Post by mccarthy on Feb 22, 2007 22:11:29 GMT -5
Updated: February 23rd, 2007
Big Deals in Calgary
With the trade deadline looming overhead, the Calgary Flames have had a busy week, trading away captain Jarome Iginla as well as Andrew Ference, Kyle Calder, Stephen Weiss, and some of the teams prospects and picks.
Flames Acquire Adrian Aucoin
Adrian Aucoin
The first thing on the Gm's list was to acquire a defenseman to play on the teams top pair after players like Ference and Vandermeer had unsuccesful stints playing top pairing minutes. The Flames contacted Detroit GM Mathew Tanti shortly after he put up his trade block, which included Adrian Aucoin. Tanti was intersted in Andrew Ference, so after some minor adjustments, the trade saw Andrew Ference and Fedor Fedorov going to Detroit in exchange for Adrian Aucoin.
"We feel like Aucoin will help this team on and off the ice. We were sitting on the playoff bubble and the thing that was holding us back was the lack of a top defenseman, Aucoin was having a great year (48 points in 68 games) and we will rely on him to play lots of minutes and hopefully help us make a long playoff run. We hope Ference is succesful on his new team and also hope that Fedor Fedorov gets hit by a bus." - GM McCarthy on the Aucoin trade.
Jarome Iginla Dealt to the Bruins
Henrik Zetterberg - Brad Boyes
With Aucoin and his $4 Million salary, the Flames were right against the cap, a position the GM did not want to be in. With Jarome Iginla making $7 Million, he was put on the block in order to clear some cap room. The Flames decided to call up their old team about Henrik Zetterberg, the new GM was very intersted in Iginla, so the negotiations began. The final trade was Iginla, Calder, and Nystrom for Zetterberg, Boyes, and prospect Marek Zagrapan. The trade faced some controversy but was later put through.
"This trade allows us to save over $5 Million, this is great becasuse I have been in negotiations with other teams which include some big name, and expensive players. Zetterberg will be able to fill Iginla's spot, while Boyes will have a shot at playing on one of the top 2 lines. Zagrapan will report to Omaha for this season to develop." - GM McCarthy comments on his trade with Boston.
Flames Land Star Defenseman Scott Niedermayer
Scott Niedermayer
After contacting the Isles about Doug Weight, the Flames also inquired about star defenseman Scott Niedermayer. The Flames initially offered a package of Brendan Morrison, Richie Regehr, Ramholt and 1st in 2008 but the Isles were looking for more youth. The final trade saw Stephen Weiss, Marek Zagrapan, Mark Giordano, and TB 1st in 2008 going to the New York Islanders in exchange for Scott Niedermayer.
"After searching for almost a month after the Chara trade, we have finally gotten our star blueliner, one of the leagues best too. We lost some leadership after trading away Iginla so some of the younger guys will be looking to Scott for advice. Our organization is very excited to have a player of Niedermayer's caliber on our roster, and hopefully we can reward him with the ultimate prize, a Stanley Cup win. - GM McCarthy on acquiring star defenseman Scott Niedermayer.
"I now have a nice mix of youth and veterans hopefully it will help me now and in the future." - Islanders GM Bryan Hull.
New Captains Named
Captain: Scott Niedermayer
Assistant: Henrik Zetterberg
Assistant: Doug Weight
Assistant: Henrik Zetterberg
Assistant: Doug Weight
Flames land playmaker, Doug Weight
Doug Weight
After inquiring about Doug Weight earlier in the week, the Flames finally landed the veteran playmaker. The Flames sent prospects Andrei Taratukhin, Daniel Ryder, and a 2009 1st Round Draft Pick to the Islanders in exchange for Doug Weight.
"We have been trying to get Weight all week, and we're very excited to have him on our team. We will try him out on our top line with Jason and Dany for a couple games to see if the chemistry is there, if not then Doug will most likely center our 3rd line with Pettinger and Amonte. - GM McCarthy reffering to his 2nd trade with the Islanders this week.
not as bad as Scott's though 