Reasoner from Boston, 2-year 1.9 million.

Key Departures: Chris Pronger to Anaheim; Jaroslav Spacek to Buffalo, Mike Peca to Toronto.

Analysis: B

Chris Pronger's departure was a shocker because he fit so well with the Oils, but in this day in age the players have less affinity for the guys in their locker room than they do with the money in their pocket. Or maybe it's always been that way. Getting Lopul wasn't the worst thing in the world, as of now the Edmonton Oilers boast alongside the Buffalo Sabres arguably the best group of young forwards in the league with the likes of Ales Hemsky (77 pts), Shawn Horcoff (73 pts), Fernando Pisani (league leading 14 playoff goals), Jarret Stoll (68 pts), and Raffi Torres (27 goals). The weakest part of the team this year will be on defense as Chris Pronger's 28 minutes a game will be replaced by understudies like Danny Syvret and Matt Greene.

Vancouver Canucks 3rd Place:

Key Acquisitions: Roberto Luongo and Richard from Florida, 4-year 27 million and undisclosed contract respectively; Jan Bulis from Montreal, 1-year 1.3 million; Marc Chouinard from Minnesota, 2-year 2.2 million; Willie Mitchel from Dallas, 4-year 14 million.

Key Departures: Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen, and Alex Auld to Florida; Keith Carney to Minnesota; Nolan Baumgartner to Philadelphia; Ed Jovanovski to Phoenix; Dan Cloutier to LA; Jarkko Ruutu to Pittsburgh.

Analysis: C+

The Canucks have lost a lot this offseason in regards to free agent signings. Jovanovski, Baumgartner, Ruutu and Keith Carney all left after the trying 2005-06 campaign which saw the Canucks drop from 1st in the Division at Christmas Time to 4th come playoffs. The biggest weakness was goaltending and with Roberto Luongo that problem has been solved. Unfortunately, with a glaring gap up front there's not enough scoring depth past the 1st and 2nd lines, that's coupled with inexperience on the blueline past the top three of Sami Salo, Mattias Ohlund, and newly acquired Willie Mitchell. For the Canucks to have any immediate success they will have to get a lot out of their rookies, and there will be tons of them in the lineup this season with plenty of oppurtunity to prove it.

Colorado Avalanche 4th Place:

Key Acquisitions: Jordan Leopold from Calgary; Tyler Arnason from Ottawa; Ken Klee from New Jersey

Key Departures: Alex Tanguay to Calgary; Rob Blake to LA; Dan Hinote to St. Louis.

Analysis: C-

The Avs made one foolish error this offseason and it'll probably going to cost them a playoff berth: the Tanguay/ Leopold deal. The loss of Blake stung, and it's because he was the glue to the back line. The Avs were lucky to get away with the atrocity that was last year's Avs blueline- but with Blake gone that weakness is glaring. Making a quick fix by attaining Leopold was flighty and foolish. Desperate times, but no need for desperate measures. The loss of Tanguay (78 pts) is going to hurt even more, he's the youngest of the scoring trio alongside Milan Hejduk (58 pts) and Joe Sakic (87 pts), and Sakic still scoring 80 pts + a season at 37 years of age which is phenomenal, but let's face the fact- it won't last forever. If the Avs plan on getting in to the playoffs it'll be on the back of a Jose Theodore MVP-like campaign that we all haven't seen in a few years.

Minnesota Wild 5th Place:

Key Acquisitions: Pavol Demitra from LA; Kim Johnsson from Philadelphia; Keith Carney from Vancouver.

Key Departures: Randy Robitaille to Philadelphia; Filip Kuba to Tampa Bay; Marc Chouinard to Vancouver.

Analysis: B+

The Wild, I mean Jacques Lemaire is slowly realizing the trap is now pre-historic and futile with the rule changes. I mean rightly so, it was his Devils that killed the league in 1995 and it's been boring ever since. If Lemaire's trap is going down with a fight god help Minnesota fans who'll see they're bolstered lineup restrained by the oppositions blueline. If Lemaire takes the high road and thinks about his club first he'll play a lethal unit of Pavel Demitra, Marian Gaborik, and Brian Rolston that could turn into this year's version of Joe Thornton/Jonathan Cheechoo/Marco Sturm.