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Florida and Phoenix Make Perfect Traders after Dominoes |
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The Florida Panthers have found themselves in the news…well did, until the Oilers took the fun and punted it in their face before a sweet dance. While the Oilers made international headlines dealing Ladislav Smid, often considered an underrated second pairing defensive defender in a cap dump to the Calgary Flames. The best part of this deal is that while the Oilers wanted to drop salary and did, the critics will never stop. The terrible Oilers trade a defensive defenseman? It writes itself. Smid however was being used as a 5th defender even if he is better than that, so it made a lot of sense…the sense that went out the window when needing the 3.5 in cap room to sign Ilya Bryzgalov. Look I’m a big supporter of Bryz, he had a lto of help in the early years as a Coyote, but it isn’t a Tippett thing entirely…it’s a Sean Burke thing. Give him crap as an NHL goalie, but he is an elite goalie coach. He has turned castoffs into miracles every year and no player has ever improved leaving his tutelage. Having said that, Bryz is a decent goalie that can thrive off crease clearers, he’s athletic and makes unbelievable saves if nobody is in his face. The Oilers aren’t prime for this, but I wish the big Russia bear luck because he was a solid member of the Coyotes.
The second part of this analysis is in the goaltending. Former junior stars Laurent Brossoit and Olivier Roy switch places, both ECHL goalies at the moment, Roy being the harder sell at 22. Calgary has a few better goalie prospects, or at least seemingly better, so it makes sense for them, as does it make sense for the Oilers, who need to have every Oil King possible because no other CHL squad produces talent.
All that out of the window and pardon my rambles, but it occurred to me that the Florida Panthers firing every single member of their coaching staff outside of their goalie coach is a major momentum move in the trade market. Kulikov was speculated to be on the block as Dineen kept cutting his minutes after several amazing young seasons as was Gudbranson on the hot list as a 3rd overall pick not performing near the level needed. Now I don’t know if either are expected to go, or if that was a major factor in the release of the coaching staff, all I can do is speculate.
Dave Tallon said that he wants 1 or 2 defenders. He has been trying to trade for them for a long time. His strategy of signing every free agent on the market was flawed and has not reaped the benefit he foresaw as teams fight for their services for picks in a bidding war. That hasn’t happened and now he expects a new dialogue in their rebuild journey. Who can answer the call for a need of 1-2 defenders? Phoenix.
David Rundblad : The primary source of expected trade bait. The 23 year old defender has proven all he can at the AHL level. He is an NHL offensive defenseman. He can’t however beat OEL who has developed into a Norris threat or Yandle who is yet again a top scoring defender in the NHL after leading the Yotes last season. The Panthers are trading Brian Campbell, it is inevitable, the former Cup Winner has suffered through his insane contract and is ready to go to a new team and compete again even if his salary and cap hit are insane. A team like Florida can't afford nor do they need him at this point in their development. Rundblad is a PP defender himself in a similar mold yet a decade younger. Somebody who in time as the young core develops over in Florida could become their guy.
Rundblad won’t find his way on the team due to Yandle and OEL soaking up the PP time and deservedly so. Morris outperforming him in his contract year. Michalek being the perfect partner for OEL. Schlemko being cheap as dirt and knowing he’s cheap. Klesla being injured often and harder to move for various reasons. Stone being much more physical and better defensively. Yet on the Panthers who will be willing to give him a real shot, he could be great.
What the Coyotes would want? Easy. Tomas Fleischmann. The 29 year old Czech is the Panthers top scorer, yet more importantly is a top-6 left winger, the only major need on the Coyotes right now as they contend for one of the last Western Playoff positions. Fleischmann has 3 goals and 11 points for the Panthers to lead them so his price will not be cheap. Despite Rundblad’s potential value, he isn’t enough at this point especially being a healthy scratch for a top-6 guy.
Potential Trade :
David Rundblad + Rostislav Klesla + 2nd round 2014
For
Tomas Fleischmann
Klesla is there for cap reasons and to give them the two defenders they need. With Rundblad they can deal Campbell for the king’s ransom he will get once his salary isn’t a problem, as well as a 2nd rounder that they can use for whatever they want. With only one year left on his 4.5 mil a year contract Fleischmann might want out of the poor Panthers.
Tomas Fleischmann – Mike Ribeiro – Shane Doan
Rob Klinkhammer – Martin Hanzal – Radim Vrbata
Mikkel Boedker – Antoine Vermette – David Moss
Lauri Korpikoski – Kyle Chipchura – Paul Bissonnette
Oliver Ekman-Larsson – Zbynek Michalek
Keith Yandle – Derek Morris
Michael Stone – David Schlemko
I like it. Do you? Am I out in left field?
Thanks for reading.
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