As most of you are probably aware by now, last night the Oilers traded Sam Gagner to Tampa for Teddy Purcell and then Tampa flipped Gagner, along with enforcer B.J Crombeen, to the Coyotes in exchange for a sixth round pick.
In addition, Tampa retained 1/3 of Gagner's $5 Million salary ($4.8 caphit, as per Capgeek.com) Note: This also means the lightning retain 1/3 of Gagner's cap hit, which is a rule put in place ostensibly to prevent teams from selling cap space).
This deal is the fortunate result of the Coyotes manipulating the NHL salary cap to their advantage, and you should not let the measly return cloud your view of Gagner, who could be one hell of an acquisition.
Basically, the Lightning are (were) up against the salary cap and the Coyotes, who spend to an internal budget and not the salary cap, can take Gagner and Crombeen ($1.1 cap hit; CapGeek.com) and their cap hits because it's essentially meaningless to them. In exchange, Tampa takes some of the real money off the books, saving the Coyotes actual dollars.
Furthermore, the Coyotes have really made it seem like they are willing to spend some money. Even if they saved some cash on his salary, Gagner still costs them money, as does buying out Mike Ribeiro, something I didn't think they'd spend on. I've called them out for being too cheap in the past, so they really do deserve some credit here, showing you can be frugal without being ridiculous and throwing in the towel completely.
So, just from a business perspective, this is a great trade.
From a hockey perspective, it's unbelievable.
In Sam Gagner, the Coyotes get an upgrade on Mike Ribeiro in almost every way. Gagner may never have put up the point per game numbers that Ribeiro has in his best years, but he is still very young. Despite being in the NHL since he was 18 and playing in seven seasons, he is only 24. He is not the biggest guy or the greatest defender, but he does provide some sandpaper to his game and I don't think he is the liability without the puck that Ribeiro was.
Many people picked Gagner to have a break-out year this year (2013-14, it tenses of seasons get confusing at this time of year) because he does possess a ton of offensive talent, but unfortunately his jaw was broken in the pre-season and he ended up having an entirely excusable off-year.
If there was ever a guy primed to live up to the "change of scenery" cliche, it's Sam Gagner. Mired in a culture of losing (they'll be very good, very soon, but they have been brutal for the last five-seven years) and seeing himself passed over in terms of hype and future projections by the team that drafted him, Gagner, with his youth and talent, could very well be the scoring centre the Coyotes desperately need.
He might just be in the perfect situation in Arizona:
A) The Coyotes have a need for exactly the type of player he is and he can count on getting tons of big minutes, some of the best offensive wingers the team has to offer, and tons of PP time.
B) He doesn't have to be the "number one centre" but can be more of a 1A/1B with Martin Hanzal, another player who health permitting seems primed to explode.
C) Hanzal is the perfect foil to play in conjunction with Gagner because while Gagner is small and sleek, Hanzal is a seven foot monster. I believe, and it's just a theory, that if you are going to have a top 2 centre as small as Gagner (5'11 200lbs) you should back him up with a centre with size.
Furthermore, one of the best things about this deal is that it frees up Antoine Vermette to play the role of shut-down centre and play minutes against the top centres in the NHL without sacrificing offense from the first line. What this means is that Gagner can possibly get some exploitable match-ups, especially if -as one would expect - Dave Tippet roles three balanced lines.
Maybe something like
Boedker- Hanzal -Erat Domi - Gagner - Samuelson Korkpikoski - Vermette - Doan
Sure, it lacks the superstar shine of some teams, but I think that that's a lineup with talent and grit that has size and balance that would be tough to match up against. It also has potential to be off the charts explosive or massively disappointing, but I think Phoenix can live with that, given their strength on the back end and in goal. Really, if this line-up lived up to its higher end potential, the Coyotes could find themselves a contender.
Overall, this is a trade that is off the charts in terms of risk vs. reward, which, in my opinion, is how you should judge trades anyways, since the end result of how a trade ends up years down the road doesn't always accurately reflect the thought process and context of the times. Gagner, who at worst, will be a serviceable winger for the two years left on his contract, and who at best becomes your new first/second line centre, is easily worth the price they paid, even at the low-end of the spectrum.
Gagner for a 6th rounder just might go down as the very most lopsided trade in NHL history. The Lightning, however, understand that in a salary cap world, they aren't trading Gagner/Purcell for a sixth rounder, but really they are trading them for whoever they sign with their new five million dollars in cap space. So, if you look at it that way, I think you can understand how the Coyotes came to pull off this heist.
B.J Crombeen is an enforcer of decent quality. I think, based on what I have read, that he is probably a better player than Paul Bissonette, who will not be back, apparently. According to Coyotes reporter Sarah McLellen, the team is unlikely to bring back any of it's six UFAs - Bissonette, Vrbata, Moss, Greiss, Halpern and Morris. No real surprises there, but I guess it does remain possible they still retain Vrbata, although I would expect someone else overpays for him tomorrow.
All in all, when you consider the Gagner acquision, the non-sensical name change, the Ribeiro buy-out and the drafting of Perlini, it was a great weekend for the Arizona Coyotes.