1) With today's unprecedented 'Sign and Trade' of not one but two of Nashville's impending free agents, Things will now get even more interesting as the draft and July 1st approaches. Apparently the Predators are now in the mode of shedding salary in anticipation of a new ownership. The word is that they gave the Flyers exclusive rights to approach/make a deal with their impending UFA's Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell. A bold move by the Flyers and not a good day in Music City. Especially the loss of Timonen will hurt. Can Kariya be far behind?
2) Additionally the market is now set up even higher than many thought just a couple of weeks ago. Hartnell is a second liner at best. If a 2nd line forward who has yet to accomplish much can get a 4+ mil/year deal, what can a guy like Gomez or Briere expect? Additionally if Timonen can get 6+ mil, does Souray get Chara money(7+mil)? Thank heaven for the salary cap and its ability to keep salaries in check! LOL
3) The next question(s) is this going to become a trend, or a one time deal? Will the Islanders now shop around the rights to Smyth if the feel he can't be signed so they can get something back? Note: The Flyers gave up the first round pick that they received for Forsberg this past season.
4) In the new NHL it appears GM's are getting more creative. earlier this week the Canadians GM Bob Gainey unloaded a headache Samsonov instead of buying him out. In return the Habs got a hawks head ache who cost less for them to buy out. a win-win situation. Instead of a sign and trade, it was a trade and buy-out. Things are sure to get even more interesting in the next few days as the other 28 GM's try to figure out what to do next! Stay tuned, its just getting started!
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A friend of The Dark Ranger tells me Ryan Smyth is miserable on Long Island and has suggested to his agents a meeting with my dear New York Rangers or a potential return to one of the Provinces up north. Nolen wants him to stay apparently, but we will know not long into the summer his fate.
Weren't the writers of this blog laughing at the idea of a trade and sign with a UFA (in the previous case it was Smyth) and voila it happens before our eyes.
Doesn't seem so foolish now does it?
Just razzin you. It just goes to show you that anything can happen. Just look at the past week-Keenan to Calgary, Samsonov gets traded in a trade and buyout deal and now we get a trade and sign for UFAs.
What next?
1) Yes Shuck, you beat us to the punch in mentioning that the 'sign and trade' option isn't quite as far fetched as we believed last month at this time
2) Having said that, the insanity of it is still there! Come on. Hartnell for 4.2 million?? Kimmo Timonen for what Pronger and Niedermayer make?
3) As some have already speculated, the salary cap didn't restrain insane player contracts, just allowed MORE teams to get into the act of over spending!
4) As we mention in our original post, this just pushes upward the market prices for the remaining free agents. Especially the forwards. Agents will point to a forward in Hartnell who in 6 NHL seasons has never even eclipsed the 50 point mark, and has a whopping 3 goals in 16 playoff games. The price for Brieere, Drury, Smyth, Gomez, etc who HAVE accomplished something has just gone up, A LOT!
1) We want to add, while we admit that this turn of events were a surprise to us one wonders how the paying customers of the rumor whore(Eklund) feel this morning?
2) Another MAJOR trade takes place right under his nose (The Eklund people are from Philly)and not a word PRIOR to it happening.
3) Also don't believe for a second what Eklund wrote that this deal doesn't indicate a Nashville sell off. The situation there is total chaos. One which we plan to get into more detail very shortly
Faux, yea looks like all the rumor sites missed it. The thing to remember is that Nashville had clearly indicated they weren't likely going to resign these two players and now that that reality has come true everyone is predicting doom and gloom.
I suspect part of the plan is coming from Balsillie. He has a vested interest in the team NOT hitting 14000 season tickets so he can pull the plug. What better way to ensure that then to ice nobody the team recognizes or knows?
1) As we alluded to earlier this morning, the Nashville situation is a mess:
a) You have a prospective owner who on one hand says he intends to keep the team in Nashville,
b) while at the same time is selling tickets in Hamilton, Ontario.
c) Simultaneously the current team is having a 'save the Predators' ticket drive.
2) The thing we want to know is where is the leadership from Mr. Bettman in all this? The good people of both Hamilton and Nashville are hanging in the breeze. Another great job by the NHL and the folks who run the league!
I'm gonna play devil's advocate on the Bettman leadership issue.
What "leadership" are you expecting Bettman to show in this situation? When questioned, he already stated that Balsillie told him specifically that he has no intention of moving the team. Balsillie has further clarified that his Hamilton subscription drive is simply a contingiency just in case the 14,000 attendance level is neither met nor cured by the city of Nashville (in which case the team would lose a portion of it's revenue share).
So what should Bettman say? Balsillie will obviously comply with all legal requirements. And yes, he may pay the $27 million lease buyout fee and move the team regardless. But shouldn't that be his choice? After all, he's paying a king's ransome for the team (obviously based on Hamilton revenue projections). For Bettman to "lead" against the sale and move would be to align himself against the other owners who love the inflated value assigned to the Nashville francise. To "lead" for the sale and move admits defeat in his vision to bring hockey to the uninitiated masses in NASCAR land.
I think his silence is his only option.
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