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Hemsky Trade Update + Battle of Ontario Gameday: Craig Anderson Starts

February 19, 2011, 2:05 PM ET [ Comments]
Travis Yost
Ottawa Senators Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
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The NHL Trade Deadline has always created quite the buzz with numerous trades coming down the pipe in just a handful of hours, but the 2010-2011 season looks like it's taking a completely different approach. With all of the trades that have went down in the past week, it's hard to imagine that the official deadline will be even 1/10th as exciting. Consider some of the names moved: Tomas Kaberle. Erik Johnson. Mike Fisher. Craig Anderson. Kris Versteeg. Chris Stewart. And that goes without mentioning very capable names that have already been sent packing - guys like Chris Kelly, Ian White, Jay McClement, and so on.

All of the trades going down in the middle of February has set quite the tone around the league, with various GMs scrambling for secondary and tertiary options far earlier than expected. Knowing full well that their prized commodity might be gone by the time February 28th rolls around, front offices are being proactive and pulling the trigger early.

One name, however, that continues to defy the aforementioned logic is Ales Hemsky of the Edmonton Oilers. Just a week ago, Hemsky seemed like a leadpipe lock to head in one of two directions - Pittsburgh, or Los Angeles. Since I broke that story, a few developments have been made - 'official' or nearly official reports of LA's offers, which focus around Wayne Simmonds and high draft picks, and Pittsburgh's offers, which focus around some of their highly touted prospects and their expected low-end first round draft pick.

Unfortunately for this 'trade', the Pittsburgh Penguins talks have cooled off mightily with their recent downturn. The Penguins, no matter how you cut it, are going to be a Stanley Cup Contender every single year with talents in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Get where I'm going with this? There's zero chance Malkin returns this year, and rumors on Crosby have his return pegged for mid-March at the earliest. One more setback, and he's done. Knowing this, Shero won't mortgage the future (or part of the future) for a guy who isn't going to help his team get over the hump. Hemsky provides a ton of offense and playmaking ability, but he's not going to get the Penguins over Boston/Philadelphia by himself.

And, in Edmonton, Steve Tambellini has watched the market play in his favor exponentially. The return for similar(but slightly lesser) talents in Kris Versteeg and Chris Stewart have been jaw-dropping to say the least, and Tambellini knows full and well that if he protects Hemsky for another week or so, his value will skyrocket. It's the classic leverage gained by waiting until the final day or two, watching teams panic for talent and over-paying. The reason why Tambellini was so hot on moving Hemsky to Los Angeles was because the deal did have some pretty impressive returns - Wayne Simmonds is going to be a very capable player in this league (hell, he already is), and the first round draft pick wouldn't be too far down in the pecking order. On top of that, there were reports that there could be a prospect swap, meaning potentially more value.

Now, with trades around the league moving Hemsky's value upwards, Tambellini is going to sit tight and wait. As mentioned in a prior blog, Tambellini has no desire to fleece himself by moving Hemsky, as the team does love his creativity and wouldn't mind keeping him in Edmonton. They want to be blown away with an offer, so I fully expect another team to step in and challenge Los Angeles (and to a lesser extent, Pittsburgh) in the coming week.

One team I've already heard rumblings from is the Carolina Hurricanes. Don't know how involved they are just yet, but there's been interest.

Will have more when I hear it.

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Quick Chris Neil update: The longtime Senator has submitted a list of ten teams that he will not accept a trade to under his limited NTC, given to the brass a couple of weeks ago and made public more recently. The list includes both New York teams, the Minnesota Wild, the Anaheim Ducks, the Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers, the Atlanta Thrashers, the Buffalo Sabres, the New Jersey Devils, and the St. Louis Blues.

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The Battle of Ontario doesn't exactly have the type of draw or fanfare that it did just a few years ago, and right now, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators create more of a buzz online as they jump start their rebuilds through trades than they do on the ice. Neither team is employing a pretty on-ice product these days, but for once, optimism in both cities is sky high.

The Maple Leafs have been one of the most active teams over the past couple of weeks, moving big names like Kris Versteeg and Francois Beauchemin to contenders in exchange for draft picks and prospects. Toronto knows that there are plenty of pieces on the current roster that will still be around when the team's done rebuilding in a year or two - this isn't a bad Maple Leafs club, it's just not a good one. There's talent across the board, and finally Brian Burke has decided to add some valuable pieces to it by selling off the irrelevants and acquiring valuable draft picks for the drafts in 2011 and 2012.

In Ottawa, the rebuild is far more drastic and measurable, but that doesn't make it any worse. The Senators have some distinct advantages over their rival - a bonafide #1 centerman in Jason Spezza, the definition of a clubhouse leader and idyllic captain in Daniel Alfredsson, and a farm system as saturated as ever. Already, the Senators are getting looks at some of their younger prospects as they play out the string, and the coaching staff is already impressed.

Bobby Butler, the 23 year-old Massachusetts native has blown the doors off of the city of Ottawa in just a week. On one of the more punchless offenses in the league, Butler's managed to score goals in three consecutive games, and has pretty much dominated the offensive zone every time he's had a shift. Just like in his college days, Butler has a nose for the net and finds himself in high-priority scoring areas more often than not. Over those three games, he has five total points, and has developed quite the chemistry with Jason Spezza.

Their opponent tonight in the Toronto Maple Leafs is a team still with an outside shot of making the playoffs, but you have to imagine it's going to be quite an uphill battle with many of their talents heading out. Toronto's won two straight games and continues to plug away with a trio of goal-scorers who can wow a crowd on any night - Mikhail Grabovski(24G), Phil Kessel(22G), and Nikolai Kulemin(21G). Kulemin in particular is a shining example of a player who has been properly developed and looks like a cinch for a top-six spot in Toronto for a long time. More importantly, he's made my prediction of pre-season breakout player of the year look - well, perfect.

Between the pipes tonight, it'll be Craig Anderson for the Ottawa Senators and James Reimer for the Toronto Maple Leafs. This will be Anderson's first start for the Senators, a team that's hoping to catch a proven commodity on the upswing and give developmental goalie Robin Lehner some ample time before throwing him into the fire. From what I've heard, the front office in Ottawa is already looking to re-sign Anderson, so you can toss your deadline deals out of the window. Reimer's been impressive for Toronto all year long, posting an 8-4-1 record, .928 save percentage and 2.39 GAA.

Notable scratches for tonight include Daniel Alfredsson, Jesse Winchester, Sergei Gonchar, and Chris Campoli for the Ottawa Senators, and both Mike Brown and Colby Armstrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Ottawa Senators

Michalek-Spezza-Butler
Foligno-Regin-Kovalev
Greening-Smith-Neil
Lessard-Shannon-Condra

Phillips-Lee
Kuba-Karlsson
Benoit-Carkner


Toronto Maple Leafs

MacArthur-Grabovski-Kulemin
Lupul-Bozak-Kessel
Sjostrom-Boyce-Hanson
Rosehill-Brent-Crabb

Aulie-Phaneuf
Gunnarsson-Schenn
Lebda-Komisarek


Puck drops at 7:00 on CBC and NHLN. Enjoy the game!
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