LCS Hockey - The Art of the Trade

The Art of the Trade
by John Alsedek, Correspondent

How many times have you checked out the Sports Ticker on ESPN2 (or your local newspaper, for those poor unfortunates without 'the Deuce') and seen an announcement for an NHL trade? Now, how many times have you looked at said trade and thought, "What was Bob Clarke smoking, trading Janne Niinimaa for Dan McGillis?", to pick an example at random. Ever think you could do a better job as GM than, say, Phil Esposito? Well, maybe you could, but only if you understand a few things about how to make trades...and how to make them work for you.

First of all, the definition of 'trade' is, to paraphrase Mr. Webster (no, not Emmanuel Lewis), 'to barter; i.e., to exchange or give in exchange.' Therefore, what a GM does is give up one commodity, be it a current player, prospect, or draft pick, in exchange for someone else's.

Trades are done for a variety of reasons, and different general managers have their own reasons for making them. The best reason to make a trade is to improve the team at a certain position, ala Edmonton's Glen Sather, who spent most of last season turning his defensive corps into the envy of the league. There are other factors to consider, however. Trades can also be made to dump salaries (Mike Milbury), add depth players (George McPhee), to clear out roster slots (Clarke), to get rid of perceived troublemakers (Lou Lamoriello), or to just look busy (Esposito).

In any given trade around the league, at least two of these factors are likely to apply. Take the recent trade of winger Tom Chorske from the Isles to Washington. The Isles did it to save a couple hundred thou' in salary and pick up a spare draft pick, while the perennially injured-as-all-get-out Capitals did it to get an experienced and moderately useful body on the roster. That's two reasons, for the addition-impaired. It was a deal that made sense for both sides, so it got done. As Spock would say, "Flawlessly logical."

But not everyone sees trading that way, particularly the body-painted, foil Stanley Cup-toting sweaty masses who shelled out $60.00 US to see their team play the likes of Kip Miller and Dan Kesa. If their teams are playing at less than Cup contender level, they want changes, and they want them yesterday. Talk to any Colorado or Rangers fan, and he'll (note: I use the masculine, rather than 'he or she' in this case because I'm just pretty darn lazy. Please forgive me, ladies) tell you exactly what's wrong with the team, and who they should trade - and trade for - to change it. Unfortunately, a large number of these guys have an, um, unrealistic approach when it comes to trading...

During 1996-98, every time I went over to see my folks, my ma would have a stack of stuff she'd printed off the Flyers fan page sitting there for me to peruse. Most of it was pretty dumb, but, occasionally, I'd find something that would make me want to soil my diaper (figuratively speaking) in laughter: the trade suggestions. Among my personal favorites were:

- Trade Ron Hextall to Phoenix for either Nikolai Khabibulin or a tough defenseman (first, Hextall had a no-trade clause; second, anybody who tried to trade Khabibulin for Hextall would likely end up being locked up for their own protection; and third, Phoenix isn't exactly overflowing with hard-nosed, crease-clearing blueliners)

- Shjon Podein, Chris Therien, and a fifth-round draft pick for Kirk McLean (the Latin for such a deal would be 'horribilis overpayis').

- Pat Falloon, John Druce, and Paul Coffey for Theo Fleury (oh sure, Flames GM Al Coates would be thrilled to part with one of the best right wingers in the NHL for a bust, a fourth-liner, and a has-been with a big contract and a bad back).

- Rod Brind'Amour for Sean Burke (see the previous Latin phrase above).

- Eric Lindros for Keith Tkachuk (that's sort of like moving from Seattle because it rains a lot...to a hurricane zone).

The common thread of all of these is that they involve the Flyers either giving up way too much, or else expecting other teams to take a bunch of guys that no one is likely to want. Either way, they ain't gonna happen. If Bob Clarke feels a little dumb for having traded Niinimaa, just think of how he'd feel if he'd traded Brind'Amour, Podein, Therien, and a fifth-rounder for a goaltending tandem of Burke and McLean, which, ironically, is exactly what the Florida Panthers have now.

Of course, in all fairness, it isn't just the fans who come up with bonehead trades. Anyone who has ever read the New York Post or the Toronto Sun knows that their beat writers don't have to take a back seat to anybody when it comes to dumb. The Toronto press has had Felix Potvin in Florida, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, Long Island, and Edmonton, among other places, and at least four of those destinations make zero sense.

Florida came close, but weren't willing to let Rob Niedermayer be examined by an independent doctor, so they went with Burke instead.

Vancouver probably wouldn't mind having him, but their only trading chip is Pavel Bure, and the Canuckleheads will want another good player in the deal - a player the Leafs don't have to spare.

Calgary has already committed to Jean-Sebastian Giguere.

The Islanders brought in Tommy Salo's old coach from Sweden in the hopes that he'll play well enough to hold down the fort 'till Roberto Luongo arrives.

Edmonton would probably like to have Potvin, since they don't have any potential No. 1 goalies under age thirty-two in their system; however, Toronto would want one of the Oil's young stud d-men in exchange, and, given Glen Sather's rep, they're probably terrified he'll convince them to take the one who turns out to be a bust.

