It has been hard to write over the last few days… I just couldn’t seem to find the words. But I gotta, ‘cause there is way too much to cover so it’s time to get back on the horse.
A very solid weekend of hockey from the Nashville Predators with a pair of impressive road wins in Anaheim and Los Angeles. I have a couple of observations on these games before I get to the trade news that broke last night.
- Plenty of tongue wagging about blown leads… I get it… but keeping eyes on the prize, the Predators got four points and actually won a game in overtime.
- Juuse Saros had an outstanding game Saturday night. He has a little Pekka Rinne tendency… he sometimes tries to do too much. Saturday he played within himself and was the best we have seen him since last season.
- Yes, I know… Saros got caught cheating out to play a hard around he anticipated coming which led to the second goal… a hard lesson to learn… and one that didn’t hurt the team in the long run.
- The overtime win on Saturday was one that folks will remember for a long time. On the back end of a back-to-back, the team found the intestinal fortitude to hang on to overtime after letting a three goal lead get away from them and then found a way to take the OT point.
- The Anaheim Ducks were a wounded bunch on Friday… but looking at the team play from Anaheim, I wonder if they aren’t a better team without Getzlaff and Fowler and Kesler… just wondering.
Now… to the news from yesterday. Wow!!
Another blockbuster trade involving the Nashville Predators, this time… a rare three way trade involving the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators… and yes… Matt Duchene was involved. Now, before you get too excited… the Colorado center is headed to Ottawa. Time to celebrate… Our long national Duchene nightmare is over.
So after we break down who is going where, then we will analyze it.
Ottawa gets center Matt Duchene.
Nashville gets center Kyle Turris.
Colorado gets G – Andrew Hammond and F Shane Bowers from Ottawa, D Samuel Girard and F/C Vladislav Kamanev from Nashville. They also get three draft picks… Ottawa’s 1st round and Nashville’s 2nd round picks in 2018 along with Ottawa’s 3rd rounder in 2019.
On the surface, Colorado got a lot of bodies. But did they really get the return they needed for Duchene? They were looking for defensive prospects and they got a very good one in Samuel Girard. But is Girard the stud defenseman this team needs? Time will tell, but I am not convinced… no knock on Girard, I think he will be an excellent defenseman and very good power play QB, but I just don’t know if he is the kind of stud the Av’s have needed since passing on Seth Jones in the 2013 entry draft. Vladislav Kamanev has quite a bit of upside, another center prospect that Nashville discovered needs a little more time to season in the AHL.
From Ottawa, the Av’s got a prospect in Shane Bowers, Ottawa’s first round pick in last year’s draft and goaltender Andrew Hammond, who should serve as a nice backup to Semyon Varlamov.
Ottawa gets Matt Duchene, who has wanted out of Colorado for almost two years. Duchene will be a slight upgrade over Kyle Turris… who let’s face it… if Ottawa really had the choice, they would’ve wanted to keep Turris, but that deal couldn’t be worked out. Senators head coach Guy Boucher is a big fan of Matt Duchene which will certainly help his welcome to the organization.
And finally… Nashville picks up center Kyle Turris and as soon as the trade was consummated, Turris agreed to a 6 year, $36 million contract extension. That means the Preds have their top three centers signed for the next four years and their top two centers signed for six seasons. Admirable stability in a critical position.
Stability… and depth… Adding Turris to a lineup that already has Ryan Johansen, Calle Jarnkrok, Colton Sissons, Nick Bonino and Frederick Gaudreau… you could argue that makes Nashville center depth one of the best in the league from top to bottom. Turris is an established 20+ goal scorer and has posted 55+ points three times in his career.
Nashville’s vaunted defensive and newly found offensive depth has paid off for the Predators as they were able to use assets like Samuel Girard and Vladislav Kamanev to acquire a needed piece… and a needed piece long term. Having the top three center positions locked down allowed David Poile to use Kamanev in the trade. The logjam created at center meant Kamanev was going to have almost no chance to crack this lineup. It was only fair to the prospect to let him go.
You could make the same argument for Girard. I absolutely hate losing him, but when you look at this deal rationally… it makes sense. It also bodes well about Ryan Ellis’ imminent return.
It is astounding to me that a franchise has been able to move (over a 22 month period) Seth Jones, Shea Weber and now Samuel Girard for necessary pieces… and still have one of the best defenses in the league and one of the deepest defensive pools with players like Alexandre Carrier, Dante Fabbro and Frederic Allard. Being able to move a prime center prospect like Kamanev points to an unfamiliar depth at forward as well.
There are media availabilities today with both David Poile and Kyle Turris...
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Random Notes
- Gotta give Craig Smith credit… he is really playing well, scoring his 4th on Saturday night.
- One more game on this roadie for the Preds, tomorrow night in Columbus. As I write this, it is unknown if Kyle Turris will be in the lineup.
- Fascinating to see Duchene pulled mid-game when he was traded. You don't see that often.
- We don’t have to wait long to check out the new look Avalanche as they visit Smashville next Saturday night.
- KHL Watch – Eeli Tolvanen’s Jokerit club won their second straight yesterday, shutting out Ugra 3-0. Tolvanen netted his 14th goal of the season, combined with 11 assists he has 25 points in 27 games and is in a four-way tie for 4th in KHL goal scoring. Jokerit is off until 11/15.
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