Yes friends, we're back with more Trade Wars. So far, four blogs in and we only have one completed trade:
1. The Ottawa Senators send C Zack Smith to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a 2015 first-round pick.
For those of you new to this, a quick explain: I am the GM of teams in the western half of the NHL. Travis Yost is the east. We both have 15 teams. We're required to make 15 deals, involving all 30 NHL teams only once. Easy enough to follow, I hope?
GM Yost threw four trades at me in his last blog. Here are my responses:
(1) The Carolina Hurricanes offer F Tuomo Ruutu to the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for D Zbnyek Michalek.
I'll respond to this in a second. First, a funny back-story: I happen to know two things about the Hurricanes - They're trying to upgrade their defense before the season, and they're trying to move a Top 6 forward. I've heard Jeff Skinner, not Ruutu, is being shopped because Ruutu has a No Movement Clause. The Hurricanes could get a great return on Skinner if they decided to move him.
This is Trade Wars, and no movement clauses don't mean much here. I will absolutely send Michalek for Ruutu. Great deal.
(2) The Buffalo Sabres offer D Tyler Myers and F Drew Stafford to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for F PA Parenteau, F Alex Tanguay, and D Andre Benoit.
Accepted. Geez, Yost is speeding up Trade Wars for some reason.
Myers is a great young player on a team that has horrible chemistry. The Sabres are going to need to go through a rebuild of sorts, to clear our certain attitudes. From what I understand, neither Myers or Stafford are problem children. Actually, Stafford's name is being mentioned as the possible captain this season.
Parenteau is one of those mystery players like ol' Lucky Luc in LA. No great skills, size...but for some reason, he collects the points. Tanguay is a simply awful player and Benoit doesn't excite me the way Myers does. There has to be some sort of catch to this deal, so I'm going to hurry up and take it before it disappears.
(3) The Tampa Bay Lightning offer D Andrej Sustr and a third-round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft to the Calgary Flames for F Mike Cammalleri.
Accepted. And Travis Yost is on fire. If I was Sustr, I'd be choked to be dealt like this. He was 2nd prize in the Danny DeKeyser NCAA UFA signing lotto this past year. Sustr is big like Zdeno Chara. This is not to say he can do anything like Chara. He's just big. Still, he's mobile and projects to become a 3/4 defenseman in the NHL. Nothing flashy, just solid.
Deal makes total sense for the Flames, who are finally going into full rebuild mode. Cammalleri, who breaks down more than my '72 Datsun use to, is in the last year of his oversized contract. The Lightning are doing Feaster a huge favor here, giving the Flames something for nothing.
(4) The Montreal Canadiens offer F Lars Eller and D Andrei Markov to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for F Michael Frolik, F Lukas Sutter, and D Tobias Enstrom.
Finally, a deal I'm going to say no to. I wouldn't trade Enstrom for Eller + Markov, nevermind adding Frolik and Sutter to the mix.
So that brings us to four completed deals - Eight teams down, 22 to go. I'll get crackin'.
Offer #1: The Edmonton Oilers send Ales Hemsky to the New York Islanders for Calvin de Haan and a 2nd round pick in 2014.
The Islanders are a team on the rise, and a team with all the cap room in the world. They also are a team that drafted about 15 defensemen in 2012. They are starting to have prospect depth at the position. What they need more than anything else is a Top 6 winger.
I'll admit I'm trying to sneak this past Yost a bit. De Haan was injured last season so he didn't have a chance to show much. He's an impressive prospect that still has yet to show anything at the NHL level. I'd look for an immediate, guaranteed player for Hemsky, but we all should know by now it isn't going to happen.
The other thing strange about this deal is how prospect deep the Oilers are with defensemen. A follow-up deal would be required after this one, shipping out a defenseman to make room for de Haan. I believe outside of Nurse and Klefbom, de Haan would be the #3 D prospect on the Oilers if acquired, making it possible to deal Marincin or Fedun, plus maybe the 2nd round pick, for a third-line winger.
Offer #2: The Winnipeg Jets offer Evander Kane to the Florida Panthers for Aleksander Barkov.
These are always the best deals to make during Trade Wars - Absolutely impossible; absolute jaw dropper. The Jets need a big young center to lead them into the future. To get him, they give up their best player. Granted, someone who is rumored to have off-ice problems. But Kane is an absolute goal scoring beast. What to do, what to do?
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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