And as for the Post... Not only do they have Adam Graves going to everyplace but Ottawa in one half-baked deal after another, but they have an endless supply of suggestions on how to 'improve' the team. One suggestion was to send a package of Marc Savard or Christian Dube, Maxim Galanov, and Eric Cairns to Pittsburgh for unsigned free agent Petr Nedved. It's not a bad deal for the Rangers, who'd pick up an adequate second-line center (at least until times got tough). However, why would the Penguins do it? To get a center who can't even play for the center-starved Rangers? To get a young, relatively immobile defender in Eric Cairns who, with hard work, might turn out to be a serviceable fifth or sixth man (incidentally, since Jay Greenburg suggested that trade, the Pens picked up Galanov on waivers, thereby ruining an otherwise crappy trade proposal).

Then, of course, there is Larry Brooks' endless pursuit of Pavel Bure. He and Greenburg have suggested that the Rangers give up the following package to get the Russian Rocket: Alexei Kovalev, Adam Graves, Nicklas Sundstrom, and Dan Cloutier. That would give Gretzky the finisher he needs. It would also give the depth-poor Blueshirts exactly two-thirds of a scoring line, and absolutely no one else to play in their top six. They suggest that it's okay to deal Cloutier, because Mike Richter can buy the Rangers enough time to develop another young goalie. Richter is 33 years old. In four years, he'll be 37, and New York's only really good netminding prospect, Jason Labarbera, will be a whopping 22 years old - kinda young to be thrust into the top spot, assuming he actually develops into an NHL netminder. See the problem? Too bad the Post-boys don't.

Having said all this, let me give you a couple of trade ideas that would work. They would work because each team would get something that they need, and keep within their financial restrictions in the bargain. In fact, don't be surprised if at least one of these happen: remember where you heard it first...

- Alexandre Daigle for Theoren Fleury: I'd say that the Flyers' love affair with Daigle is over, but there was never much of one to begin with. While showing tremendous speed and flashes of goal-scoring prowess in the orange-and-black, Daigle has essentially continued where he left off in Ottawa - and that's not a good thing. Bob Clarke might be willing to deal him off for Fleury, a proven right winger (something the Flyers currently don't have) with speed, skill, and grit. Since Fleury is unrestricted at the end of the 1998-99 season, Calgary would probably have to hock up a conditional draft pick in case Theo goes elsewhere. And as for Daigle? The Flames might be willing to gamble that coach Brian Sutter can scare him into acting like a hockey player (incidentally, that's a play on words, since Daigle has made it well-known that he's interested in pursuing an acting career).

- Chris Gratton for Boris Mironov: the Fly-boys don't want to admit it, but they've got a logjam at center. In Rod Brind'Amour and Chris Gratton, they've got two second-line centers. Brindy can and does play left wing, but has always been more comfortable at center. Gratton, meanwhile, has proven ineffective at any position but center, and the chemistry between he and Brindy/he and Zubrus/he and Daigle has been somewhat less than spectacular. That's not to say that he's a bad player, but he would likely be more comfortable as the No. 2 pivot on a team with some fast, skilled wingers.

That's where Edmonton comes in. Since the bulk of Gratton's contract (a $9 million signing bonus) has already been paid, the Oil would only be on the hook for about $2 million per for the next three-plus years - about what they're paying blueliner Boris Mironov. It would also give Edmonton a big, tough center to take some of the pressure off the Weight line. And as for Mironov, he is only three years older than Gratton, and would give the Flyers the power-play QB they are in need of; as he showed in the playoffs last year, he's also a highly mobile and punishing defender who can put some big hits on some big players. Hey, it's a win-win situation.

- Petr Nedved for Nick Sundstrom or Manny Malhotra: by now, it's pretty clear that Petr Nedved won't be playing for the Pens anytime, um, ever again. With that in mind, and with the Rangers dying for another center who can actually score the occasional goal, New York looks like a reasonable trading partner for the skilled, but terminally gutless, Czech. If the Pens could get back either Sundstrom or Malhotra, they'd do pretty well. Sundstrom probably won't ever top 30 goals a season, but he's a young, hard-working second-liner with good defensive instincts and a great attitude - basically, everything that Nedved isn't (except the young part). Malhotra projects as basically the same kind of player, just bigger, younger, and further behind on the learning curve. Either one would be a great addition.

And as for Nedved... well, say what you will about him (it's no skin off of my nose), but he's a proven 40-goal, 90-point guy, and there aren't too many of those available, particularly in the expansion NHL.

- Kevin Hatcher for Steve Rucchin: Anaheim's power play guy is Fredrik Olausson, and a blind chimp could play between Kariya and Selanne and rack up 60 points. Anaheim gets an upgrade of sorts on the blue line, and Pittsburgh gets a solid second-line pivot. Enough said already.

Oh, and if you're wondering what makes me so damn smart about trades, just bear this in mind: I'm a trained professional, just like Stan Fischler and Jay Greenburg and Larry Brooks and... oh, never mind.